Dr. Shannon B. Wanless began her career as a YMCA Summer Camp Director and a Head Start Teacher. She worked in urban and rural settings, and with children whose families showed incredible resilience in the face of the never-ending challenges of being refugees or being undocumented in the U.S.
Wanless was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Virginia’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning and earned her PhD in human development and family sciences from Oregon State University, her master’s degree in early childhood education from the University of Michigan, and her bachelor’s degree in sociology/anthropology and psychology from Denison University in Ohio.
Shannon is now the Director of the University Center for Social & Urban Research (UCSUR). UCSUR conducts interdisciplinary research to improve communities and address social, economic, and health policy issues.