BA, University of Illinois Chicago

Fun fact: In high school Melissa was a competitive programmer, so she was on the road to being an IT professional early on. That experience also developed the superior problem-solving skills that she uses to steady the nerves of both students and staffulty on a daily basis, and all with a 100-watt smile. A formative high school experience was taking fiction writing, which set her loose to dream up whole worlds and gave her life lessons and a drive to create that she still has today. Melissa oversees our student tech support team, the MARMOTs (you’ll have to ask them what it stands for), which works hard to keep all of our systems running smoothly.

Precept affinity: We value communication; we don’t harbor anger or ill will, especially toward ourselves. “I like the idea of being honest not just to the community but to ourselves.”

Favorite Acre lunch: The burger!