Dr. Janet Cameron Hoult has lived, studied, and worked all over the world but called Culver City home since she first settled there in 1970. She told her second husband, Charles Hoult, a rocket scientist, that she would only accept his marriage proposal if he moved to Culver City, and in 1991, they bought a house on Motor Ave. Together they traveled the world, chased solar eclipses, and mentored student rocketeers, until his death in 2016. Janet now enjoys her many step-grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

Dr. Hoult received degrees from USC (Ed.D. in 1980), UCLA (M.A. in 1972), Universite de Grenoble in Grenoble, France (C.E.S. in 1963), and the University of Washington (B.A. in 1958). Dr. Hoult was also a Fulbright Fellow and Lecturer in France.

Dr. Hoult started her life-long teaching career at the Iran America Society and Gendarmerie Mission in Tehran, Iran. She taught for 17 years with the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she was also an ESL Director and Advisor. In the early 1980s, she taught at Bunka Gakuen Women’s College/Fashion Institute/Institute of Language in Tokyo, Japan and, in Korea, she trained language teachers in Pusan and Seoul in programs established by USC and CSULA. In Thailand and Shanghai, as VP of international TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) she was asked to give seminars in cooperation with USIS (United States Information Service). In Germany, she also provided training for language teachers in the Department of Defense schools.

After returning to the US, Janet began working as a Visiting Professor at USC but also took on positions as ESL Training Program Director, Undergraduate Recruitment Coordinator, Continuing Education Coordinator, and Director of the USC/Public Schools Program in the School of Education. In the early 1980s, she became the Director of the California Academic Partnership Program, for the CSU Chancellor’s Office. In 1985, she started as a professor at CSULA, where she taught for 14 years.  She served as Director for the CSULA Center for Effective Teaching and Learning training new faculty members and also served as Acting Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs for two years. While at CSULA, Janet received the Distinguished Service Award, Distinguished Woman of the Year Award, and the Outstanding Professor Award. She is a life member of the CSULA Emeriti Association Board. Since 1998, Dr. Hoult has continued to teach part-time at Pacific States University in Los Angeles. She has also served as a mediator for the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Orange County Superior Court, Juvenile Division, and the Institute for Conflict Management in Santa Ana, CA. Since 2015, Dr. Hoult has taught poetry at the Culver City Senior Citizen’s Center.  

Throughout her residency in Culver City, Janet has been active in Culver City life, sitting on boards and committees, including, among others, the Culver City Sister City Committee, Culver City Disability Advisory Committee, Culver City Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board, Friends of the Library Board, and the Culver City Centennial Celebration Committee. She edited Culver City’s Centennial Poetry Collection, published in 2018. She has even been a member of the local CC Strummers Ukulele Group.

Janet has published numerous volumes of her poetry, which can be found for sale online including: “Body Parts: A Collection of Poems About Aging,” published in 2010, which won a Reader’s Favorite Award; “Where Did The Sun Go? Myths and Legends of Solar Eclipses told with Poetry and Puppetry,” published in 2013, which also won a Reader’s Favorite Award; “Body Language: Another Collection of Poems About Aging,” published in 2015; and “Going to the Dogs and Other Critters,” published in 2018. She hopes to continue publishing in the coming years.  Proceeds from all her books are donated to various charities.

Biography from the Culver City website