What is your job/position?
City manager; chief executive of municipality.
Describe the path that took you from your American Studies degree to your current career or life situation.
After BYU, I got an MBA, emphasizing in management information systems; I was also a map nerd, so the MIS + GIS combo led me to urban planning, where I worked for 20 years before taking on city management responsibilities.
What are the specific competencies you cultivated as an American Studies student that you now use in your professional life and that set you apart from your colleagues?
English, geography, economics, political science, history—I use all of them everyday. I believe the broad approach of my American Studies degree has helped me keep a big-picture perspective in professional settings (and in life).
What are some of the surprising ways in which your American Studies degree has helped you in your professional or personal life?
I’m surprisingly good at Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy.
What do you wish you had known as an American Studies student? What advice would you share with current students?
Do what you love, love what you do.