Yolanda Astarita Patterson graduated magna cum laude in French from Smith College and received her Master's and Ph.D. degrees in French, with a minor in Spanish, from Stanford University. She has taught courses in French, Spanish, Latin, Women's Studies, Gender, and History of Western Culture at CSUEB, where she has been a member of the Modern Language Department since 1965. Her research has centered on the life and work of feminist author Simone de Beauvoir. Dr. Patterson is President of the International Simone de Beauvoir Society and editor of its annual journal, the Simone de Beauvoir Studies, and its newsletter. She has given papers at conferences throughout the United States and in Canada, France, Ireland, and Portugal and is the author of numerous articles and of a book entitled "Simone de Beauvoir and the Demystification of Motherhood."