Work: I am currently the Director of Electronic Media at the California Institute of Technology. Electronic Media is a key communications group within Caltech Public Relations, and my position reports to the VIce President for Public Relations.

The Electronic Media group creates digital communications aimed at Caltech’s external and internal  audiences. These consist of websites, video and audio offerings and slideshows, news feeds, and generally anything which will help Caltech extend its communications “reach”. My key campus clients are  our Development, Admissions and Alumni Association offices, plus upper administration and the academic departments. I also do a quantity of print and exhibit design work, and have recently been very active in branding and identity efforts of the Institute.

I serve as a commissioner for the City of Pasadena on the Commission on the Status of Women, where I am most active in an awareness-raising project on homelessness. This is an oral history and photography project: I’m working with several photographers and a videographer to capture images and stories of folks who are struggling with homelessness.

Prior to coming to Caltech, I ran my own design studio, offering web and print design services. Key clients included the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University School of Business (New York), the Center on Global Brand Leadership (New York), and CEIBS - China Europe International Business School (Shanghai).

Education: I hold an MA Hons in English from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Continuing education since then has included courses in advertising, flash animation and project management (Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA), chemistry, genetics, biology and algebra (University of Minnesota).

Life: I’ve lived in some really wonderful places: in the UK, in South Africa, the upper Midwest of the United States, and California. And I’ve enjoyed traveling too: to China, to photograph new and emerging markets; to Nepal to visit relatives for Desani; to Spain, Portugal and Ireland, touring by bicycle. I lived one year in South Africa, during 1989-90–the year the ANC were unbanned and Mandela was released. I volunteered that year in a small mixed-race school in Hout Bay in the Cape region, where I worked on much-needed repairs on school buildings, and organized donor groups in the town to support the school with food and materials donations.

I most enjoy active pursuits: physical activities like backpacking, running and sailing; creative pursuits, like creating artwork or playing in musical ensembles; and of course, I love to travel anywhere, at the drop of a hat. One of my favorite recent adventures, which combined activity and travel, was running the 2007 London Marathon.