GRETCHEN

director OF academic OPERATIONS

Hailing from a small town in nearby Connecticut, Gretchen graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Molecular Biology and a minor in Dance before moving to New York City to dance professionally.  While at Princeton, Gretchen spent much of her time either in a bio lab or in a dance studio, finishing her college career by writing one thesis about the function of cell shape in Caulobacter crescentus (a cute c-shaped bacterium) and performing another thesis work on stage.  She loves teaching, and she gets especially excited to help her students reach the “Aha!” moments that occur when initially puzzling or daunting concepts click for them.  When she’s not teaching or dancing, Gretchen can be found either shopping at the Union Square Farmer’s Market or cooking with whatever interesting ingredients she finds there.