Dr. Camilla A. H. Westenberg is from Arkansas and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education and English from the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff; a Master of Arts degree in Communication, focusing on code switching from the Black dialect to Standard English from Arizona State University, and a Doctor of Education, focusing on Curriculum Development from Nova University. She has a Developmental Education Specialist Certification from the Kellogg Institute, Center for Developmental Education at Appalachian State University.
She is a Phoenix College – English Department professor emeritus There she coordinated Developmental English and chaired the Developmental Education Program. She also advised the Phoenix College NAACP/BSU and was a faculty SAS advisor for the athletic department. Dr. Westenberg created a class titled “Rap Literature: The Oral Tradition” and has presented on the genre nationally and internationally. Previously, she taught general music in the Murphy School District and English and music in the Phoenix Union High School District.
Camilla is involved in various community organizations. Dr. Westenberg is She is also a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. – Delta Beta Omega Chapter. There she has served as vice president, as the public relations chair, and continues to coordinate the annual HBCU Fair. She is also a member of the Phoenix Chapter of the Links, Inc. where she has served a Vice President and Arts Facet Chair. She is a member of the Phoenix Chapter of Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. where she serves as Social Action, Historian, and coordinates the annual UNCF Worship Sunday. She is a member of the Arizona Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee where she chairs the MLK Youth Celebration. She is a life member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). In addition, she is a life member of the NAACP and serves as the Maricopa Country Branch NAACP 2ND vice president for political action. She is on the board of UPI and the Maricopa Community Colleges Retiree Retirees’ Association.
Dr. Westenberg has received several acknowledgements. Among these are having received three NISOD Excellence Awards from The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, the “Forum on Exemplary Teaching” Award from the American Association for Higher Education, the Maricopa County NAACP Image Award for Education, the Arizona Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Living the Dream Award, the MLK Basketball Classic Award for Education, the Maricopa Community College Woman of Distinction Award for Phoenix College, the Carver Museum Community Award, the Dr. Gene Blue African American Leadership Institute Award, the YWCA Pearl of Wisdom award, . a past Soror of the Year for her sorority, and has been inducted into the Phoenix College Alumni Association Faculty Hall of Fame.
Personally, she enjoys travelling nationally and internationally. Her late husband of 26 years was Dr. Irwin S. Westenberg, and she is extremely proud of their daughter, Erica Lucinda Westenberg, Esq. who is a graduate of Harvard University, the London School of Economics, and Harvard Law School and who now with her husband has given her an adorable granddaughter, Isobel Camilla Westenberg-Gowda.