Gail Tate '86  has compiled an impressive resume over her years of work, including increasingly responsible positions at AT&T Bell Laboratories, later known as Lucent Technologies.  "I've enjoyed every job I've had and loved working with and coaching people at all levels," Tate says.

Tate began working at AT&T because she was looking for tuition assistance to obtain her bachelor's degree. She first attended Lawrence University and then moved to Naperville after marrying Lawrence Tate '89. She decided a mathematics major would suit her talents and completed her North Central degree over 12 years. "I never thought about how long it would take - you can't focus on that," she says. "But on graduation day I walked. And I remember President Gael Swing telling me how much he liked my name."

Throughout her time on campus as a nontraditional student, Tate was grateful for support from her advisor and professor for many of her math courses, Dr. Richard Wilders, Marie and Bernice Gantzert Professor in the Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of math. "I would meet with him or call after work and on weekends," she recalls.

After retiring from Lucent, Tate found a new outlet for her talents. She was hired by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to manage the Technology Research, Education and Commercialization Center that is part of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

"I was lucky to have mentors and coaches, and then you pay it forward by coaching someone else," she says. "And my advice to everyone in the working world is to say true to yourself."