As you have undoubtedly heard, I am a lifelong Cincinnatian (our children are fifth generation Cincinnatians) and I am a three-time UC alumna: I have very deep roots in the area and in the institution. And as many people have heard me say by now, the return from Northern Kentucky to working in Cincinnati, particularly for my alma mater, has allowed me to feel deeply personal about the professional work that I do here as Dean. This role has allowed me to intertwine my love of academics, UC, the city of Cincinnati and family all at once-allow me to explain.First, I love education and all things academic. I pursued my three degrees one after another, making my formal education last non-stop from age three to 28. Then as a professor, I found it to be one of the very best careers imaginable-I got paid to teach, work with bright students, research, think, advise, read, analyze, mentor, serve, and lead. I truly believe in the power of education to improve society and change the path of people’s lives-learning is transformational.
Second, and related, I discovered a real love for education and diversity as well as the disciplines of communication, marketing, advertising, and politics while at the University of Cincinnati. To this day, I miss being in the classroom with some of my favorite professors. And I know that UC’s investments in me-education, mentoring, and full-ride scholarships for most of my education-have paid significant dividends, and I am incredibly grateful to the university and my professors for shaping my life and mind.
Third, I love the city of Cincinnati. It’s a city with people who can be self-deprecating about itself, often noting what it’s not; however, I love what it is. Some of the reasons I love the Queen City include: beautiful seasons, friendly people, affordable cost of living, approachable Midwestern norms (I speak and wave to everyone), variety of neighborhoods within close proximity, Graeter’s Mocha Chip ice cream, and Skyline chili. What’s special for me is that when I talk about wanting to engage the college and university in partnerships with the community, it’s my community, my hometown (and yours too), and genuinely personal as a result.
Lastly, most of my immediate family live in Cincinnati, and they are a high priority to me. My family is the type of supportive, healthy family that most people hope to have-and my husband and I are raising our three children within a few blocks of them. I know that our children benefit when their grandfather is on the sideline, their grandmother reads to them, their cousins play with them and their aunt hosts them for sleepovers.
In sum, being Dean of Raymond Walters College allows me to have everything I want in my life-meaningful work, passion for education, an important mission, an ambitious agenda to pursue, fantastically talented colleagues and students who are at the center of all we do-within my alma mater and my lifelong hometown, with my family nearby to share in my joy. It’s a really good life and I’m simply delighted to be home again.