Leaving Her Mark on Women’s Issues

Laughter spilled out of the Valley College president’s office, where the affable administrator attempted to conduct a scheduling meeting with her assistant.

Typical of a Thursday morning, the phone rang nonstop and students waited outside the president’s door for last-minute appointments. Yet the harried executive, Tyree Wieder, still managed to joke.

“Tyree’s best quality is her great personality,” said Barbara Perkins, Wieder’s longtime friend. “She is even-tempered, always optimistic, and someone we all like to be around.”

Potted plants and candy dishes adorn tables in Wieder’s spacious office, which has comfortable chairs and a sofa. Family photos and framed awards hang on the walls, and a vase on her desk holds a single rose.

“I have an open-door policy at this school,” Wieder said as she settled into an armchair. “Sometimes students and faculty want to come in and share things with me. Behind every face, there’s a story, and when we share, we have better communication.”

The 52-year-old Chatsworth resident has dedicated her adult life to encouraging women to increase their job options by furthering their education.

Whether she’s acting in her capacity as college president, a volunteer mentor with the National Council of Negro Women or a board member at a Valley hospital, Wieder has women’s interests in mind.

“Tyree has brought her expertise in education and her leadership skills into our organization, and is a role model for young African Americans in the community,” said Perkins, a national officer with the council. “She tells most of us who are mothers or professionals that it’s OK to go back to school. She encourages us.”

Wieder attributes her interest in community service to her grandparents who raised her in their South-Central Los Angeles home.

“Dr. Wieder’s been extremely active throughout her career in promoting women’s issues,” said Jacquie Gordon, co-founder of Haven Hills, a battered-women’s shelter that recently honored Wieder. “She’s just an exceptional woman.”

After earning degrees in sociology and educational psychology from Cal State Northridge, Wieder worked as a career counselor at Moorpark College, where she helped women parlay their homemaking skills into job skills. At the college, she met and married theater arts instructor Les Wieder, with whom she has raised their daughter, now 17.

Wieder joined Mission College in 1981 as assistant dean of student services, where she reached out to women on public assistance and guided them back to work. In June 1995, she was named president of Valley College.

In addition to her job-mentoring activities, Wieder sits on the board of directors at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where she has promoted women’s access to health care.

She is also a member of Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg’s (D-Sherman Oaks) commission on community and women’s issues.

“The challenge facing women is that they must be willing to investigate all their possible options, and not hesitate to get the information they need,” said Wieder, who was honored as a 1998 Woman of the Year by the state Legislature. “They need to get out of their comfort zone.”