Dae Ri Park Tenery ’02 works on nano chemistry research in the laboratory at Valencia College, Orlando, where she is a tenured member of the chemistry department faculty.
Chemistry instructional support specialist Kristin Gublo ’92 M ’98, recalls Tenery as a student worker with an “amazing work ethic,” even walking to campus through a major snowstorm to maintain the labs and learning areas over a winter break one year.
“We could always count on her,” Gublo says. “Her teaching abilities were evident to me when I saw her mentoring the other student workers.”
Following graduation, Tenery moved to Florida, where she taught high school chemistry before returning to school to complete doctoral studies at University of Central Florida in 2009. Now, at Valencia College, Tenery teaches a full range of classes, from introductory to organic chemistry. She lives in Orlando with her husband and 2-year-old and 3-month-old sons.
“All these things in my life are possible because of the support I had at Oswego,” says Tenery, who, as an undergraduate, received a Presidential Scholarship and other awards that paid tuition, a steady job in the dining halls to cover food expenses, and a paid internship at Bristol Myers, which she says would not have come to her without the sponsorship of her Oswego professors.
— Linda Loomis ’90 M ’97