Although still a Floridian in many ways, Pamela Price Baker has been with the college for more than 20 years. Seeing students succeed and do great things is what makes her job rewarding. She carries most of her passions into activities. She enjoys making art and music, participating in sports, watching soccer (the real football), improving public education and asking questions. Her most consuming passion is her children and their endeavors. She has one kid in college, one gainfully-employed (HCLA) graduate, and one high school freshman. She is looking forward to seeing movies (in the theater), more live theater, and live music. However, she will no doubt continue be found on one of many soccer fields in the Midwest. Motto: "breathe, laugh, and participate in life."

Sally has worked in the honors office since 1996. She publicizes prestigious scholarships of interest to outstanding undergraduates at the U, advises students on how to apply, and administers the campus nomination processes for such scholarships as the Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, Beinecke, and Udall. A native Minneapolitan, Sally is proud to have lived or attended school in every neighborhood along the entire length of Lake Street from Lake Calhoun to the Mississippi. She has a PhD in Chinese literature from the University of Minnesota and has published a book on representations of mothers in modern Chinese literature. She has a son and a daughter who might actually finish grad school some day. In her spare time she likes to write creative nonfiction, garden, walk her dog, meddle in politics, and watch movies, preferably at the Riverview Theater.

Mary has been advising Honors students since the last century (well, okay, since 1998), and is looking forward to another year of great conversations. (She especially likes the ones starting with “I’m not sure what I want to do in college, but...”) Mary’s worldly experience includes trips down varied and interesting paths including alternative health care, corporate diversity, temporary employment, and academia. She has decided that the academic life is the most rewarding. Mary enjoys the pleasures of singing, reading (mostly) science fiction, writing short fiction, and discussing the meaning of life (the answer is, of course, “42”).

Kit has been an advisor in the College of Liberal Arts for over twenty years, including thirteen years in Honors-CLA. She completed an undergraduate Bachelor of Elected Studies degree at the University (her three areas of focus were English, humanities, and women’s studies), and also received her MA and PhD in English from the University. Her most passionate avocation is theater; she is a dramaturg and occasional performer with various companies in the Twin Cities, and a total Shakespeare geek. She also loves to read (especially fantasy and historical fiction) and to practice playing the lute, which she’s been studying for seven years. Both her children are U of M grads (BFA/ Ceramics and BA/History).

Tom joined the Honors staff early in 2004; he has spent the last 13 years in higher education: teaching Chemistry at the University of Papua New Guinea, teaching English as a second language both abroad and at the University of Minnesota, and more recently as academic advisor. Once a Peace Corps volunteer conducting research on crocodiles in the wilds of Papua New Guinea, he still enjoys traveling when he can, with his most recent trip being to Malawi, Africa. An outdoor enthusiast and naturalist, you might find him birdwatching or hiking at any of the number of parks in the metro area and beyond.

Rebecca Dosch-Brown
Academic Advisor

Rebecca has worked as a university lecturer of Cultural Understanding, TEFL, Literature, and Creative Writing for the past sixteen years in Japan, Detroit, and Tuscaloosa. She also has enjoyed stints as a poet-in-residence, gardener, assistant editor, bonsai apprentice, tile maker, and translator. She graduated from this very same university with an honors degree in English in 1990, then continued on to receive her MFA in Creative Writing and a post-graduate certificate in Educational Technologies. Her current passions are culturally-responsive education, outsider art, blogging, photography, and writing poems. Future passions may include starting an e-business and learning the fundamentals of graphic & multimedia design.

Grant, graduated magna cum laude with a major in English in 2005. His thesis explored character motivation in stories by his favorite short story writer, Raymond Carver, and another literary giant, Katherine Anne Porter, and was entitled, “Why We Do What We Do.” Since graduation, he has eagerly been awaiting his letter from Hogwarts, where he would like to attend graduate school. In the meantime, he enjoys working with Honors students and also CLA science students in his other advising community. When not at work, you can find Grant riding his bike around Minnehaha Falls Park with his partner, Emily, and his dog, Maeby-dog. Maeby-dog is a mixed breed unloved by many of the pure-bloods who support He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but she’s a great dog and may possibly be magical. Grant also has four ferrets—Lionheart, Mally, Isaac, and Kazi—who do nothing good but many things troublesome. Grant’s fish, a clown fish named Simon, once went missing for over a week. It somehow survived that week with almost no water, no heat, no light, and a dowse of freshwater. The fish may also be magical. Like most Honors students, Grant is interested in so many things that he sometimes fears that there’s not enough time or money to do them all. But making a path through all these passions is what keeps his life (mostly) interesting.

Nancy began working in Honors-CLA at the beginning of 2002. She has a BA in English from Metropolitan State University (with a minor in studio arts, emphasis on photography), and a Master of Liberal Studies from the University of Minnesota, emphasis on writing and political science. Now that she doesn’t have to worry about studying, she has time for writing, travel, cooking (which she’s pretty good at), eating (which she’s great at), reading all different kinds of literature, golf, and painting.

Paul serves as one of the career coordinators in CCLC, which means that he teaches career exploration classes (usually ID 1201), conducts presentations, meets with students to discuss their individual career counseling questions, and plans events or special projects. Paul finds that it’s really easy to stay motivated doing career counseling work in CLA and is constantly amazed by the ability of students in the college and energized by helping them develop and implement their career plans. Our students can do nearly anything with their degrees, and they prove this to him every day! Paul is married to his wonderful wife Susan, and their home is run by two dogs—Cavalier King Charles Spaniels named Mabel and Bennie. Paul is also a big sports fan, and in the upcoming months he's looking forward to following the Minnesota Twins and to losing money in his fantasy football league.