What drew you to your profession?
Mentors! I have been encouraged or recruited at every step of my career. That started at Iowa State when (then) Honors Program Director Liz Beck ('74 history, MS '77) encouraged me to consider a career in higher education. That prompt led to graduate school then a career in university advancement and alumni relations which inspired my doctoral degree in educational leadership. My practical experience, dissertation research, and personal commitment to community service led to my career in nonprofit executive leadership and fundraising.
What’s the oddest thing in your refrigerator?
Pickled chestnuts—they are used as a condiment, add flavor to dishes, and are largely associated with traditional Scottish foods. Their unique flavor and texture can be compared to an olive or mushroom. I am of Scottish heritage and host an annual Burns Night Supper (Scottish national holiday celebrating the poet bard, Robert Burns).
What is on your reading or podcast list?
The new centennial edition of Etiquette by Lizzie Post and Daniel Post-Senning, he great-great-grandchildren of Emily Post, of the Emily Post Institute. And their weekly podcast, Awesome Etiquette, offers contemporary views on how to navigate personal, professional, and social situations through a lens of consideration, respect, and honesty – tenets we can all benefit from in modern times.