Page 7 - Education Issue

Women of Distinction

Silvia Mah, Ph.D., MBA had been destroyed in the war, so he first
immigrated to Argentina and then to
Making Women’s Dreams a Reality Venezuela.
These two transplanted individuals
met and fell in love and had a family in
By Judith A. Habert Venezuela. “Dad worked in the print-
ing industry and produced coffee table
Photos by Nikkie Achartz of SNAP Savvy Strategies
books, magazines, and labels for Heinz
and Gerber Latin America as well as all
of the postage stamps for Venezuela. He
came up from nothing and created an
amazingly successful company. He was
definitely an entrepreneur in the true
sense of the word. My mom had to leave
the US service because she married a
foreigner, a sacrifice for love not taken
lightly. Her mind could not be con-
tained, so she was my dad’s translator
and translated his books from Spanish
to English.”
Quite a story of love and survival.
They spent their entire life in Venezuela,
and it was only after the death of her
dad, in 2010, that Silvia’s mom moved
back to the States after 40 years and is
now living in the Bay Area.
To say that Silvia’s upbringing was
wild is not an understatement. With
ILVIA MAH IS AN AMAZING who would soon become Silvia’s father. a rainforest in her backyard, Silvia's
Slady and one who is determined His beginnings were hardly mundane dad taught her how to hold a machete
to make a big difference in the lives of having been an orphan who in order to before she was taught to hold a pencil.
women. get away from the monk-run orphanage Together they would venture into the
Her upbringing sounds like some- had become an apprentice & learned the forest to cut down Mango trees. For a
thing out of a best-selling novel. Silvia trade of printing. At the time he did not child enthralled with biology, she was
was born in Caracas, Venezuela to a know the importance of this decision. in the center of it all. "This is what truly
mom who was a CIA Operative of the When the Germans invaded Italy, he spurred my love of biology because I
U.S. foreign service. "My mom was was placed on the firing line with the was surrounded by lizards, porcupines,
first stationed in London after WWII, rest of the children when the Nazi’s toucans, monkeys, snakes, and turtles.
where she became well versed in Russian asked if anyone had a trade. Silvia’s My backyard was like a zoo. I loved the
politics and analysis. When the Cuban dad spoke up informing them that he biology of life and all the scientific pro-
Missile Crisis occurred, being an expert did have a trade as a printer and could cesses involved. Unlike in most houses,
on Russian and Communist theories repair all types of printing equipment. we had no TV, so I learned from explor-
and policies, she was transferred to This bit of knowledge saved his life as ing and whenever I became bored (and
Venezuela. She obtained her degree at they pulled him off the firing line and God forbid I said I was, it was like a bad
Stanford University, one of the first 4 or brought him to Germany. Once there he word at our house), my Mom directed
5 women to attend and graduate from was charged with printing Nazi propa- me to do a science project.”
Stanford. She is 90 years old now; her ganda flyers promoting Hitler and his In Venezuela, Silvia attended an
mind is alive and she still writes stories regime. “Had my dad not had a trade, an American International High School
and articles about politics. She is my education, he would have died that day. and was just one of 12 in the graduating
rock." Printing saved his life,” adds Silvia. class. Her love for science brought her to
While stationed in Venezuela, After the war, Silvia's dad returned the United States to study at Pepperdine
Silvia’s mom met a dashing Italian man to Italy and found his town of Torino University in Malibu, California since

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