Get to Know the Chair: Dr. Cathleen Connell

Dr. Cathleen Connell has been a faculty member of HBHE since January 1989. This January 2014 she began her tenure as HBHE’s Chair. She’s from Southeastern Pennsylvania and her favorite public health theory is Social Cognitive Theory. Why? Because she’s a fan of self-efficacy and its importance to accomplishing goals. Keep reading to get to know a little bit about the woman behind the Chair.

1.     What do you like about being HBHE Chair? What are you looking forward to in this new role?

      My favorite part of the job is working with students, so having a more direct role, meeting students’ needs, planning ahead for curricular matters, and knowing how important it is to inspire students when they’re here because they’re doing great work when they leave.

            My dream would be to get to know all the students that are here. There are some students that I don’t cross paths with from the minute they start until the time that they graduate and I would like to get to know all of them. Lofty goal because the numbers are high!

2.     What’s one of your best graduate school memories?

      

      When I first came my interview was very memorable to me, because I do not have public health training or background. So I was doing a post-doc at Washington University in St. Louis and eating lunch with colleagues, which is something we did every day, and there happened to be a copy of a publication called the Nation’s Health on the table. I was not quite on the job market yet but venturing towards that, and someone pointed out the posting for HBHE and I read it and thought, well that looks like a great job  but too bad for me, I shouldn’t apply because I don’t have a masters degree in public health and my training’s a little different. And someone at that lunch table, a colleague just said, you know, you really should apply because HBHE and public health are very eclectic in terms of their disciplinary focus, and they suggested if they need someone who’s looking at aging and health you might really be a good fit. So I applied and interviewed and the rest is history. So it’s funny how that that one little thing that I would have never predicted sort of changed my path. And I think that’s true for all of our students that you might just not know what is on the horizon in terms of opening doors and changing your life.

3.     Favorite form of procrastination (not that you indulge in it often, or that it’s a part of graduate school life…)?

      

Oh, I’m an expert, actually. Usually for just one issue out of a hundred… So the favorite form of procrastination… Oh, I know what it is. I go on the website for the Humane Society and look at the adoptable pets. I do it a lot. I search for dogs and I search for cats and then I search for other, which are the bunnies, the guinea pigs. They all need help!

4.     Favorite way to unwind after a long day?

      Spend time with my family and my dog.

5.     Favorite food indulgence?

      Soft pretzels. Totally plain, totally plain with a little bit of salt. There might be more but that’s the one that, that’s the one that really gets me going. Soft pretzels are big in the Philadelphia area, it’s sort of a way of life, and I love white flour. I guess that’s the bigger category. I love white flour products, and I know they’re not the best option.

6.     And because we’re finally pulling out of winter, how do you feel about the polar vortex?

      Been there done that. It came, it went. It came back, it went. It came back! I actually like winter, I like four seasons, but, I think the polar vortex is something that we need to put on the shelf and wait a few years before it comes back again. It was cold, it was really cold. One time on my walk to my job, my eyelashes froze together. So just to give you an indication of an occupational hazard.

7.     Final question: favorite TV show?

  

      Downton Abbey

      

      And just as a special bonus, we had Dr. Connell take the quiz “Which Downton Abbey character are you?"

      But first, the reaction to her results...

      Yes! I’m so happy! That’s what I was hoping for. If you had asked me which character I wanted to be I would have said there’s no question. Confirmed!

      So what did she get? Drumroll for the results..!