Woodburn High School inducts EOU ed professor into Hall of Fame
Woodburn Independent
Published: June 15, 2004
Woodburn High School inducts second class into HOF
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Hank Vredenburg/Woodburn Indpendent
EOU education professor Lee Ann McNerney was inducted into the Woodburn High School Hall of Fame in June.
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WOODBURN -- Woodburn High School's second hall of fame class was officially inducted last week.
Crossing a broad spectrum of interests and years, this year's class was an exciting one, said Woodburn High School Athletic Director Greg Baisch. "We're just excited about these four new people," said Baisch. This year's inductees are: Richard Jennings, class of 1945; Kathyn Stegen, class of 1977; William (Bill)
Austin, class of 1945; and Lee Ann McNerney, class of 1982.
About this year's class:
Lee Ann McNerney -- A star runner in high school and college, McNerney has never shied away from a challenge.
After graduating from WHS, she
attended Pacific Lutheran University where she ran track and cross country. After spending a semester of her junior year in Spain, she
transferred to Portland State University where she ran cross country and track. She graduated in 1987 with a BA in Spanish.
After college she joined the Peace Corps, serving two-and-a-half year in the Dominican Republic as a health nutritionist. As her term was coming to a close, she was involved in a serious vehicle accident that left her with a left leg amputated and several injuries to her right leg. After extensive therapy, McNerney discovered the joys of swimming and the
World Paralympics for the physically impaired. In 1992 she qualified for the Paralympics team headed to Barcelona, Spain and placed fifth in the world in the 400 freestyle and 400 meter relay.
After earning an MA in bilingual education, she taught elementary, junior high, high
school, and community college before being accepted into the Georgetown doctoral program, where she finished her Ph.D in linguistics in 2001.
Today she is a teacher at Eastern Oregon University in the bilingual/ESOL department.
"I am now head of the department and have a full teaching load," she said. "My hopes for the future are to publish several articles and get tenure at a university. I continue to swim and compete on master's teams when time allows."
