Maliha Mendoza Mahmood

Maliha Mendoza Mahmood loves the English language, even though it is her second language. She thinks in English about the names, properties, benefits and constituents of all kinds of plants in her surrounding and beyond. She was born in the Philippines and was taught by teachers trained in the American English language. At the time of the American occupation, all students learned and spoke English in school, including at Mahmood's alma mater, the Holy Spirit Academy in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. Her...See more

Maliha Mendoza Mahmood loves the English language, even though it is her second language. She thinks in English about the names, properties, benefits and constituents of all kinds of plants in her surrounding and beyond. She was born in the Philippines and was taught by teachers trained in the American English language. At the time of the American occupation, all students learned and spoke English in school, including at Mahmood's alma mater, the Holy Spirit Academy in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. Her first English teacher, Rosa Mendoza Bumagat taught her how to play Scrabble(r). It was her uncle, a principal at an agricultural high school, who fostered Mahmood's love of plants, introducing her to the local flora, from flowers to field crops. While working in Bangkok, Thailand, Mahmood met and married a Pakistani engineer. The couple came to America, and in 1982, she became a US citizen. Mahmood now works with her husband in Tustin, California, at MCE Consultants, the civil, geotechnical, and forensic engineering consulting firm he founded. See less