Success from the University of Houston-Downtown Professional Writing Program: Janis Rosenblatt Rudd
(BS in Professional Writing, 1986)

  By Robert Williams

The Professional Writing program of the University of Houston-Downtown is preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This program is not just about words on paper, it is about the people who learn to effectively use those words. It has been responsible for real successes in the lives of its many students, and one of those successes is Janis Rosenblatt Rudd.

Meet Janis

Janis was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and lived in Florida and California before settling in Houston. She obtained her certification as a Radiologic Technologist. She then began her college education as a computer science major, but quickly changed after ten grueling hours trying to debug a program. Janis sought a new avenue of education, and found what she was looking for in the Professional Writing program that was designed to “Combine the strengths of a solid liberal arts education with practical training and technical expertise.” Her Professional Writing degree opened new doors which, combined with her radiology experience, led to her becoming a manager in the launching of a new training and installation program for Community Health Computing.

A Successful Career with AIM Management Group, Inc.

Earning a M.S. in Occupational Education and Instruction Design from the University of Houston helped Janis obtain an interview with AIM. They were so impressed with her interview style that they created a new position, and she started as a Corporate Document Specialist and Trainer in 1993. Janis progressed through the ranks of AIM to become the Assistant Vice President of the Operations Training Department. Realizing the need for better writing skills, as had also been pointed out by experts such as Geraldine Spruell (1986) in her article, Teaching People Who Already Learned How to Write, to Write, Janis created the Instructional Design/Multimedia group. According to Janis, one of her proudest accomplishments during her career at AIM was the development of the much needed business writing course.

Beyond Retirement

Janis retired from AIM in October 2005. Not content to be just a retiree, Janis decided she would give back to the organizations that had given so much to her. She is currently volunteering time to her church and the Employment Share-The-Knowledge seminar for the Society for Technical Communications. She felt so much started from her degree in Professional Writing that she volunteered to spearhead the planning of the 20th anniversary celebration of this dynamic program.