Page 54 - SHS 50th Reunion

Phyllis
Robinson probinso@umbc.edu
It is hard to believe we left Sharon High School 50 years ago. My journey to the present has been fun, challenging and always
interesting. Unfortunately, I will not be able to make the reunion, as I will be returning from the European Retinal Meetings in Helsinki, Finland. I am still happily working and have no plans in the near future to retire. I am a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). I have been on the faculty for over 25 years and I now hold an endowed Research Chair, the Robert & Jane Meyerhoff Professorship. I also have been a tireless advocate for women and other underrepresented people in STEM. I recently became the Program Director for the UMBC MARCU*STAR Program, a NIH sponsored scholarship program to increase under represented minorities in biomedical sciences. I run a NIH funded research laboratory with both graduate and undergraduate students. We study the visual system, as we are interested in how light is converted into a biological signal.
My journey to the present included an undergraduate degree from Wellesley College, a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and post-doctoral studies at Brandeis University.
On a personnel note, I have been involved with my long -term partner, nowspouse, Kathy Marmor for close to 37 years. She is a multi -media digital artist who is now on faculty of UMBC in the Visual Art department after 15 years teaching at the University of Vermont ( yes long distance relationships can work). We have no children but are very close with my brother's three kids. Both of my parents are now deceased, but lived long fruitful lives. My mom died not too long ago at
16. I am back in the Boston area often as my brother is in the area.