My official title is Associate Director for Science, Math,
and Engineering (SME). I’m in charge of faculty development opportunities for
the SME folks. So how did I end up in this position? Tom will tell you that I
simply walked into his office and told him he should hire me; I don’t recall
being quite so bold (when I walked into his office he said, “so, why are we
meeting again?” and I thought, "wow, this is starting out so well" but we talked about
how DCAL might expand and how I might be able to help).
In my previous life I was a tenured Associate Professor in
the Department of Architectural Engineering at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly was generous enough
to grant me a two-year leave of absence (during which I had two children – not
an unproductive two years) to follow my husband to New Hampshire. Staying home with little
people was wonderful but I missed having something other than diapers to talk
about. I first approached Thayer about a position there but my background in
earthquake engineering doesn’t really fit with Thayer’s research areas (big
surprise!).
Thayer does let me teach a couple of classes each year,
however, so I get to continue teaching (something I love).
A part-time
gig in DCAL has been a wonderful opportunity (I get paid to learn more about
teaching and learning and still spend lots of time with my children).
