Dr. Sherri Lantinga -- background information

Professional Experience Highlights (link to my current vita for details)

•  Appointed Dean of the Social Sciences (Jan 2007 - present)
• CCCU Women's Leadership Development Institute (2006-2007)
• Appointed Interim Social Sciences Dean at Dordt College (July 2005-Dec 2006)
• Calvin Summer Seminar: Loss of the Self in a Post-Modern, Therapeutic Culture (2001)
• Professor of Psychology at Dordt College (1997-present)
• Ph.D. in social/academic psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago (1998)
•    Dissertation written on the conditions under which people are willing to help or harm others
• M.A. in social/academic psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago (1994)
•    Thesis written on the thinking processes of aggressive and victimized inner-city children
• B.A. in psychology from Calvin College (1989)
•    Senior research paper written on the measurement of attitudes toward overweight people

• Grew up as the older sister in a traditional family in a central Michigan farming town of about 600
• Left home for Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) in 1985
• Married Nick Lantinga in 1988 (yes, we met & married while in college); lived for 2 years in a teeny-tiny apartment while finishing college;
• Graduated from Calvin College in 1989
• Moved to Chicago in 1990 to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago; lived in a northern neighborhood by Lake Michigan that was increasingly "owned" by gangs, and as a result we become heavily involved in community policing
• Samuel was born in 1995 (he likes soccer, climbing trees, reading, and using big words)
• Moved to Sioux Center, Iowa in 1997; bought a house within walking distance of everything but Wal-Mart
• David was born in 1999 (he likes reading, running, and anything with batteries in it)
• Elisabeth was born in 2002 (she likes singing, riding her bike, and reading)

• Perennial flower gardening
• Outdoor stuff: canoeing, kayaking, hiking, bird-watching, camping, geocaching
• Games (Blokus, Hearts, Pinochle)
• Remodeling (especially the de-construction part)
• Reading fiction (favorites include: Atkinson's Case Studies, Haynes' Mother of Pearl, Enger's Peace like a River, Bass' Platte River, Hassler's Staggerford, McClean's A River Runs Through It, Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, George McDonald's children's stories, Alexander Smith's Ladies Detective Agency series, Jodi Picoult's and Anne Tyler's novels, and crime/detective stories by Nevada Barr, Michael Connelly, and Jeffrey Deaver)