What attracted you to teaching at APU?

It was a great opportunity for me to leave industry and work in a Christian environment. I also had a young family and wanted to be home for them. The school was small at the time and had so much potential for growth.

What is your favorite class to teach?

I love teaching Consumer Behavior. The course examines why we buy. It provides an opportunity for students to determine where they spend their money and how they can become good fiscal stewards.

You home school your children during summer months. What’s on tap for them this summer?

My son is starting high school, so we will be studying English and geography. My daughter wants to learn Chinese. I do not speak the language, but my husband found an international student at APU who will tutor her.

How did 9/11 impact your family?

Our family vacationed in New York, Washington DC, and Virginia last summer. It was an incredible experience for all of us. We had been home a month when 9/11 occurred. It was then that my children realized we could have been at the World Trade Center or in the Pentagon. We have had long discussions concerning how brief life is and how we must enjoy each other’s company. We talked about how God plans our day, and we must be faithful to complete the work regardless of what happens. We have also had to come to grips with the fact that my husband could be called into active duty with the Air Force at any time.

Given the Enron debacle, how are APU business grads equipped to seek excellence and contribute with integrity?

From the time our students begin Principles of Accounting and finish up with Strategic Management, our faculty emphasize integrity guided by the Holy Spirit. Their personal excellence in business can only be achieved by listening to what and where the Lord leads them and never being ashamed or afraid to exhibit their faith. When our students graduate, we are confident they are equipped properly, with the whole armor. They must now make the personal commitment to choose the way of the Lord.

What was your favorite book in college?

Business books were really boring when I was in college--none of them had pictures! There were two specific books I still have on my shelf, however. One was Vance Packard’s Hidden Persuaders. It was one of the first books in print on how Madison Avenue persuades people to buy. The second one was a small book written by Og Mandino titled The World’s Greatest Salesman. He was the only Christian faculty member teaching in the business school at California State University, Los Angeles while I attended. It is a wonderful story about Paul and how he was the first salesman in the Bible. It changed my whole perspective toward business. I began to see it as my ministry, not my career.

If you had your own soapbox car, what would it look like?

It would probably be red with flames on the side. I have always wanted to own a fast car with flames. Is that too much information?