Anne Russell

Institutional Research
Wildcat Card Office
University Services
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
Computer Center
1974–2005

Anne Russell’s 31-year career and influence was diverse, spanning departments including University Services, the Computer Center, Institutional Research, the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Wildcat Card Office.

A gifted self-starter who always made time to help others, Russell began her service in 1974 in Institutional Research. She was honored that same year as Rookie of the Year by what is now Staff Council for saving a man’s life near campus.

After taking two computer programming classes in 1975, she wrote programs to extract data from the Enrollment Reporting System for Students (ERSS). In 1977, Russell wrote a program to track student retention rates over time, which was adopted by two other CSU campuses. While working in Academic Affairs, she operated one of campus’s first “microcomputers” and converted the division’s paper budget worksheets into electronic spreadsheets.

She spent the mid- and late-1980s providing faculty and staff with software support and computer training, including writing numerous user manuals. In 1995, she became supervisor of the Wildcat Card Office. Just as she did 20 years earlier, Russell taught herself to manage the office’s computer hardware and database.

Russell is described as generous by those who learned and worked with her. Dedicated to the welfare of animals, she formed the campus group Friends of Animals in 1995, serving as president until she retired in 2005. She was also a board member and president of the Butte Humane Society for four years. She learned sign language and recorded the Chico Enterprise-Record and books for the blind through KCHO.

She earned an AA in 1970 from the College of Marin.