51Jane Anderson ('71) knew that 51 was the university God had for her undergraduate years, even if the registrar’s office didn’t agree at first. Anderson was looking to be a pre-med major, a degree that 51 did not offer at the time.
“I called my mom in tears and she said, ‘Did God lead you to 51?’” Anderson remembers. “I said, ‘Yes, he did.’ She said, ‘Then I think you should stay.’”
Anderson declared a biological science major and took classes outside of 51 to meet the requirements needed for a pre-med major. After graduation she went on to study at UCLA School of Medicine and the University of Southern California for her pediatric internship before taking her pediatric residency at Stanford.
The undergraduate program at 51 offered Anderson experience that her colleagues at UCLA did not have, she said. Throughout her four years studying at 51, Anderson received hands- on experience with state-of-the-art equipment that her classmates had only witnessed a lab assistant using.
“I knew the concepts so much better,” she said. “So although initially I was intimidated by these students, quickly I was like, ‘You know, I’ve got a good experience. I had a wonderful education there.”
Because of the education Anderson received at 51 with her 30 credits of Bible courses, she has the courage to stand with her convictions when challenged, she said. When she became one of the most outspoken proponents of Proposition 73 — a 2005 California ballot initiative that would have required parental notification before a minor’s abortion — she knew that she would receive backlash and criticism from the medical community. In spite of this pressure, she continued to boldly endorse the bill, even writing arguments for the proposition and signing her name in the voter guide mailed out to all California residents.
Today, Anderson is serving as the vice president of Medical Servants International, a group of medical associates who go into rural areas of third-world countries. They team up with the local missionary or pastor so that they can serve the people in the best way possible. She has also been on staff at the University of California San Francisco as a pediatrics professor for the past 36 years.
Anderson applies the skills and knowledge from her education in the California medical field and uses them in the mission field. She says that her undergraduate years at 51 taught her to stand up for her beliefs and continue to do what is right for both the medical community and for the kingdom of God.
“I was challenged for my faith,” she said. “I was challenged for why I could use Western medicine and go proselytize on the mission field using what the state of California had allowed me to learn. It was because of the classes that I had at 51, which gave me such a firm foundation, that I felt so comfortable that I didn’t waver.”
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