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Personal Statement

I was already in my late 30s when I washed up on the shores of sociology, after spending many years working in health planning in upstate New York. I did my doctoral studies at the University of Connecticut while working full time as the Planning Director at the United Way in Hartford.

I moved to Portland with my husband Cat Eldridge in 1992. I wrote my dissertation on Determinants of State-Level Health Care Reform while I was working full time at USM, doing health services research at the Muskie School and teaching in the Sociology Department. My own experiences balancing employment and academic work make me very understanding of people in my classes facing similar demands.

Cat and I live in a rambling old Victorian house not far from the Portland campus. We share the space with nine cats, as well as lots of plants, books and CDs. Cat publishes an on-line review 'zine, Green Man Review, for which I regularly write.

If you'd like to know more about my background and rather roundabout journey to USM, please click on the Curriculum Vitae link to the right...

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Curriculum Vitae (pdf format)