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Biography
I'm really excited to be starting my third year at Bradley. It's somehow odd to realize that some of our entering freshman were born right around the time I began my undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. On the other hand, an awful lot has happened since then. Believe it or not, I began my undergraduate studies as a Journalism major and there is a rumor that I received a D in Biological Psychology II. Neverthless, I completed an honors thesis entitled: The Role of the Limbic System in the Mediation of Schizophrenia: A Synthesis of Emerging Themes, and graduated magna cum laude in 1994.
My graduate studies were performed at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science where I was privileged to be advised by the one and only Francis J. White. While there, I received a Pre-Doctoral National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, published original research reports in Neuron and the Journal of Neuroscience (among others), and, of course, made life-long friends. I defended my thesis (Behavioral Activation and Reinforcement: The Role of D2 Class Dopamine Receptors of the Mesoaccumbens Dopamine System) and earned my Ph.D. in Neursocience in 2000.
Between 2000 and 2003, I served as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Physiology at The University of Chicago under the direction of Dr. Paul Vezina. During this time, I received a Post-Doctoral NRSA from NIDA, published research findings on the relationship between locomotor activation and cocaine-seeking behavior during acquisition and reinstatment of operant cocaine self-administration, and found time to get a Masters degree in Professional Counseling from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology.
In 2003, I accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. As much as we loved our Northeast Adventure, Dawn (who works in the Smith Career Center as Assistant Director of Experiential Education) and I were delighted to be able to move back to the Midwest where we could be much closer to family and friends. We are grateful to have been so quickly embraced by our Hilltop friends, colleagues and neighbors.
Photo courtesy of D.C. Cooper.