Biography

I grew up in Edgewood, Maryland, one mile from the gate to the US Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground and about 20 miles from Baltimore. My parents were both depression era babies and were the first in their respective families to attend college. They instilled in me the value of education and the importance of opportunity.

My first contact with Talent Development began as part of a team that created the computer skills instruction program in the Summer Success Program of 1995. My experience with TD Scholars that summer changed the direction of my career. While I thought that I immediately recognized the value of the program: the real impact was that the scholars welcomed me as family. I grew to realize that Talent Development was not only a job – it was a new home – and given the opportunity, I stayed home.

After several years working in the Summer Success Program and as an academic year tutor, I became a full time advisor with Talent Development in 2001. In 2017, I was promoted to Assistant Director.

I hold a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a MA in the Great Books Program at St. John’s College (Annapolis, MD), and a PhD in English from the University of Rhode Island. I also have taken course work at Towson University and University of Maryland-University College.

I have previously worked as a computer programmer and as a technical writer. Over the past 20+ years, I have taught courses at the University of Rhode Island and New England Institute of Technology in Computer Skills, Writing, English, Film Media, Humanities, and Gender and Women’s Studies.