Shannon Gleckler:  

My life is pretty mundane, when compared to my wild, raucous high school years. I attended De Anza and San Jose State, where I studied Marketing and Bus Administration. I was employed in Sales & Marketing with Pac Tel in San Jose, and then Mt Bell in Tucson, until 1990. I had transferred to Arizona in 1982 to be with the man I thought was the man of my dreams. Good thing I didn't marry him, though, because I met a new guy in Arizona who turned out to be my soul mate. We dated and then lived together for a total of 7+ years, then got married in 1989. After I left Ma Bell, I spent 3 years in Public Relations & Marketing with the American Red Cross Blood Program. I absolutely LOVED my job, but I left in 1992 when I had my first child, Katie. In 1993, after taking many vacations to Hawaii, we decided to live in paradise and moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. We lived in Waikoloa, on the Kohala Coast, for 2 and 1/2 yrs. My husband, Anthony, has his PhD in Optical Sciences, and he designed and developed the adaptive optics system for the W M Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea. My second child, Andrew, was born in Hawaii in 1995. Alas, the price of paradise is very high, both financially and emotionally, and we decided to move back to Arizona to be near family. We've lived in Oro Valley, Az ever since. In 2004, my husband and I started our own company (GEOST, Incorporated) doing research and development in optics systems and sensors. We are still pretty small, with just 15 employees, but most of them have their PhD. We have contracts with Northrup Grumman, General Dynamics, the US Navy, Raytheon, Missle Defense Agency, and a number of other aerospace companies. I like to say that I am the "Director of Acquisitions, Aesthetics, Activities and Altruism" for the company. Roughly translated, that means I am in charge of shopping for stuff we need (including keeping the office kitchen fully stocked with free food and caffeinated beverages to keep our employees happy and energized!), decorating the offices, planning the company parties, and overseeing out charitable contributions. It's a tough job... I am fortunate that I've always been able to stay home with my children. I've been a Girl Scout Leader, PTO Chairperson, classroom volunteer, and phenomenal fund-raiser! I currently serve on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Blind and Deaf Children's Foundation. My daughter is now 16 1/2 and my son is 14. Our family pets include a very spoiled and somewhat neurotic (rescued) Border Collie, Lucy, and 2 guinea pigs, Popcorn and Shyla. My daughter is visually impaired, but she doesn't let a little thing like being blind stop her. She skis, scuba dives, rides a horse, and played AYSO soccer for 5 yrs. More than anything, though, she loves to read! I know; a weird hobby for a blind child! When she doesn't have her nose literally pressed onto the page of a book, with a 14x lighted magnifier there to help, she has her earphones on and is listening to audiobooks from iTunes. She especially loves science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as anything Manga. Oh, and she loves to do 1,000 piece puzzles; again, with the help of some mega-magnifiers! She gets almost straight A's in school, and is in the gifted and Honors/AP programs at school. She's a member of the National Honor Society, and aspires to go to Harvard and then become a criminal prosecution attorney. Her real gifts, however, are in math and science (She tests in the top 1% nationally.), and I would love to see her pursue something in an engineering field, since that would mean she could go to work at our business. She has a very sweet and gentle spirit, and ...Expand for more