Linnea Polgreen, professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science in the College of Pharmacy shares about her indirect route.

Tell us about your hometown; how did it shape you?

I grew up in Rockford, IL, which is consistently ranked the worst city in the US, but I thought it was great. I got a great education, and I made many good friends, some that I still see. I also met my husband. He sat in front of me in my English class junior year in high school.

Tell us about your hobbies/outside interests.

I like drinking coffee with friends and reading. I have three children. Two are in college (one at University of Iowa and one at Iowa State), and one is in high school. I try to spend as much time as I can with my kids and glad they are all still in Iowa.

What is your favorite hang out place?

I love the Java House!

Can you share a recent book/movie/performance that you found compelling and why?

I love to attend my kids' music concerts. It is so fun to how they change from concert to concert.

What attracted you to the University of Iowa?

When I was applying to graduate school, Iowa was the first place I was accepted. My husband was finishing medical school, so he put Iowa at the top of his residency match list. We thought we would only be here for a few years, but we never left. I love working at the University of Iowa, and Iowa City is a wonderful place to live!

What shaped your interest in your discipline?

I only took one economics class as an undergraduate. I didn't particularly like it. Instead, I was a math major. After I graduated, I took some economics classes while working in a bakery, and ultimately decided to get a PhD.

How would you explain to a child what you do?

This is very difficult. I am an economist, but I work in the College of Pharmacy. Many people think I am a pharmacist, including my kids when they were young.

What is the best advice you received as a student and do you still follow that advice today?

Do the hardest task first. (I don't always follow this advice, but I try!)

What changes are on the horizon for your work or your discipline?

I think my field will become more and more computationally oriented.

What piece of advice would you give to today's students?

Take as many math and computational classes as you can, regardless of your major.

Where do you see your career taking you?

I love what I am doing. I want to keep doing research and working with students!

In closing, what words of wisdom would you like to share, what quotation or person inspires you, what does the next chapter look like?

There is a saying, "There are many roads to Dublin." For a girl from Rockford, to a math major, to a bakery, to a PhD in economics, to a job in the College of Pharmacy, it hasn't been a direct route. If you would have told me when I was in high school or college that I would be living in Iowa, working in a College of Pharmacy, and that I would love it, I would never have believed it. But, it's been a wonderful road.