Photo: Pat Piasecki
If Beitelspacher needs a pick-me-up on a tough day, she glances at a bulletin board on her office wall that’s covered in student thank-you notes (1). “I really treasure them,” she says. “If a student takes the time to handwrite you a note, it makes it all worth it. It makes me feel like I’m doing something right.”
Another source of inspiration for Beitelspacher is her late grandmother’s diploma (2) from Texas Woman’s University, where she earned a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1971. “She was very important to me,” Beitelspacher says. “I always looked up to her.” After Beitelspacher earned her own Ph.D., her proud grandmother said, “I hope you like being a doctor as much as I do.”
In her research, Beitelspacher examines classroom pedagogy, as well as the retailer-supplier relationship. Her students have investigated retail supply chains, and she has saved a number of their projects (3), which touch on topics such as child labor and environmental impacts. “I’m really proud of them,” Beitelspacher says. “The projects made students more reflective of where they do their shopping.”
Beitelspacher was raised outside New Orleans. The cuisine is what she misses most from her old home. “The food here is good,” says Beitelspacher, “but when someone tries to cook something Southern, it’s not usually right.”
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