She holds a B.A. in Biology from Indiana University, a M.S. in Zoology from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Prior to coming to Purdue, she was the founding director of the Center for Engineering Education at the Colorado School of Mines. She has been a co-PI on several projects funded by the National Science Foundation and served a stint as acting director of the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education. She earned the 2006 and 2007 Helen Plants Awards for best non-traditional session at the Frontiers in Education Conference.