It was not long ago that Anne (Ehrman) Monell (’91) graduated from Miami University’s Honors Program. But in the twenty years since she left Oxford, there has been plenty of change. Some things Anne misses—like being invited by former Miami President, Dr. Paul Pearson, to his house for tea as a senior. Others—like the lack of air conditioning in the residence halls—not so much.

Amidst the change, some experiences remain the same. Anne was fortunate to have had her own computer in her room for two years, making her something of a rarity among her peers. She recalls writing a paper on it, only to have her computer lose power just as she finished her concluding paragraph—and before she had saved.

The younger sister of Chris Ehrman, a ‘89 Miami graduate, Anne often visited Miami to see her older brother. During one of these trips, she heard Dr. Richard (Dick) Nault (a former Honors Program Director) speak about the Honors Program. Because of that talk, Anne says she “knew [she] had to come to Miami.”

While at Miami, Anne earned a degree in Speech Communication (Summa Cum Laude) as well as minors in Music (Vocal Performance) and Italian. She was active in a number of student organizations, including the Honors Women’s Issues Committee (HWIC), National Residence Hall Honorary, Collegiate Chorale and Alpha Gamma Delta. Living on campus all four years, she served as a Resident Assistant and Undergraduate Assistant, plus enjoyed living in Stoddard Hall as a Scholar Leader. Miami gave her the opportunity to study abroad in Urbino, Italy, and her Honors work led to a thesis on female composers at the turn of the 20 th century. “I probably over-extended myself a bit,” she admits.

It was one specific honors seminar, taught by Dr. Kip Alishio (now the Director of the Student Counseling Service and a professor in the Psychology department), that had a major impact on how Anne approached writing. The course required her to write a paper each week. It was this exercise, and Dr. Alishio’s guidance, Anne explains, that “encouraged me to think broader and put more ‘me’ into my writing.”

Anne’s academic experience at Miami has influenced her career. She is now the Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the Community Foundation of Louisville (http://www.cflouisville.org/ ) . This organization is one of Kentucky’s largest public foundations, with a collection of about 1,200 charitable funds used to support charitable causes. Anne has worked for the foundation for thirteen years and is currently a “department of one.” Her role requires her to create a voice for the foundation and employ that voice in a variety of forums including social media, web and email communications, annual reports, publications, advertising, and media relations. Anne says that at a basic level, it boils down to “a lot of strategic planning, a lot of writing and a lot of public speaking.”

With her husband of 17 years, Brian Monell, she is the proud parent of two children: her son, Christopher, and her daughter, Natalie. And while she and her family live in Louisville, Kentucky, Anne does try to visit Oxford as often as she can. She continues to keep in touch with Dr. Nault – including sending him a Christmas card every year and looking him up when she visits Oxford’s red brick streets.