I began my career at JMU in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Public Policy & Administration in the Department of Political Science. Prior to this role, I worked in commercial real estate development for several years, as well as positions in local government, public policy, and consulting organizations. While at JMU, I've enjoyed serving in various positions including Director of the nationally accredited Master in Public Administration Program, Founder and Director of the Madison Center for Community Development, and Associate Vice Provost of Research and Scholarship. I enthusiastically joined JMU's School of Professional & Continuing Education (then Outreach & Engagement) as Associate Dean in 2017 and became Interim Dean in August 2022.  I have a Doctorate Degree in Public Policy, a Masters Degree in Public Administration, and an Undergraduate Degree in Political Science.

In my role as Interim Dean, I lead and manage SPCE’s growing portfolio to include our programming and talented staff dedicated to the following areas:  Youth Programs, Adult Degree Program/Bachelor of Individualized Study, Professional Development, Economic Engagement (including both Economic Development and Community Engagement), and our Lifelong Learning Institute.   I also manage SPCE’s economic and community development efforts locally, regionally, and state-wide and represent JMU and SPCE with a variety of internal and external groups. I either lead or am directly involved in several economic and community development initiatives—both internal to JMU and in our community. I work very closely with our economic development colleagues with the City of Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, Shenandoah Valley Partnership, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, and the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center.   

My passion is community engagement and my job as SPCE’s Interim Dean enables me to better connect JMU students, faculty and staff to a variety of stakeholders at the local, regional, state and national levels. I spend a lot of my time identifying and developing partnership opportunities that are linked to academic programming across JMU’s Academic Affairs.  Providing economic development and community engagement programming opportunities, like applied academic coursework, internships, graduate assistantships, training, or fellowships, helps JMU achieve our mission of "preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives.