Hall of Fame
Wendy Sanford
by Helen Hatton
Wendy Sanford has had a fast paced, rewarding and challenging career. She travels the world, volunteers her time, and is a first rate photographer. Her life is getting more eclectic and interesting as the time rolls on!
While in high school Wendy heard that Westinghouse wanted women as designers of home appliances. They would pay tuition, give you summer jobs, and you were of course indentured to them for some years after graduation. Wendy was interested and willing to take a required course in electrical engineering. Wendy's father (an internationally respected Plant Pathologist, instrumental in discoveries that led to the principles of antibiotics) decided that this idea ought to be further explored, so invited the Head of the Electrical Engineering School at the University of Alberta over for dinner.
Towards the end of the meal, the subject of Wendy and electrical engineering came up, and the comment was made that he would not tolerate female students in his department. This attitude was not acceptable to Wendy's parents.
Instead, Wendy took her Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics from the University of Alberta, and headed for Montreal to do a dietetic internship.
She worked for a while, then went off to Europe for 4 to 5 months! Upon coming home, Wendy said she liked the idea of a job in business, but went to work in a hospital in Hamilton as that was available. Meanwhile Wendy made cold calls to companies that either had home economists or consumer service departments.
One day, a pages-long telegram arrived from Dr. Lucy Maltby, head of the Corning Consumer Service Department, which she created in 1929. She wrote that the Dean of Home Economics in Alberta, Mabel Patrick, had suggested that Wendy might be just the one to be Corning's Home Economist in Canada.
The rest of the telegram was a fait accompli, Dr. Maltby would arrive in Toronto and Wendy was to meet her at the airport. A command performance. They met successfully, and Wendy agreed...on the spur of the moment...to take the job. To describe it as challenging is an understatement; Wendy spent a total of 6 weeks at home her first year. The rest was on the road, from coast to coast, introducing Corning Consumer products. Her days went something like this: a breakfast briefing, television and radio shows and interviews, a department store demo over the lunch hour, afternoon meeting, and dinner at night with whomever plus the sales staff. Then repeat in the next city for weeks on end.
Wendy had a remarkable career; she was very involved with kitchen appliances including the introduction of the Corning smooth glass-ceramic cooktop, and was involved with consumer microwaves from the beginning. A high point in her career was an extended business trip to Australia for Corning.
Wendy represented CHEA on Metric Commission Canada, an extremely active commission that accomplished a great deal. The various projects included initiating the manufacturing of metric measures and selling kits, raising seed money for OHEIB's A Collage of Canadian Cooking, getting books published on metric, organizing the Metric Media Workshop for food writers and broadcasters across Canada, plus her personal activities for metric such as seminars, presentations and conferences.
Her professional activities and organizations have included CHEA, Home Economists in Business, OHEA, THEA, the Canadian Dietetic Association, SOCAP, the Toronto Culinary Guild, and the Ryerson Advisory Council
She was instrumental in founding the Sally Award, then received it about three years ago!
Does she ever stop? I don't think so...after retirement from Corning six years ago, Wendy started travelling in earnest. She's been to the Antarctic, Tibet and Bhutan, Turkey, Finland, Lapland, Russia, South America and the Galapagos Islands and China three times. Those are just the more unusual spots!
Her interests go further, she really enjoys and very involved in curling, music, sports, and loves mountains as you would certainly expect from an Alberta girl!
Wendy Sanford is a great Canadian, a national treasure , and Wendy, we are so very, very proud of you!