Dr. Deb Renshaw has been the Undergraduate Advisor for the ChBE Department since 2012. She earned her doctorate in Business Education with a focus in Communication from Oklahoma State University. She taught for nearly a decade before making a career change into the mental health field. In 1991, she returned to grad school to earn a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, obtained her clinical license and opened a private practice in Port Townsend, WA where she worked mainly with couples. During that time Deb also wrote a weekly newspaper column entitled, “Dialogue on Difference” focusing on people in the Port Townsend community. Deb then landed a senior staff position with the University of Vermont where she provided counseling, crisis management, supervision of master’s and doctoral counseling students, university outreach, and training for staff and administration.
Also, while in Vermont, Deb completed Vermont State Certification as a Firefighter and First Responder, and was a volunteer Firefighter with the Essex Junction Fire Department. When Deb decided to leave the mental health field, she served as the Communication Director for Tele-Consultants, Inc. (TCI), a small defense contractor based in Atlanta, GA. While in Georgia, Deb graduated from the Police Academy; however, due to budget cuts and her ultimate layoff from TCI, Deb saw this as the opportunity to return to higher education, where her heart sings, and she’s very excited to be an Engineering Advising Buff!
Deb’s personal interests include playing in bands, doing stand-up comedy, acting in community theatre, reading, writing, sports, being kind to animals (both two and four-legged), and many other activities.