Paula began working at Rice in 1989, upon the return to her home state of Texas from many formative years in the Appalachian region – Tennessee and Kentucky. She has spent more than 35 years of her time at Rice in the School of Humanities. 

Paula is a graduate (AB) of Berea College in Berea, KY and holds a Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) from Houston Christian University. She is a longtime member of the Rice University Chorale and more recently an associate of Wiess College. In addition to being an avid reader she watches a lot of baseball and football and enjoys traveling (i.e. road trips) back to Kentucky to see her niece and nephews whenever possible.