College Honors Longtime Teacher

A longtime mathematics and computer science instructor at Moorpark College has been named Most Distinguished Faculty Chair for the 1999-2000 academic year.

Christine S. Ruiz Aguilera was chosen by fellow faculty members for her teaching skills and her coordination of a campus program that encourages female students to major in math and the sciences.

She was also selected in recognition of her work on space exploration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Aguilera, the fourth such faculty member to hold the post and the first woman, has taught at the college for 28 years.

“We have many fine faculty members at Moorpark, but Christine is the finest example of service to the school and service to the community,” said Char Arnold, a public-speaking instructor and president of the college’s academic senate, the organization that bestows the award. “This year, she just stood apart.”

Aguilera, 51, earned a master’s degree in math from UC San Diego in 1972 and joined the Moorpark College faculty. During the 1980s, while working as a math instructor, she earned a master’s degree in computer science from UCLA.

For the last 10 years, the San Fernando Valley resident has spent her summer vacations at JPL, developing software tools for NASA’s Mission Control and the Mars Global Surveyor teams.

Aguilera said her supervisors at JPL regularly ask her to join their staff full time, but she said she politely declines.

“I enjoy teaching, and that’s what I plan to continue to do,” she said.