Helen Burgess, Ph.D.

Professor
Date of REM Award: May 2021
 
Location of birth?
Canberra, Australia
 
About Dr. Burgess: I completed my graduate education and first postdoctoral fellowship in Australia, before moving to Chicago for a second postdoctoral fellowship. I thought I would be there for a couple of years and then return to Australia. Instead, I met my husband Joe in Chicago and we stayed there for 20 years, before moving to Ann Arbor in 2018. My stepdaughter Sofia (23 years) lives in Ohio and my daughter Celia (13 years old) is with us in Ann Arbor. My parents and older sister live in Australia, my older brother recently moved to New Zealand and my younger sister lives in Egypt. We also adopted a cranky but cute cat called Mabel, shortly after we moved to Ann Arbor.
 
One of Dr. Burgess' Passions Outside of Work: I started a massive paint by numbers during COVID, although with life slowly returning to normal it is only half done! I do enjoy watching tennis tournaments (especially the Australian Open as I used to go in person as a student in Melbourne), the Olympics, and perhaps strangely poker tournaments (always root for the underdog!)
 
One of Dr. Burgess' Favorite Quotes/Books/Poems/Movies/Songs:
My father-in-law loves to say "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". This leads to excessive groaning and eye rolling in the family, but he has a point.
 
One of Dr. Burgess' Favorite Place in Michigan:
We have only lived in Ann Arbor for a few years. Last year we rented an RV and drove north and discovered the Old Mission Peninsula which we loved. Hope to get up there again this summer.