Col. fulfills life-long education dream Published March 18, 2010 72nd Air Base Wing Communications Directorate TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Feb. 5 will be a date Col. Mary M. Gillam, director, 72nd Air Base Wing Communications Directorate and deputy chief information officer at Tinker will remember for a long time. It is the day she received word from her doctoral advisor that her dissertation had been approved by her school's dean. After four years of hard work, she had finally completed all of the doctoral requirements for her PhD in Management, Information Systems Technology. "Earning this degree is special because it is the terminal degree. After having completed several masters programs, I really wanted to continue my education in my career field. I am so excited because the information I learned in the program was very applicable to my job here at Tinker and at my previous assignment at the Pentagon," Colonel Gillam said. After 28 years of military service, the colonel will retire this fall.