When we had the CHS Class of 1967 20th reunion, Harry said to me:
"Gosh, Marcia, I really thought you would have a Ph.D."  So in 1992 I quit my day job and went back to school and now, Harry, I have one.  [Or perhaps I should say I am one. Clearly, it wasn't a doctorate in English Composition.]

Yes, it has been a wild ride, culminating in 1997 with four months of glorious unemployment [which I chose to call "retirement"] that got boring once the baseball season ended and when I ran out of money.  I accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Education, which was not my field.

But I digress.  There are a few intervening years.  To summarize:

After college [University of Chicago] I went to graduate school in education, taught high school Social Studies, then returned to U of C to get my MBA.  While there, I distinguished myself less for my scholarly endeavors than for my extracurricular activities--I created a tradition called the "GSB Follies," an original student [and now faculty] musical comedy show.  When we did it in the 70's, it was a bunch of us using cardboard boxes for sets and one piano player performing in a lounge. ["Hey, boys and girls, let's put on a show!!!]  In subsequent years, the business students have moved the show to a theater and sell shares in the production. 

After a fling with hospital administration, I entered the world of Higher
Education.  I became Registrar at Illinois Institute of Technology in Fall of 1979, and then Assistant Dean of their School of Business in 1984. But I knew there was more in store.

In 1991 I attended a meeting of the American Association of Collegiate
Registrars and Admissions Officers in Honolulu.  There, I heard a guy give a talk about enrollment management and orientation programs.  He was describing his dissertation work, which he had done with one of the big stars in the higher ed research field.  After the talk, I went up to have a discussion with him.  It turned out that the speaker, Alan Seidman, was from New Jersey.  In fact, his brother had attended College High a few years before we did!!!! [Rob Seidman, I think, possibly in Jay Waldner's class.]  Anyway, Alan served as my inspiration, and I enrolled in a doctoral program.

It was great.  No new clothes, no money, work-work-work.  I started
teaching part-time at IIT to help make ends meet, since my $800/month
assistantship was not quite enough.  Even a fellowship in my last year was more of an honor than an influx of cash!!  But I finished and people now are required to call me DOCTOR.

Of course, this isn't really the end of the story.  Being in the right place at the right time has made it possible for me to turn my post-doc into a permanent position as a curriculum specialist here at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.  I am currently working with our general surgery residents, and with a virtual reality system for teaching anatomy.  The "student loans"[actually, a home equity loan] are finally beginning to disappear.  Hurrah!!!

At this point, no pictures. [Perhaps soon--watch this space as they say.] I'll tell my favorite story about this, although you may have heard it.

It was late in our senior year, and Gary Miller had come to my house for dinner.  I can't remember if this was the occasion when my father thought it was appropriate to mention that Gary seemed to be bleaching his hair.  But I digress.  Anyway, Daddy pointed to my senior picture [pearls and all] that sat on the mantle over our fireplace and said to Gary: "Have you seen Marcia's picture?"
"Yes, Mr. Edison," Gary replied, "but don't feel too bad--nobody's picture came out nice!!"

Stay in touch, everyone.  I'll supply more stuff later. 
M.

Marcia Edison
1039 South Grove Ave.
Oak Park, IL 60304
708-524-0329
marciae@uic.edu