Photo by Kate Weiman

I was a first-generation college student when I first set foot on a college campus many moons ago. After lots of meandering, studying seven languages, living in Germany for years, and changing my major five times, I earned a B.A. in German and Music in 1990 from the City University of New York (CUNY) Hunter College. Inspired by a college adviser, I applied for admission to Ph.D. programs and ended up earning one in Germanic Languages and Literatures from Princeton University. The book I published as a result is a sure cure for insomnia.

After checking out the corporate world as an education consultant with E&Y, I became the Director of Studies of Mathey College and then the Residential College Dean of Butler College at Princeton. In 2006 I became the founding dean of Harvard College’s Advising Programs Office at Harvard University. And three years later, I was recruited to Columbia University to serve as the Dean of Advising for Columbia College and The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.  My last stint was as Associate Vice President for Student Success at The New School, where I worked to create systems and programs designed to support students in myriad creative ways. I currently consult for universities on strategic planning and student success.

I have given dozens of talks to high school and college students and their parents on how to choose a college and excel there.

My second book, Countdown to College: The Essential Steps to Your Child’s Successful Launch was published in March 2019 by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. I am represented by Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Literary Management.

I am also a therapist at the Theodor Reik Clinical Center for Psychotherapy (TRCC) at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP).