Mimi Wessling Recognition

Mimi Wessling, PhD, has supported the AMWA Northern California chapter for nearly 20 years.

This recognition was shared by the chapter’s vice president at the 2024 Pacific Coast Conference held in Santa Clara, California.

On behalf of the AMWA Northern California chapter, I’d like to take a moment to recognize a long-time member and supporter of our chapter, Mary Wessling, who is known to friends and colleagues in AMWA as Mimi. Although Mimi could not be here today, I want to share a little about her and her countless contributions to our chapter. In fact, we can’t even find records to verify all that Mimi has done for our chapter. So, what I will share with you are details that we pieced together from what records we have and from the many fond memories that our members have shared. We may have some dates wrong, and we may have missed some details, but even with what we will share today, you will understand why we all appreciate Mimi so much.

Mimi joined AMWA in 2005 (possibly earlier) and has supported our chapter ever since. One of our members shared that “right from the beginning, it seemed like she had always been part of our chapter. She came equipped with all the skills needed to take an active part in a professional society.”

Around the time that Mimi joined, she started supporting our chapter newsletter, the Pacemaker. Mimi supported the Pacemaker as the editor or co-editor from at least 2008, although we suspect that she started soon after joining AMWA in 2005 (possibly earlier). In those nearly 20 years, she recruited writers, edited articles, laid out the design, worked with designers, and managed all activities related to the newsletter. For a while, Mimi even edited and laid out the newsletter for the Pacific Southwest Chapter as well. According to her recent co-editor, Mimi “was the one who made everything happen and always for the best.” But according to Mimi, she spent most of her time “herding cats.”

Mimi also humbly reminded us that she was not the only one who deserved credit for contributing to the newsletter. She always highlighted the important contributions of her co-editors, designers, and writers. Although Mimi formally stepped down from the Pacemaker this year, she still supports our new co-editor and the development of Pacemaker articles.

In addition to supporting the Pacemaker, Mimi made many other leadership contributions to our chapter. She was our web administrator from 2008 (likely earlier) to 2017, and she was our membership liaison in 2010. She was also on the communications committee from 2015 to 2017, and again from 2019 to 2023 (and likely in between, and possibly before). And these details are just the roles we have records of. She has also helped in many informal ways by recruiting speakers, helping to plan and support the Pacific Coast Conferences, sharing her wealth of writing experience with our members, and so many more contributions that we have lost track.

When I asked our seasoned chapter members to share a few words about Mimi, I was amazed, but not surprised, by the thoughtful words that they shared. Most of what follows are direct quotes from our members.

Mimi embodies “the AMWA spirit” and has been “tirelessly devoted to contributing.” She is “helpful, kind, generous, and wicked smart.” She is “always positive,” “delightful,” “witty,” and “knowledgeable.” She is “warm,” “patient,” “gracious,” and “a sympathetic colleague.” She is “engaging,” “a pleasant and interesting conversation partner on many topics” and “great to work—and be—with.” She was “the glue that held the PCCs together,” and she “never failed to improve any project.” She is “welcoming” and “willing to help whenever asked.” And she was asked a lot. When someone would ask a question, you’d often hear, “You should talk to Mimi about that!”

Mimi “went beyond what any volunteer organization could ask of someone.” She has “devoted so much time and contributed mightily to the chapter over many years.” This recognition is “richly” and “SOOO well deserved!”

Our chapter is immensely grateful for Mimi’s many years of support, friendship, and mentorship. Here kindness, generosity, and wealth of knowledge has touched many generations of medical writers in our chapter and across the AMWA organization. Although she could not be here today, please join me in giving Mimi a much-deserved round of applause.

About Mimi Wessling: Mary N. Wessling, known to friends and colleagues in AMWA as Mimi, is a native of eastern Pennsylvania, a region that in her childhood introduced her to very diverse spoken languages, customs, and ethnicities. After her undergraduate years at Cornell University, she received her master’s degree in chemistry (structure of organic compounds) at the University of Pennsylvania. Decades later, her husband took over their household of five teenagers in Midland, Michigan while she commuted to University of Michigan, taught, and completed her PhD in History of Medicine. Her academic teaching career in history culminated at Stanford and led to a year in Germany, thanks to an NIH research fellowship. Currently, she is a freelance medical editor and German translator. Her technical fields of interest are epidemiology and immunology.