Jill Gassman
I attended Minnesota State Mankato as a non-traditional student and single parent. What I most appreciated were the professors who believed in me and provided me not only academic support, but also personal support. I am forever grateful and feel blessed that so many of my professors helped so much in my journey to better my life and the future for my son; I contribute a large portion of my success to Dr. Rife, Dr. Salerno, Dr. Mercurio, Dr. Nielsen, and Joe McGrath.
The education that I received at Minnesota State Mankato provided me both an interest in and a path toward graduate school. Drs. Salerno, Rife and Mercurio each involved me in undergraduate research and those opportunities sparked my passion for research. I was also given the opportunity to be a Teaching Assistant for laboratory classes while I attended MSU, which prepared me for serving that role during graduate school. Lastly, during my experience at the University of Iowa, I discovered that much of the course work I took at Mankato provided a solid academic foundation for my graduate school course work.
After receiving my Masters degree at the University of Iowa in Preventative Medicine and Environmental Health, I entered the military. In the military I served as an Industrial Hygiene Officer, which included deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom. When I returned from that deployment, I remained with the military and worked for Battelle Memorial Institute as a Senior Research Scientist that provided support to the Naval Post Graduate School. When I left the military, I continued to work in various roles related to Environmental Health and Safety which led to my current position with SunEdison, where I work as a Regional Environmental Health and Safety Professional.
