On December 28, BPWA lost a beloved and valued member of our community. Jane Andersen, a licensed structural engineer, joined our board in July 2022 as the Emergency Services Coordinator. She also participated in coordination meetings with the city engineer, where her extensive engineering expertise and collaborative spirit were invaluable.

“Jane made invaluable contributions to our work on emergency preparedness and the path- building team, including working closely with our partners in the Berkeley Public Works department and strategizing about building new paths and repairing existing ones,” says Janet Byron, former BPWA president.

“On a personal level, she taught me the difference between cement and concrete—a mix-up that I found out the hard way is super-irritating to engineers. Jane, I will never make that mistake again!”

Raised in the U.S. and Europe as part of an Air Force family, Jane attended the University of Notre Dame, where she was in the fifth class of women ever admitted. She graduated with highest honors in civil engineering, leading to a full scholarship for a master’s degree in structural engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

She began her accomplished career at the firm of Toft and DeNevers, designing a range of projects from curtainwalls to seawalls. After a few years of practice, she took and passed the rigorous Structural Engineering Exam and became a registered P.E. and S.E. in California, one of the first few women to become an S.E. in the state.

Jane resumed her career at the firm of Wiss, Janney, Elstner. She became a member of the board of directors for the Structural Engineers Association of California, and worked on such prominent engineering projects as the structural evaluation and repair of the KTLA studio in Los Angeles and the façade restoration of San Francisco’s Russ Building.

In 2019 Jane decided to apply to serve on the California Citizens’ Redistricting Commission. From more than 22,000 applicants, she was one of the 14 Californians who became the 2020 Commission.

“We’ll remember Jane as an enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and engaging contributor,” says BPWA board member Bob Gomez. “We’re grateful for all she brought to our organization and we will miss her very much.”

A wake for Jane will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, February 13 at Northbrae Community Church and a funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. on February 14 at Saint Mary Magdalen Church in Berkeley.