Mary joined GLP/CGE in November 2024. She is excited about helping students and faculty members engage in meaningful and rewarding international experiences. As an experienced communicator, Mary enjoys meeting people from diverse backgrounds and finding common ground.

Mary holds both a BS degree in Communication Arts, and an MA in Technical and Scientific Communication from JMU, plus she also taught Writing, thus making her a ‘triple Duke.’ For the past 25 years, Mary has worked in the biomedical field, organizing the content for international life science conferences, and writing / editing technical papers and articles. She worked with leading scientists around the world who are pursuing cutting-edge R&D to design therapeutics and processes that help improve human life.

Prior to teaching at JMU, Mary and a partner ran a publishing business for books and products illustrated with computer-generated 3-D art. Mary is a published poet and has written 3 published books along with over 30 papers and articles. She is also a certified life coach, and loves interviewing people and doing research. Mary has also worked extensively in the theater arts, founding 3 theater companies, and acting / directing for numerous productions.