She received her B. A. (Social Work), M. A. (Educational Administration), and Ph. D. (Education) from the University of Minnesota. She has traveled to all 50 states and to 6 continents. Her research agenda includes development and evaluation of approaches to multicultural and diverse education in Minnesota and in the Russian Federation. During the past six years, she has mentored more than 15 undergraduate students (including four from Russia) who have presented oral and poster sessions at the MSU Undergraduate Research Symposium and at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research