Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 31)

In March 1993, two gold miners found Kimberly’s skeleton in the brush near the highway where her car was found. “They told me that they found her remains,” Spector says. “I will never forget that day. My life stopped. I said no, she cannot be dead. I was trying to hold to any hope, but there was no doubt.” As a result of an investigation, David Rademaker was charged with the kidnapping and murder of Kimberly. He was convicted by a jury in 2006. Kimberly’s mother remembers her as a precious child. “She was so smart, so beautiful, she would attract everyone,” Spector says. “She had a special way of enchanting people. She was a blessing. I had a chance to have a daughter, and it was a unique experience to know her as a human being.” As devastating as the loss of her daughter was, Spector forced herself to go on with life. “I trained myself to look at the positive. I didn’t have a choice,” she says. “I had to learn to live with things. When you live in Cuba, people learn to live with many things because they didn’t have a choice. This is the life I have to live, and I have learned to live with it.” Spector hopes that she will one day receive a message from Rademaker, apologizing for the agony he caused her. “It will never bring my daughter back, but he needs the closure and to realize what he has done,” she says. photos Courtesy of university of texas Spector remembers her daughter, Kimberly, as a special child who matured to become a charming, bright young woman. “She had a special way of enchanting people. She was a blessing,” Spector says. A chance to inspire and encourage students As she came to terms with her grief, Spector poured her energy into helping other minorities. As a special projects manager, Above: Spector with the University of Texas at Dallas chess club Right: Spector now serves as vice president of the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement at the University of Texas at Dallas she served on the diversity committee at AT&T Bell Labs and organized a mentoring program for Hispanic employees. “If you are a minority or a woman, you have to work twice as a hard as a white male,” Spector says. In January of this year, Spector returned to school, this time as vice president for the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement at the University of Texas at Dallas. “We’re extremely pleased to add Dr. Spector to the UT Dallas administration,” university president David E. Daniel said at the time of her hire. “Her work as a scientist, her background in technology and business, and her understanding of issues of diversity particularly befit the role she will assume.” Spector remarried in 1993 and her husband, Yves Chabal, is now the Texas Instruments Distinguished University Chair in Nanoelectronics at UT Dallas. As a member of the UT Dallas cabinet, Spector reports directly to Daniel and oversees programs created for minority students, which account for almost half of the student population. She also strives to improve university and community relations. And at the end of a busy day, Spector may visit UT Dallas’ premier Collegiate Chess Team. Spector never had the pleasure of cheering for her daughter as she received her college diploma, but this year, she will applaud as more than 1,500 students graduate from the selective public school known for its engineering, natural science, computer science, and cognitive science programs. Spector sees her new position as a way to inspire and encourage people her daughter’s age. “I’m in this position where I can influence a large amount of people who are looking for encouragement,” she says. “When I help students, I am fulfilling my goal to be a foremother for my daughter. “It’s a little healing in this wound in the side of my heart.” LU sring 2008 31

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Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Alumni News Cover Story: In Galileo's Wake Technically Funny The Healing Game Looking for America The Last Word

Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008

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