Staff member profile featured in the spring 2024 issue of the department’s equity, diversity, and inclusion newsletter.

Tell us about yourself including your nationality, ethnicity, and culture.

I’m biracial, black/white, and was adopted by a white couple, one of the first mixed race adoptions in the state of Wisconsin. They adopted my brother, who is black/white/Native American, about eight months after me and, a year or so later, my mom found herself raising us as a single parent. This was an unusual family dynamic in the 1960s and throughout our early years, state social service staff would meet with us regularly and my brother and I would occasionally visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison to be interviewed by researchers and take various tests. I’ve never learned the result of these interactions but I’m sure we’re in a case study somewhere!

How did you come to be associated with the Deptartment of Biostatistics? 

I moved to Seattle because I have family and friends here and love the mountains. I worked at Bastyr University for a few years, organizing admissions events, then applied to be the Summer Institutes event manager and was lucky enough to land the job.

Tell us something we’d be surprised to know about?  Hidden talent? Superpower? 

Hmm, I don’t know, maybe my career path? I started in sports communications with a BA in journalism from the other UW, University of Wisconsin-Madison.  I worked first with the U.S. Weightlifting Federation in Colorado where I was a member of the U.S. press staff at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. I then moved to college sports at the Big Eight Conference office in Kansas City (now the Big 12 in Dallas). At the Big Eight, I transitioned from communications to sports event management then joined the championships staff at the NCAA. After grad school at the University of Arkansas (MEd in recreation management), I became the Director of Student Life at Adams State College in Colorado. I was responsible for the rec center, ropes course, outdoor program, intramural sports, and cross cultural center (super fun) before returning to Wisconsin where I worked for the university’s alumni association. I’ve lived in six states (two twice) and have had at least 27 addresses, though I think I’m finally settling down. 

What motivates you? 

People who demonstrate kindness and generosity to complete strangers. To help and support people you have no ties to, to put yourself in harm’s way for people you don’t know, that just leaves me in awe and makes me realize I need to do and be better.

Who/what has inspired you the most and why? 

My mom. She raised us to be independent and supported us in whatever we wanted to do (although, my brother’s stint with the alto sax was a bit painful). She was truly curious about the world around her and, to the horror of her introverted children, was tremendously interested in people and their stories and would talk at length to anyone, anywhere. She made a point of exposing us to a wide-range of learning experiences, taking advantage of as many free/low cost plays, musical performances, lectures, museums, outdoor experiences, etc. as she could find. 

What three words would you use to describe yourself 

Conscientious, independent, down-to-earth.