When Sandra Foster boarded a train in Texas for California, a place she had never visited before, her course was set for more than college — although she didn’t know that at the time.
“I would have never dreamed it would become a lifelong involvement,” she said of coming to Pasadena College (now PLNU). “I didn’t know I was being called to this place at the time.”
Foster earned her bachelor’s degree at Pasadena where she also served as a resident advisor. She then attended Texas Tech for her teaching credential and master’s degree. She spent a year teaching junior high and a year teaching high school in Texas before then-university president Dr. Shelburne Brown reached out to her about returning to Pasadena College as a professor.
Despite some initial hesitation in leaving Texas, Foster answered what she determined through prayer to be God’s call and ultimately spent 40 years as a professor at Pasadena and Point Loma. Within her first year, Sandy met Ben Foster (68), whom she married in 1971. Sandy and Ben’s sons and daughters- in-law are also PLNU alumni: Jason (97) and his wife Bonnie (Layton) (99) and Bradley Justin (BJ) (03) and Dawn (Davis) (03).
“It was a challenge, but as I look back I rejoice at how it’s grown.”
When she first began teaching at Pasadena, Foster was one of only two full-time professors of home economics. After Pasadena College moved to Point Loma, in order to grow her department, she partnered with other programs on campus, including business and psychology. This allowed her to revive and grow programs without needing additional funding.
“It was a lot of work and a lot of collaboration,” she said. “It was a challenge, but as I look back I rejoice at how it’s grown.”
When the university moved to San Diego, Foster became an important part of the expanding Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. She served as department chair and helped write five additional majors. With support from others, Foster established PLNU’s Early Childhood Learning Center as a laboratory preschool on campus to support the child development major as well as to be a service for the campus community.
Dr. Kay Wilder, professor emerita of family and consumer sciences, noted that Foster’s career stood out for her “visionary leadership,” “scholarly expertise,” and “respectful collaboration.”
Throughout Foster’s career, she maintained a special focus on child development and served as a mentor to students.
“I met with every one of my advisees at least a couple of times a year,” Foster said. “I was a good listener to whatever was troubling them and a good encourager. I have been amazed that even in this late period of my life, my students still stop by to see me or send an email thanking me for being there for them. They remember, and that is more rewarding than I ever could have imagined.”
“We should always strive to live for God in a way that makes a difference in the lives of others,” Foster said.
Two 2024 DA awardees, Daryl (68) and Vicki (71) Nicholson, shared: “With unwavering faith, loyalty and love for God, Sandy committed her life to teaching by example in the classroom and on and off campus. Our daughters were two of her department majors whose lives were deeply impacted by her life and by her love.”Â
“We should always strive to live for God in a way that makes a difference in the lives of others,” Foster said.
Rev. Connie Blastock shared: “Professor Foster’s legacy reaches far and wide because of the intentional way she poured into hundreds of students, helping us to discover who we are called to be in Christ. This prepared us to be sent into the world as people who would recognize the God-given value, dignity, and worth of the people around us, and thereby, help those we have influence over to discover all that God has called them to be.”
The mentorship Foster gave to students was something she experienced herself.
“Dr. Jackson and Reuben Welch were my professors, and then all of a sudden, they were my colleagues,” she said of PLNU’s former dean of students and chaplain. “They helped me understand my roles as a faculty member and that they involved much more than just teaching. Dr. [Beryl] Dillman [education department chair at the time] sometimes held my hand to show me what department chairs do.”
Foster also felt her mother’s support. “My mother wasn’t out here, but she was in spirit,” Foster said. “My mom didn’t get to have a college education, but she always encouraged me that I could do anything.”
“I’m humbled and in awe that my little, tiny story is being woven into the vast story of Point Loma,” she said.
Foster went from being the recipient of encouragement and mentorship to giving those things not only to students but to other faculty members as well. She also served on and chaired numerous committees during her tenure. She retired in 2008 but continued to teach part time for another two years.
“I’m humbled and in awe that my little, tiny story is being woven into the vast story of Point Loma,” she said.
