As the Associate Director for Student Programs, Mimi oversees the Grad Center's robust schedule of programming throughout the year. She works closely with Grad Center professional and student staff, as well as with partners, to coordinate programming, resources, and outreach initiatives that educate and engage Penn students on a range of topics relevant to students, with an eye on both the student experience and life beyond Penn. This includes developing and delivering our Navigating the Academy and Graduate Life programming, as well as supporting large-scale events and traditions central to the student experience.
A native of the Philadelphia region, Mimi has her doctorate in Germanic Languages and Literatures within the Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies (FIGS) graduate program at Penn. Before attending Penn, she worked in career services at Cornell University and at Penn Carey Law, where she helped organize large-scale interview programs, small workshops, and learned to create events and services that truly served student needs.
Mimi's experience in higher education administration fostered her interest in pedagogy, university service, and leadership, which she pursued during her own return to graduate school. She served in SASgov as a representative (2018-19), Vice President of Policy (2019-20), and eventually as President (2020-21). Wanting more experience working directly with students, she sought out additional teaching opportunities. She received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by Graduate Students and Department of FIGS Award in Teaching Excellence for her creative and empowering pedagogy based on enhancing student strengths and academic resilience. In her post-graduate career, spent lecturing here and at Villanova University, she taught classes on reading and researching in a foreign language, German literature, and French film.
Outside of work, you can find Mimi spending time with loved ones, going for a swim at Sheerr pool, dancing to whatever is on XPN, reading, or working on a painting.
