Prior to this, she was an Assistant Professor in the Operational Sciences Department at the Air Force Institute of Technology. She received 3 degrees, all from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: a B.S. in Mathematics, a M.Eng. in Industrial Management Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems. While at RPI she was supported by two Fellowships: the Chauncey and Doris Starr Fellowship and the Sandia National Laboratories and RPI Excellence in Engineering Fellowship.