She received her B.S. from the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, then an M.S. in adult fitness and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation at Ball State University. Her Ph.D. was in exercise science (University of Arkansas), where she studied the effects of a power training intervention to increase bone density among pre-menopausal women. After graduation, she taught for three years at the University of Central Oklahoma, where she was also the coordinator of the Kinesiology Laboratory. Currently, she is a Co-Director of the Office for Studies on Aging and the Director of the College of Education and Health Professions - Honors Program.