She received her doctorate in Education Administration and Instructional Technology from Texas Tech University in 1988, but has lived most of her adult life away from Lubbock.  Sixteen of those years were in Atlanta, Georgia where she was the Director of Professional Education and an assistant professor at Mercer University, as well as the Director of Distance and Distributed Education for Georgia State University.  She is passionate about teaching and learning and has made multiple presentations on various aspects of teaching and learning in the United States, Germany, England, Switzerland, and Cote d’Ivorie in West Africa.  She is particularly interested in the use of engagement as a strategy for learner-centered teaching with blended and online instruction.