Department of French Dean's Office
FREN 331: Intensive Grammar
FREN 332: The Writing and Reading
of Texts
Q: Where are you originally from?
A: I grew up in Belgium. I lived in France, too. My mother was French, and my dad was Belgian. I lived the first 18 years in Belgium. Between age 18 and age 21 or 22, I traveled a lot. I learned German and stayed in Germany for a while. Then I learned English in London. Then I settled down in Paris where I worked. I got married and lived in Paris until age 27. Then I moved to the States.
Q: Have you been in the States since?
A: I lived in Michigan first and went back to school. I've been in Charlottesville for the past 25 years.
Q: What were your favorite things to do as a kid growing up in Belgium?
A: As a child, I loved to go ice skating and horseback riding. As a teenager, I loved to go to the bars.
Q: Did you attend a university in Europe?
A: I went to an equivalent of what is called the Piedmont College. It was like a commerce school, a two-year degree.
Q: How did you end up teaching here?
A. I followed my husband, who was hired as an assistant professor in the history department.
Q: When you came to America, did you find it difficult to adjust to American life?
A: No, I had a sense of freedom that I really enjoyed. I was just very, very happy.
Q: What do you like most about U.Va.?
A: I enjoy the teaching very much. And I also enjoy being a dean. From those two major responsibilities, what I enjoy most is the contact with young people.
Q: What do your duties as a dean entail?
A: As an assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences, my primary responsibility is to advise students in their academic life -- academic issues, successes, failures, personal well-being or psychological problems. Since my degree was in psychology, I've been able to combine my field, psychology, with my French skills. It all comes together nicely.
Q: How many children do you have?
A: I have two children. One was born in Paris, but he was three months old when we moved to the states. Our daughter was born in Michigan.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
A: During the nice seasons in Virginia, I love to garden. I love to be outside. I also love to listen to music -- classical and a little bit of the old French songs of the sixties. I love those. And I love to read. My favorite novelist is a Belgium writer, who came from the town where I grew up. He writes detective stories. I love to cook, too.
-- Compiled by Laura Good
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