Wanda Myers was the first woman to start an OBM consulting service, Behavioral Consultant Services, Inc. She earned her Master's degree in Psychology from Texas A&M long before behavior analysis had a foothold in Texas. Later, living in Pennsylvania, she discovered behavior analysis to help address the special needs of her daughter Kim who was born with spina bifida (and was the first child to be treated with the ventricular shunt that is widely used to relieve cranial pressure today). Wanda worked in education in her early career, landing a job in Beaumont, Texas as Director of Special Education for the school district. Sometime in the 1970s, she was conducting parenting when one of the parents, an employee of E. I. Dupont, suggested the same concepts were applicable to business and industry. Those discussions lead to a major contract teaching Performance Management to managers and supervisors at all levels of the DuPont organizations—a contract that would last for over a decade and bring behavior analysis to thousands of employees at all levels of the DuPont organization. During that time, her company hired a number of behavior analysts, predominantly from Western Michigan and West Virginia. I joined Wanda's company in 1985 and worked for her until 1990, when Judy Stowe and I formed Quality Safety Edge (QSE). In 1991, Wanda partnered with me on QSE's first safety project, then continued to work with QSE on safety improvement projects for over fifteen years. She worked with clients promoting safety until just six weeks before her death from lung cancer at the age of 66.
Wanda touched many people's lives through her work. At Behavioral Safety Now, a conference generally dedicated to behavior-based safety, many people remember the passion she had for a special track that she organized for participants and their spouses on parenting. She formed a stronger personal bond with clients, especially hourly employees, which I have seen very few behavior analysts able to emulate. She could explain behavioral concepts in a way that could be understood by miners in Jamaica or executives in Delaware. She had something to teach us all.
Terry McSween
Quality Safety Edge, Montgomery, Texas, USA
E-mail: [email protected]