As Drew University prepared to make several academic transitions this year, one of them included welcoming back Dr. Vivian Bull, a woman who had previously contributed over 30 years of teaching in the econ department, and served for eight years as associate dean.
While her time at Drew includes over 21 archaeological expeditions in the Middle East, and four Brussels Semesters on the European Community, Dr. Bull’s journey leading up to academia at Drew is even more aweing.
In beginning our conversation, I explained to Dr. Bull that all I would need in this interview was a brief synopsis of her career journey.
With a polite smile and obviously warm heart, Dr.Bull joked, “Well Kimberly, that’s over 72 years of work, you might have to be a little more specific,” she laughed.
As I sat with her just over a week ago to discuss the details for an Acorn story, I realized she would be the perfect fit to follow up last week’s post about Jessie. As one of the first women to work at the Federal Reserve Bank and major in Economics, she appears to be one of the examples Jessie was alluding to when she said that she feels she must continue to advocate for the betterment of women’s lives, because she must tribute the women who have already done as much.
“I grew up in a Swedish family in Northern Michigan,” Dr. Bull began. “The idea of something being ‘for the boys’ simply did not exist. There was a great deal of activity surrounding my family. We skied, did things outdoors, and we did all these things together. I was raised with the mentality that anyone could do anything if they worked hard enough,” she continued.
As she approached college age, Dr. Bull explained that she began to think a lot about becoming involved in church leadership. “But, they weren’t ordaining women,” she said. “I think around this time was when I became aware that there were things women just ‘wouldn’t do,’ she noted as she created air quotations with her hands.
“So, I went to community college first, we all did, in an attempt to save some money, and then I attended Albion College. There, I was the only female Economics major. I worked breakfast in the morning, worked at the bookstore, and was the housemother for my living space.”
While Dr. Bull was given a taste of gender discrimination when she thought about getting ordained, the severity of the situation set in post-college when she applied for a position at a large Detroit bank (the Federal Reserve).
“I got a letter back explaining that they only hired women for secretarial positions,” she explained. But- with nothing more than her own determination to get her to the top of the list, Dr. Bull contacted a male member of the bank that she had met and was eventually hired. “I was the only woman there for quite some time. I eventually recruited another. But then it was just the two of us,” she continued.
From there, Dr. Bull moved on to the London School of Economics, and then with $250 in her pocket, on to the Middle East. “I had this feeling that the Lord intended for me to travel, so I saved up my money and I went,” she explained. “I was born at the end of the depression people really did not have the opportunity to travel around for leisure but I was determined to do so,” she said.
And her prediction about the Lord intending for her to travel may not have been too far off. While traveling through Jerusalem, Dr. Bull met a member of Drew’s Theological School faculty and they were married in 1959.
As she paused the walk-through of her career journey, she smiled nostalgically as she reflected, just for a second, on her wedding night. “It was snowing and 39 below zero on that night,” she smiled. “We moved back here and we lived in Tipple D, [a Drew Theological School residence].”
“I thought perhaps I should still be in banking, but I did some job evaluating after the move to New Jersey,” she explained to me.
Around 1960 or ’61, Bell Abbotsford hired Dr. Bull. This name unfamiliar to me, it took until she stated that, “AT&T had a monopoly,” for me to understand that she was referencing Bell, like mobile phones, TV, Internet, and home phone services, Bell.
She explained that she was initially hired to HR, but eventually many staff positions opened up and she was hired for one of them because she kept herself very involved in the company.
“It was the coolest place in the world to be,” she said. “At this time, there was no computer science happening anywhere. But it was happening at Bell Abbs. It was an all male environment, and then there was me,” Dr. Bull laughed.
“I learned Fortran (a programming lingo) while there, and eventually used it as one of the languages in my Ph.D. It was an incredible learning experience,” she continued.
“It was a very stimulating place. We worked with sound and computer, human factors effecting engineering, satellite transmission tests, princess phones, and tested how people reacted to change. I was actually even used as one of the first computer voices because I’d always pop my head in the lab down the hall to see what they were doing, and one day they invited me in,” she said.
In the mid 60’s, Dr. Bull was asked by a friend of the University to teach an accounting class at Drew two days a week, and following her impressive performance as a professor she was hired full-time. “I was hired under the assumption that I would go back and get my Ph.D. So I did, I applied to Princeton.”
“When I was hired at Drew in ’64, there still a good amount of grief thrown my way for being a woman. And think about it Kimberly, ’64 is not really that long ago,” she said.
“The person who hired me joked with my husband that they should begin to hire more married people because they’d be getting two employees for the price of one. Women were still being paid less than men. It’s shocking to think about right,” she asked.
“From the moment I was hired, I knew that more work needed to be done to change the ideas and attitudes that surrounded women in the workplace. We still needed more women in the workforce,” she said.
While it may seem that a woman like Dr. Bull would have been sought out by the prestigious Princeton Univeristy, her rejection letter, yes, I said rejection letter, stated that they were still not accepting women. “That rejection was pretty recent, actually,” she said. “Can you believe it?”
I couldn’t, but Dr. Bull went on to explain that she then happily attend New York University where she, “never worked harder or had a richer experience.”
But, needless to say, even with a Ph.D from NYU, there were jokes about the University needing to make changes in order for Dr. Bull to have access to a restroom while at work.
Once at Drew, Dr. Bull and her husband still returned to the Middle East every summer. “I think in the years between the early 60s and 96, we only missed one two summers out there,” she explained.
The two engaged in various projects. Dr. Bull’s highlight being her research on the West Bank Under the first seven years of Israel’s occupation. “I served as a link between the economic bank in Israel and Jordan. I eventually published a data collection that engaged a conversation about what was happening between the two parties,” she explained.
In 1988, Dr. Bull engaged with a University Planning Committee Cross Cultural group in Zimbabwe where she served on the board for many years following.
Shortly following her ’88 trip to Zimbabwe, Dr. Bull learned of an opening for the president position at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon “I went for the interview, but then dumped the materials the second I got back to the airport. How could a woman be president, where were all the pivot-stones,” she explained she had asked herself.
“But I was hired. I suggested the school make a change- consider someone for the position who was slightly different, in gender, and they did. I was actually very shocked,” she said.
“When they called me, I told them they would have to re-send me the information packet,” she laughed.
While at Linfield, Dr. Bull helped lead a revolution. She re-made the college town and re-built the community, with help from everyone in McMinnville. “We raised over 100 million dollars and made the vision for what Linfield could be, contagious. We changed everything. Everyone got into it,” Dr. Bull said.
Post Linfield, Dr. Bull even still continued her summer trips to the Middle East. “Yes, there were eventually a lot of children running around South Africa and the Middle East wearing Linfield t-shirts. I accumulated a lot,” she laughed.
“In the midst of all of this, I got a call from Drew, and here I am,” she smiled a large smile.
As we began to touch on her interim presidency at Drew, I thought Dr. Bull’s incredible journey had reached its end. But I was wrong…
“Oh yes, and in ’48 I worked a war refugee camp for women. I helped them learn how to complete small tasks like making potteries, or providing food to tourists. I did what I could to help them turn their culture and trade into commodity and currency,” she said.
Talk about an impressive woman, huh? Well, after sitting down to chat with me about this inspiring journey, and kindly answering my questions for over forty minutes, Dr. Bull asked a few favors of myself and my female readers…
“You can do anything you want to do. Remember that, keep focus, and reach back to those behind us. I’ve lived a very rich and rewarding life thus far. I don’t think I’ve ever turned down an opportunity to travel or be educated. I hope many women will continue to do the same,” she said.
“Women need to begin thinking more about ‘team play.’ We will not do well if we do not mentor the next group,” she continued.
“Think about the women’s movement during all of this. The t-shirt that read something to the likes of: ‘Women need to be two times as good as men…well that’s easy,” she laughed in conclusion.
Plethora of People 