Newsletter of the East Bay Chapter of STC
November/December 2003
Member Spotlight: Hillary Russak
by Melody Brumis
Immediate Past President
Hillary is one of the first people you’ll see when you attend
our monthly meetings. As Vice President of Arrangements, Hillary works
with the chapter treasurer to greet you at the door and collect your money.
Having transferred into the East Bay Chapter because it’s so friendly,
Hillary is continuing the chapter’s welcoming tradition. You’ll
likely be greeted by Hillary at a meeting soon, but here’s a head
start on her story.
Hillary Russak accepting her Kenneth M. Gordon Scholarship award
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Read about the Kenneth M. Gordon Scholarship. |
STC Scholarship Winner
Hillary is a student in the SF State Technical and Professional Writing Bachelor’s Degree Program and a recent recipient of a $2,000 Kenneth M. Gordon Scholarship award. This scholarship is sponsored by the Society for Technical Communication and is available to students in technical communication degree programs. Hillary has been a working technical communicator for ten years, which was reflected in her scholarship application. While the selection committee requested one recommendation letter from a teacher in her program, Hillary supplied three. She also submitted five examples of her work (four more than requested) and a detailed description of her future plans to contribute to the field of technical communication.
In addition to the award money, which will pay for textbooks, Hillary
also received a year’s student membership in STC and paid fees for
participation in two special interest groups.
On the Job
Hillary creates documents and documentation strategies for occupational safety and environmental protection at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). SLAC, a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and Stanford University, is one of the world’s leading laboratories for designing, constructing, and operating facilities used in high-energy physics and synchrotron radiation research. Hillary primarily writes policies, procedures, articles for the lab’s newsletter, and content for the web site.
Recently, Hillary moved from a full-time management position to part-time work to complete her degree, which she’s been working toward (one class at time) since 1996. She plans to graduate in 2004.
Hillary’s current work at SLAC is a project to develop and communicate the site’s “Policy on Policies,” for which she is building a web site with tools “to help policy creators at SLAC make useful, accessible policies and procedures for the site.”
Before coming to Stanford, Hillary worked at a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, Syntex. She worked in occupational health and safety, which made for a smooth transition into her similar subject matter at SLAC. Hillary learned technical writing on the job at Syntex and decided to return to school for a degree in technical communication (her early education had been in music). When asked about her original career path in music, Hillary admitted that “I wanted to be a rock star, but technical communication seemed like a more realistic direction, given my actual skill set.”
Hillary also has worked as a senior technical writer at an e-commerce
company, has private clients for whom she does book editing, and does
grant writing on a pro bono basis.
At Home
Hillary lives in Oakland with her partner, Maree, who is a forensic CPA. They share their home with two cats and a rabbit.
Favorite Web Site
For Fun
Hillary writes poetry and has had some published; one poem is available online in the Sand Hill Review.
She is also passionate about both motorcycling and rabbits, “but not in combination.” Hillary (and her rabbit companion, Toadie) are members of the House Rabbit Society. Toadie is a six-year-old, house-trained Holland Lop.
In terms of reading interests, Hillary enjoys non-fiction books for amateur
naturalists and books about the Enneagram. Her current favorite writer
is Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of the Senses.
The latest fiction book on Hillary’s nightstand was The Poisonwood
Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
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