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Friends of the College
A Gift From The Heart
BY KATHRYN WHITE
The Bruners have always loved Bruner attended Oregon State in computer science, this time to
dogs, and treat them as cherished University right out of high school. put credentials behind a job she was
members of the family. She was hoping to combine her love already doing.
for animals with her passion for
In fact, Bettyjo Bruner ’s (B.S.’75) maritime, so she pursued a career Then in the early 1980s, Bruner was
mom, Betty says one of their with the Navy and was awarded a handed the opportunity to play with
German Shepherds trained her scholarship that she used to earn her division’s first desktop computer.
daughter to walk. As the story goes, a bachelor’s of science degree in “It was fascinating to see what the
the dog insisted on nudging the zoology. small machine could do,” she said.
young toddler to her feet, rather “We could see these little machines
than letting her crawl, and would Her 13-year career in the Navy and the networks being designed to
pull her around as Bettyjo clung on began by working in oceanography accommodate them was the future.”
with tiny-fisted hands full of fur. And it wasn’t long before she was
managing the entire PC network.
Between the two of them, the
mother-daughter duo have The Navy noticed her talent for
owned several Shelties. Amber networking complex computer
Bruner is their seventh, and systems and transferred her to
she has all the right stuff to be a the Defense Communications
perfect show dog, except she is Agency in Washington D.C. to
just a quarter-inch too short. head up its transition into Novell
networks.
When their last Sheltie,
Caila, got sick with a heart In 1984 Bruner was not only
condition—and was given less helping the military usher in a
than six months to live—they new era of computer technology;
turned to the CCVM for help. only a few women were doing it.
“I never expected that we “We paved the way,” she said.
would actually ever need their “My generation was the first
services, Bruner explained. The surveillance, first at Midway, then to see women moving into more
veterinary team was able to give Pearl Harbor. After relocating to San technical roles.” Although Bruner
Caila an additional two years of life. Francisco and completing a master’s liked her job, the military did not
degree in resource management, yet have a mechanism in place
“Our relationship with CCVM really Bruner began working on large to promote people working in IT
deepened from that experience,” mainframe computers in Barber’s occupations, so she decided it was
Bruner said. And she has since Point, Hawaii. While there, she time to leave the service and join her
finalized her estate gift, creating an picked up a second bachelor’s degree parents in Oregon.
endowment for OSU’s small animal
program.
24 • Oregon State University Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine
