Wakeling was recommended to Walter Baird, the then chairman of OSA, who knew of her work in the New York office of Pergamon Press, and had heard that she was not completely happy with the company.

[2] Wakeling would subsequently receive another fund from the National Science Foundation to start up OSA's second journal Applied Optics in collaboration with editor John N. Howard.

The first issue of Applied Optics was released in January 1962, having had 15 months of planning, with Wakeling as Managing Editor, then as editorial consultant.

Wakeling maintained ties with the Washington science and policy scene as many government agencies and scientific societies are based there.

[6] Wakeling donated a painting sometime between 1960 and 1970 titled Ghost Horse made by Woody Crumbo, a Potawatomi artist, to the National Museum of the American Indian.

[7] In her memoriam, Wakeling was said to be remembered "for her enthusiasm, relentless pursuit of perfection, and ability to speak her mind, sparing no one – be it of colleagues, friends, subordinates, or authority figures.