A native of Frankfort, Indiana and a fellow Boilermaker, Jen is ecstatic to be back at Purdue as the Global Programs Specialist in the Polytechnic Office of Globalization. While she was an undergraduate student at Purdue, Jen majored in Hospitality and Tourism Management, minored in Spanish Language and Literature, studied abroad in México and Argentina, and worked in the Office of Programs for Study Abroad as an outreach coordinator her senior year. It was from those enriching experiences, she decided to pursue a career in international education.

In 2008, Jen moved to Puerto Varas, Chile for six months to teach English and U.S. American culture as a volunteer for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Chilean Ministry of Education English Open Doors Program. As it turned out, six months turned into five years and over that time Jen taught at several institutions in Puerto Varas, Puerto Montt, and Concepción including Universidad de Concepción, Universidad de Desarrollo, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC), and served as an intern in the Office of International Affairs at UCSC.  

Upon relocating back to the U.S. in 2013, she graduated with her M.A. in International Education from SIT (School of International Training) Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont where she studied abroad for a third time to Istanbul and Yenice, Turkey on a short-term Intercultural Communication course. That summer she had the opportunity to co-lead a five-week study abroad program for secondary students to Buenos Aires and Salta, Argentina with The Experiment in International Living.

Most recently, Jen served as the Director of Study Abroad and International Student Services Specialist at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina from 2013-2019. She is a member of Rotary International and considers herself a life long learner. Jen loves a good book, reading the newspaper, and exploring the great outdoors. She met and married her spouse while working in Chile. They have two daughters, one has four legs.