Faculty Profile of the Month: April 2009

Early struggle to fit in leads to fruitful research career

By Ashley Wiggin

Growing up biracial in Asia, Mayumi Willgerodt often struggled to find her place in a homogeneous society.

But when Mayumi moved to the U.S. at age 18 to attend Georgetown University, she found herself facing new challenges, trying to make sense of the new culture and norms that she encountered.

“There is a real challenge in growing up as a mixed-race child during my time. You feel like you don’t fit in anywhere,” said Mayumi, assoc. prof., FCN, who is half-Japanese and half-white. While Mayumi was born in the U.S., she grew up in Asia.

Embracing the challenges of her childhood and young adulthood, Mayumi took her early experiences and turned them into a fruitful career. Focused on multicultural health issues and acculturation into U.S. society, Mayumi has taken a special interest in Filipino immigrant families and the health challenges faced by ethnic minorities. She now sits on the board of directors of International Community Health Services, the state’s largest organization providing health care to Asian and Pacific Islander populations.

“Being on the board of ICHS is one of the major things that feeds my soul,” she said. “Seeing the work in action is what validates my work as a faculty member.”

While Mayumi originally chose to join the SoN faculty for the research opportunities, she has become increasingly passionate about teaching and mentoring. She recently was nominated by one of her students for a Celebrating UW Women award. The nominator wrote: “She is a very engaging and compassionate teacher who cares about whether the class work we do is applicable and beneficial to our future careers as students and as young adults.” The award recognizes contributions of University women to the community. Mayumi is also active on the BSNCC and worked to incorporate service learning into NURS 201.

“I enjoy teaching in ways that work with students -- how they learn and what they need is so different from the way they are often taught,” she said.

After graduating from Georgetown with a BSN degree, Mayumi worked in pediatric oncology and HIV/AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health before moving into public health. While working as a public health nurse, she decided to pursue a master’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in public health at the University of Illinois, Chicago, where she also earned her PhD in nursing. After working at Rush University in Chicago, Mayumi joined the SoN faculty in 2001 as an assistant professor.

“I would have conversations with my patients about biculturalism and how being an ethnic minority has affected them,” she said. “That really spawned my interest in family research and public health because I could see the impact of their bicultural upbringing on their health and well-being.”

Mayumi lives in Wedgwood with her husband and two sons, ages 4 and 8. She enjoys exercising, reading and spending time with her family, including her 82-year-old mother who also lives in Seattle.

For more information on ICHS, please visit http://www.ichs.com/