2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
UA administrator retires feeling full of life
Auslander a trailblazer for women, Hispanics
By: Yusra Tekbali
Issue date: 5/13/08 Section: News
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As a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, vice president of human resources for Tucson Newspapers and most recently vice president and senior associate to UA President Robert Shelton, Auslander, 68, is used to working hard and thinks retirement isn't an excuse to change that.
"Everything is going very well right now," Auslander said. "I'm feeling energetic and I'm on an upswing, so I think that's a good time to retire."
Auslander, a native Tucsonan, graduated from the UA with bachelors and master's degrees in journalism.
Auslander almost attended Columbia University but decided to stay in Tucson because of family obligations. In retrospect, she said the decision was "probably the best thing I could have done."
Auslander worked as a reporter and section editor for the Arizona Daily Star and as a UA journalism professor before becoming the first Hispanic woman to join the Arizona Board of Regents for an eight-year term in 1984, serving as president for the 1989-90 school year.
In that year, she initiated a system-wide study on the status of women.
The UA community will miss Auslander's "warm presence (and) outstanding capabilities," said Fred Boice, current president of the board of regents.
"She's been a wonderful friend and a devoted employee to the UA for many years," he said. "She's an exemplary lady."
Boice lives down the block from Auslander, and his wife, Ann, went to Tucson High Magnet School with her.
"Oh, we go way back," Ann Boice said. "She was always a leader, always active."
Auslander worked with Ann in several community organizations, such as the Junior League of Tucson, the YWCA and Habitat for Humanity.
"Throughout everything I've ever done, Edie is somehow there too," Ann said. But she has always worked for Hispanic causes and I think that's her legacy."
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