Wow, sometimes I can’t believe my incredible fortune of landing at CBC as an assistant professor. Neither my academic nor professional career trajectories seem to map to where I am now. After obtaining a BS in Chemical Engineering through an Air Force ROTC scholarship, I was assigned my first project management job – as an electronic warfare test engineer. I made almost every mistake a new PM can make. But the Air Force allowed me to continue to hone and refine my PM skills, as well as allowing me to pick up an MS in Industrial engineering and an MS in Management along the way.
I had some absolutely great jobs in the Air Force, such as working on the B-2 bomber; teaching chemistry, physics and computer science at the Air Force Academy Preparatory School; and serving as the Deputy Science and technology Advisor at US Pacific Command – allowing me to interact with major S&T providers from around the globe. After serving almost 26 years in the Air Force, we moved to Washington State and I worked for PNNL, and it was a blast, serving in various roles including leadership, international training, and project management. Then it was time to move on and pursue a bucket list item, my Ph.D., focused on Transformative Learning and become a professor. I completed my Ph.D. when I was 60, and understand many of the life balancing challenges faced by non-traditional students. None of my successful journey would have been possible without the foundation and continual honing of PM skills – happy to show you my dissertation flowchart. Bottom line, I join my colleagues in saying, let us help you be successful.