Meet a Tiger: Lori Dickes

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As soon as she arrived, she felt a connection right away. This Tiger says that Clemson is truly a place that facilitates collaborative activities and learning across the board. Meet Lori Dickes.

Title: Associate chair, Parks Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) and program coordinator, Master of Public Administration (MPA) program

Years at Clemson: 13

What I do at Clemson: I am the new associate chair of PRTM and I also coordinate and manage the master’s degree program in public administration. What I love about these roles is that I still teach, continue to do research that I love but also get to help solve problems, start new initiatives and other administrative efforts that help create better and more effective programs and institutions.

What I love about Clemson: I have amazing colleagues who are committed educators, researchers, staff members and overall good people. To me this is the thing that I love the most about Clemson and continuing to work hard to keep smart, hard working and good people here.

My defining moment at Clemson: It was probably a couple of moments that occurred around the same time. Between 2011 and 2013, I worked closely with two colleagues who supported and believed in me. They were and are amazing mentors. As well, I began working on a project with colleagues from public health that really highlighted for me the potential of these types of research partnerships. So overall, mentorship and a great research team have helped me to find my place here.

Accomplishment I’m most proud of: Completing my Ph.D. with three wonderful children and a husband who traveled all week. In my role at Clemson, I am most proud of helping to get the MPA program back on solid ground and working to grow the program into something nationally recognized.

Where I see myself in five years: I love what I am doing now and hope to build on my current research efforts as well as continue to enhance my leadership, research and teaching skills. I hope I am still learning new things and excited about it.

Last thing I watched on TV: Candy – like Swedish fish and gummy bears, and TV. I love any and all historical fiction TV dramas. Bring on the Tudors.

One thing most people don’t know about me: I am named after my uncle Lawrence (big Lori) because he won the bet that I would be a girl. He was named after the character, Laurie, short for Theodore Laurence, in the book Little Women.

Want to nominate a colleague to be featured in Meet a Tiger? Contact Jackie Todd at jtodd3@clemson.edu. (Don’t forget to ask them first.)

Meet more Tigers here, and check out #FacesOfClemson on Instagram.