GROSSMONT COLLEGE, Sept. 15 –Faculty member Diane Mayne-Stafford died on Tuesday, Sept. 14, from complications stemming from an auto-immune disease for which she had been hospitalized since mid-July, Grossmont College colleagues have reported.
Mayne-Stafford’s husband, Bob Stafford, said her ashes will be spread in Alaska and in England, two locales particularly dear to her. There will be a ceremony celebrating her life within two to four months, and a scholarship fund in her name for students in computer science and information systems is contemplated.
Mayne-Stafford taught Principles of information Technology and Intro to Unix in Grossmont College’s Department of Computer Science & Information Systems (CSIS). The department head, Janet Gelb, described her as “a great friend and colleague…passionate, hardworking, and dedicated.”
For a number of years, Mayne-Stafford was the Distance Education Coordinator for Grossmont college. According to Academic Senate President Dr. Chris Hill, she was “instrumental in implementing and coordinating the College Distance Learning Plan.”
The College Distance Learning Plan is what brings Grossmont College students our online-classes and hybrid-classes. Before Mayne-Stafford’s help, these forms of classes were nearly non-existent at Grossmont College – she helped develop the program; she helped train the faculty.
A lover of nature, Mayne-Stafford’s personal website reflected the following: “I am off campus during the summer and winter breaks. During the breaks I will answer email, but replies may be delayed if I am fishing in the mountains or Alaska.”
On ratemyprofessors.com, Mayne-Stafford was rated highly on clarity, and helpfulness…and rated low on easiness.
Originally from Winchcombe, England, she was graduated from the Cheltenham Spa high school, and later the University of Manchester, which in computer circles was famed for possessing the first stored-program computer and was the home of computer pioneer Alan Turing.
After working as a programmer and computer analyst in England and in California, where she acquired an MBA from the University of Redlands, Mayne-Stafford became a community college instructor.
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Lindquist is a student in the Media Communications 132 class, which publishes the GC Summit
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