Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but my family moved every three years, so I grew up in Chicago, Omaha, and St. Louis.

When did you join UMRA? In 2021.

What was your very first job? When I was a junior in high school, living in New Jersey, I was hired to file tests in the Psychology Assessment Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. It lasted three weeks, and I was thrilled to receive a paycheck each week. I was offered the job because my father was the director of the Clinical Psychology Program there and was frustrated that the tests were disorganized and hard to find. He created the job for me.

What was your occupation when you retired from FT work? Professor of educational psychology in the College of Education and Human Development.

You devoted your career to statistics education. What inspired you to combine the two? I was driven to find ways to make statistics accessible to students, and to make learning statistics a positive and empowering experience. I wanted to change the way statistics is often taught, which leads students to feel frustrated and discouraged. I used my background in mathematics education (the area in which I received an MA) as well as my doctoral studies in statistics and educational psychology to help forge a new research area and graduate program. It was a great experience, and I loved my professional work. I now enjoy following my former students and watch with pride how they are carrying on this work around the world.

If you could learn a new skill, what would you like it to be? I would really love to be fluent in Spanish. I have been trying, but my progress is slow. I wish I could converse with Spanish-speaking people in Mexico and Spain, where my husband and I like to travel. 

Do you have a favorite place on the U of M campus? I love walking across the old train bridge, behind the Education Sciences Building, that connects the East and West Bank. 

What is a fun fact about you we might not know? I am a passionate cook, and self-published a cookbook/memoir about my life in the kitchen. 

What is something you currently enjoy doing with your time? I love to be physically active. I run almost every day, take yoga classes, swim, and hike. In the winter I like to snowshoe and cross-country ski. I think I am more fit now at age 72 than when I was working full time in my younger years. That is the gift of retirement; more time to do things other than work!