Lives of Consequence
Katherine Vega ’88
Katherine Vega ’88 credits William Smith with helping her overcome an avoidance of the limelight she inherited from her upbringing to find assertiveness she now uses to question even the highest authorities for the common good.
“Growing up Puerto Rican, I was shy and quiet because I didn’t think my opinion was important,” she explains. “It took me a long time to find my inner voice.”
William Smith came highly recommended to Vega by her high school physics teacher. The excellent financial aid package, along with the friendly atmosphere she enjoyed during her campus tour sealed the deal. She majored in biology and says it was her HWS professors who encouraged her to come out of her shell for the first time.
“William Smith gave me important critical thinking and effective communication skills, but also the confidence to challenge the status quo,” she says.
After graduation, Vega took a position as a lab technician at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Two years later, she enrolled in the Ph.D. program in environmental health sciences at New York University, focusing on molecular toxicology and carcinogenesis.
Vega is has spent the past 15 years as a project manager at Intertek Consulting Company, which specializes in toxicology and scientific consulting services to food, cosmetic, biotech, pharmaceutical and animal feed industries to ensure the quality and safety of their products, process and systems.
“At the core I’m a scientist. But I also assess product safety and navigate government regulations,” says Vega, who is not afraid to raise questions as she conducts her analyses.
When the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that all mother should breast feed for at least the first six months of their child’s life, infant formula manufacturers were unhappy with the proclamation, Vega says, and hired her team at Intertek to assess the data.
“The data showed the recommendation was not true except in countries where water quality was poor,” says Vega. “The recommendation required qualifiers but no one questioned the opinion of the respected authority. It’s shocking to me that information by top groups such as the WHO or Institute of Medicine is taken as gospel.”
Today, Vega lives in Hampton, N.J. with her husband Chris King. She enjoys her work and the difference she makes through that work.
“I’m making a contribution that’s important,” she says. “William Smith set the foundation for who I am and how I do my job.”