Sherry Nassar has been part of the Rice University family since 1995. She retired and returned to work at the Computer Science department in 2013. She said she enjoys her work as an accounting assistant.
“I like being here,” Nassar said. “I love my coworkers, they’re like family. I enjoy working with students. We have a great department Chair, it’s a great atmosphere. I think universities are great places to work. I worked at the University of Houston before coming here,” she said.
Nassar worked in two other departments before coming to CS. First as Administrative an assistant for the executive development program in the Jones Graduate School and then as the program coordinator for the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering (IBB).
“The IBB interdisciplinary high school Summer Academy program we ran in partnership with the South Texas Independent School District and Houston’s YES College Preparatory Schools were especially meaningful and interesting. Most of the students were going to be first generation college students,” she said.
During the academic year, Nassar worked assisting faculty with a variety of tasks, including the formation of the Department of Bioengineering.
Nassar said she enjoys getting to know students and faculty who work in CS because of the variety of applications in the field.
“Most people who come out of CS do it in conjunction with something else. It’s not a stand-alone occupation, there are so many applications,” Nassar said. “The world has become so dependent on CS. No matter where you are going, the medical field or research, it’s a component of every field, even humanities,” she said.
In her spare time, Nassar enjoys taking care of her animals. She volunteered for the Houston BARC Animal Shelter for many years. Her love for animals was the reason why she became a vegetarian 50 years ago.
Memories of living in England, Japan, Germany, British Vancouver, Spain and Canada fill Nassar’s mind these days. She enjoys meeting students from all over the world as well as their families.
“When students who are graduating want their parents to meet us, that’s nice,” she said.
Sherry Nassar is an accounting assistant in the Department of Computer Science at Rice University.
–written by Cintia Listenbee, Communications and Marketing Specialist in Computer Science.