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Things to do
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CARLOS ORTIZ staff photographer
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Personal: 39, married with two daughters, ages 9 and 5.
Occupation: Vice Provost & the Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of the River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester. What that very lengthy title means is that I am responsible for all of the libraries on the University’s River Campus. I began at the River Campus Libraries in September 2000 as a part-time librarian.
Community activities: I help coach my younger daughter’s soccer team. Most of my other community activities involve volunteering in activities at the University, such as being a pre-major student advisor and helping to champion a South Asian affinity group, and in volunteering at a national-level in library causes.
My favorite thing to do in Rochester: Riding my bike along the Erie Canal to work and back. It’s about a 20 mile round trip.
Biggest challenge I’ve overcome and how I did it: In 2005, I decided that I wanted to go back to school to get a doctorate in higher education leadership. With two young children and increasing job responsibilities, finding time for classes and dissertation writing was not easy. Whenever I considered the enormity of the task, it was overwhelming, so I tried to focus on the current semester and take it a step at a time. No one could have been more surprised than I when I was handed my doctorate degree in May of this year. Steady, incremental progress does win out in the end.
One thing I’ve always wanted to do but never have: I love to travel and there are several places left on my wish list, including the pyramids of Egypt and the ruins of ancient Greece.
If I could change one thing about myself it would be: I am generally a very restless person. I have to really work hard at relaxing and just enjoying the moment. I wish that general pleasure of life were not so hard for me to enjoy.
The talent I would most like to have: I love music, but my talent for piano and other musical instruments is quite limited. I would love to have the ability of true expression through music.
The one thing I can’t live without: My husband, Michael. It is because of Michael that I have been able to enjoy both a fully family life and a very demanding career. He somehow keeps it all in balance and is always there to step in when I feel like I am stretched to the limit.
The song that best describes my life: Josh Groban’s “Believe”.
One of my favorite sayings is: When I asked my older daughter about this, she said my favorite saying is “Clean your room.” Growing up, my father impressed upon me that “everything you do is a reflection of you.” In other words, you should put your all into everything.
Actress I’d like to portray me in a movie about my life: If she were still alive today, I would want Audrey Hepburn.
