Mary Jane Keitel
mkeitel [at] uchicago.edu

I've lived in Chicago for almost twenty years. I am in charge of external affairs at the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, the professional school that educates M.A. and Ph.D. level clinicians, academics, social agency administrators, etc. Imagine raising money from social workers and you get a sense of the joys and challenges of my work life. Actually, I like it — spending time with people who have devoted their lives to helping vulnerable people and communities... stop me before I do my entire spiel.

My husband Mark Bouman and I live in Oak Park, first suburb west of the city. We have two boys, Jack and Will, ages 9 and 13. It feels like we are the family shot from a cannon most days — bounding out into the world, occasionally being at home together to eat a meal around the table (yah, right). As a geography and history major at Mac I was destined to marry a geographer (from the University of Minnesota). Mark teaches at Chicago State University and has been department chair for more years than he cares to recall. We do what our kids do — sports, theatre, music. Someday, I will cultivate a hobby.

My Mac Memories: Mac just expanded my world so much. I made good friends (Ann A., Athena, Lisa Miller, Steve Smith, Anne Walsh) and learned how to think, even clearly sometimes. Worst/best memories are of the historiography seminar with Ernie Sandeen and being so intimidated by all those really smart people. To this day, whenever anyone mentions England's corn laws of 1839, I get hives.

I still think it is so cool to have been in the pipe band. I grooved on the urban geography curriculum and the Urban Studies program, which took me to Chicago senior year. And, what a nice campus. Are the things they said went on behind the scenes of the Springfest planning committee really true?