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Brown grew up in rural northern Wisconsin. “It was all tourist industry up north-lakes, forests, not farm country,” she said. After high school she received her bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

In her junior year, she took part in a specially designed liberal arts program through the University of Wisconsin-Madison which took her to Madrid, Spain. In Madrid, Brown was able to attend, among other things, a class in art history at the famous Prado Museum.

“That was fabulous,” said Brown of the experience. “We lived like kings there because the exchange rate was so good.”
Putting both Spain and Wisconsin behind her, newlywed Brown and her husband later moved to Chicago, where she took a job at a transitional living facility for single mothers. “The women would look for work or get training, or, in some cases, finish high school and just basically learn the system,” Brown said.

Brown and her husband lived at the facility. They served as sort of resident assistants. “One of us was always there in case a fire alarm went off or a toilet blew up,” Brown said.

While working at the facility, Brown also received training as a massage therapist and personal fitness trainer. She started her own business, which she ran for eight years, part of the time in Chicago, and part of the time in California.

Brown’s job description has grown in the three years since she has been at Hamline. Originally hired as an administrative assistant, she is now the Office Manager in the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Risk Management Specialist.

Her current position involves making sure the office has everything it needs to run smoothly, and offering support to Vice President of Finance & Treasurer Doug Anderson and Associate Vice President of Finance Michelle Hegarty when needed.

Due to the office’s central location on the first floor in Old Main, Brown also sees her office as kind of an information center. Chances are, if you’ve ever wandered into Old Main looking for an office that’s nowhere to be found, or wondering just what this building is for, you have talked with Brown.

Brown’s position as Risk Management Specialist also means that she handles all of the insurance claims for the university, and finds ways to cut down on risk through prevention planning for crisis.

Over the summer, Brown coordinated with the Physical Plant on the renovation and re-organization of the Finance office and is currently working with other administrative assistants on campus to bring a greater organization to all of the higher administration offices including the newly created Office of the VP for Academic and Student Affairs.

“I’ve always been interested in education. I like [working here] because it allows me to be with people who are always pushing the edges of education,” Brown said. “The students are always into something, whether it’s the presidential elections two years ago, or rights for somebody, or the Katrina relief effort,” she said.