Here’s the stripped-down version of the last four decades of my life.  I dropped out of Grinnell College after one year, married my high school sweetheart (Rob Oden, VHS ’65) and went to work as a computer programmer.  Lived in Cambridge, England for two years then returned to the U.S. and went back to college.  Graduated from Brandeis University in 1975 with a B.A. in Classics and a 4-year-old son in tow.  Moved to Hanover, NH, where I spent a dozen years working as an administrator of a small foundation.  A daughter born in 1978 completed the family.

From 1975-89 Rob was a professor at Dartmouth College;  in 1989 he switched to running educational institutions instead of teaching at them.  There’s no ignoring his career because it has had a profound effect on both of our lives.  At one post (The Hotchkiss School) I started researching institutional history and found a new passion.  At the next one (Kenyon College) I started writing about my research.  At our current post (Carleton College) I branched out into town history.  In 2005 my research culminated in a history play which was performed as part of the sesquicentennial celebration in Northfield, MN.

Rather recently I veered off in an entirely different direction as I began analyzing and writing about the peculiar situation of the leader’s spouse.  I have published a couple of articles and am polishing up a book.  Am considering launching a website to serve as a source of support for spouses new to the role.  To the layman it is not at all obvious why the spouse of an academic leader might need support;  it is not always obvious even to us, the spouses.  The basic problem is figuring out how to behave when you are a bit player who just happens to live on the film set.

Our daughter Kate has recently returned to the U.S. after living in Germany for three years.  Our son Rob married a couple of years ago, and his wife Kristin will deliver our first grandchild any moment now.  Other interests may come and go, but family is the bedrock of our lives.