By Carlie Provident

“I wasn’t looking for a job,” Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Thiel College, Elizabeth Frombgen said when talking about finding her current job.
She mentioned that within the job announcement, there was a line which caught her attention and one that she still remembers to this day “Looking for someone to inspire dedicated faculty and staff to achieve their full potentials”.
Frombgen grew up in the Seattle area, so she defines herself as a “Western person”. She went earned her undergraduate degree at Western Washington University in Political Science and earned her master’s and her doctoral degrees at Purdue University.
She said she was inspired to study political science because of “international comparative politics” and that she also “loved anything international,” Frombgen continued, “we as a global society make decisions of the world”.
She reminisced to when she walked on the campus for the first time and how staff kept on apologizing for it being cold and rainy… with this she cheerfully laughed and with a smile she said she “grew up in Seattle where there was rain all the time.”
Frombgen said, what drew her attention towards Thiel College was how wonderful the staff is here. It was the people that brought her here, she felt happy. She also mentioned she had been looking for a new adventure, and a new way she could help people and students.
Thiel College was this new adventure which she wished to go on, Frombgen continued. She says she enjoys coming to work every day and that she always enjoys seeing students and people she works around and with. “It’s the people that make the job worthwhile,” she said.
She also spoke about short and long-term goals for the college. She mentioned that she would like there to be an “advancement program” which would be able to be there to continue and support students at the level that we have to go and obtain strong attractive students. Along with the “addition of masters programs, advanced academic programs in that way, and even scholarships (research pieces) to ensure the advancement of student success for the future”.
Frombgen said “our doors are always open, and we would love to see students up here,” when speaking about changes for the college that might be needed.