Carol is a PhD professor of psychology at George Washington University, where she has worked for over twenty years after holding similar faculty positions at Texas Tech, Eastern Kentucky, and the University of Arizona. She has studied and written extensively on the issues people face as they move through life stages, including a college text on life-span development. Recently, she has faced two major upheavals: the death of her husband of forty years, and a return to classroom teaching and research after thirteen years as an associate vice president in charge of research, graduate studies, and other aspects of academic affairs. Most of her friends and social contacts are in the university community.