Mary Jurmain '79, CEO and president of Realityworks Inc.  , and co-inventor of the Baby Think It Over®, will speak on campus as part of the College of Education's ongoing Distinguished Alumni Lecturer series.

Jurmain's lecture, "A Hands on Learning: Helping Students Feel the Reality of Life's Decisions," is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Nov. 11 in 3472 Haley Center.  The lecture is open to everyone in the campus community.

Her seven years of general management and four years of professional experience as chief executive officer and president of Realityworks  makes Jurmain an experienced operations executive.  Her areas of expertise include product development, market development, strategy development, customer relations and communications. She also has experience working with educators and youth.

After graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's in secondary education from Auburn, Jurmain went on to complete a master's in library science from the University of Alabama.  She served as a teacher and librarian in the United States and Mexico for two years.

Jurmain later completed her master's in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University, and with it, worked for Krug International at Johnson Space Center.  There, she coordinated a team tasked with designing the medical facilities for Space Station Freedom. After the birth of her first child, Mary became a career mother.

With her husband, Rick, Jurmain invented the Baby Think It Over® infant simulator under the company name Jurmain Prototyping.  She has served as chief executive officer and president of the company since it was formed in 1994.  Since then, the Baby Think It Over® Program has been in the spotlight of more than a thousand media venues, including stories in Forbes Magazine, People Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. It has also been featured on Oprah, CNN, Today and numerous other television programs. More than a million teens have participated in the program.

Realityworks  has been the recipient of several awards including Fortune Magazine Product of the Year 1994.  She and Rick were recognized with Parenting Magazine's Parenting Achievement Award in 1995 and the Freedom Foundation Award in 1996. They were also named 2001 Small Business Person of the Year by the City of Eau Claire, Wisc. The National Association of Women Business Owners named Mary the 2001 Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year. Realityworks was also awarded the 2001 Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year "Social Impact" Award. In 2002 the Small Business Administration named Mary the "Wisconsin Small Business Person of the Year."

Jurmain serves on the Advisory Board of The Parenting Project, a national nonprofit organization that promotes parenting education. She is a Junior Achievement volunteer and in 2003 was appointed to the Governor's Economic Growth Council for the State of Wisconsin.