She has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Shippensburg University and a doctorate from The University of Pennsylvania. After a postdoctoral appointment at the National Zoo (Smithsonian Institution) and a NATO postdoctoral appointment at the University of Western Ontario, she came to Loyola in 1988. She has served as chair of the Academic Senate for seven years, co-chair of a successful Middle States reaccreditation review, Interim Chair of the Biology Department, co-chair of the Pre-Health Professions Committee, and as a member of many university-wide committees.