San Diego Independent Scholars
Welcoming message from our President
San Diego Independent Scholars (SDIS) is a nonprofit learning community for adults who value intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning. We connect people through lectures, study groups, research, writing, and discussion.
From September through May, we host eight public meetings at North University Community Library and online through Zoom. We also publish Scholars Notebook, offer small grants for members’ scholarly work, and help subsidize UC San Diego library cards for senior members.
All curious minds are welcome to join us.
Program Director describes what it means to be an Independent Scholar
Members You Should Know
Julia Stroud
Julia practiced clinical psychology for nearly 40 years, helping adults, adolescents, and families in the Seattle and San Diego areas. She also consulted with Seattle Children’s Medical Center and fellow professionals on complex cases. As work, divorce, and family challenges raised her own stress, Julia found relief through mountain horse-camping trips and longtime friendships. A beach weekend with screenwriters revealed another talent: she could quickly spot problems with plot and character. That experience launched her second career as a book doctor.
Donald Bamber
After graduating from Stanford, Don became a researcher for the U.S. Navy and collaborated with university researchers, including at UC Irvine. His most influential work was State-Trace Analysis, a method for studying whether one underlying mental process explains the effects of several factors on different outcomes. He developed it while investigating why people with schizophrenia had poorer memory—whether they learned more slowly or forgot more quickly. His 1979 paper later led to a special issue of the Journal of Mathematical Psychology in 2019.
Published Authors
Celebrating the scholarly achievements and literary contributions of our dedicated members. These writers have published at least one work while affiliated with SDIS.
Research Grants
HELEN HAWKINS MEMORIAL FUND GRANT
GOAL: To support scholarly research, creativity, travel, and project-related purposes
1. Submit three copies of the completed application (download the Form above) to the President no later than the last day of February. 2. The application should include: • A statement of the applicant’s background • A concise description of the project • What the project hopes to accomplish; the project duration • A line-item budget and total project costs • Funds currently committed or pledged to the project from other sources (to be named) • Other prospective funding sources 3. Applicants may send letters, tapes, videos, photographs of artwork, and/or copies of previously written proposals tendered to other organizations if such material is available and supports or explains the project more fully.
1. Any SDIS member who has been an SDIS member for a minimum of one year. 2. Neither officers of the BOD nor members of the Awards Committee nor full-time post-secondary teaching faculty are eligible to receive this award. 3. Funds are not to be used to complete the requirements for any academic degree. 4. Only qualified scholarly research shall be eligible
Meet the Board
Officers
Jaime A. Pineda
Robert Glick
Dave Kretzmann
Colette Wengenroth
Lisa Thurn
Directors
President
Administrative VP
Treasurer
Secretary
Executive VP
Tom Pham
Program Director
Edwina Johnson
Membership Chair
Pam Valinet
Director At-Large
Julie Kim
Director At-Large
Carlos Nava
Publicity Chair
A Lifelong Learning Community
Joy Frieman and husband Edward Frieman
In March 2020, along with the first “stay at home” orders because of COVID-19 in California, the San Diego Independent Scholars (SDIS) asked a question: “What could we, as a group, do to support each other during extended periods of lockdown, so that we would have the strength to follow physical isolation guidelines, help limit the spread of virus, and minimize deaths?” This collection of writings was the remarkable result from this creative community.
In 1982, a group of women with PhDs—Joy Frieman, Jane Ford, Reva Greenburg, Alice Marquis, Michele Root-Bernstein, Nina Rosenstand, and Diana Wyllie—founded SDIS. Many were married and raising children while pursuing independent scholarship, and they recognized the value of a supportive community. Aware of the isolation independent scholars often experience, they created a place where members could share ideas, learn together, and build meaningful connections.
They reached out to others who shared this commitment to independent scholarship and invited them to join. Members were encouraged to pursue their research and, from time to time, present their findings to the group. In those early years, SDIS also worked to secure nonprofit status and find a regular meeting place. A UC San Diego faculty member who supported the effort helped arrange a room on campus. With that support in place, SDIS began its journey.
Relationship to Other Groups
SDIS is an independent local organization that is connected to an international network of creative scholars. We share the National Coalition of Independent Scholars' (NCIS) commitment to supporting scholars outside traditional institutions. We welcome opportunities to learn from and connect with the wider independent-scholar community.