Chris Sanger began as an administrative assistant in the financial aid office in 1981. Five years later she moved to the advancement office and today is the director of donor relations and advancement services.

Q. Forty years with any employer is very rare. What has kept you at Viterbo for more than four decades?

Jedidiah Barton ’17, ’20 credits Viterbo University with shaping the trajectory of his life.

Patty Sullivan O’Brien ’65 has been retired from her career at the Phoenix Zoo for nearly 15 years now, but she hasn’t stopped chasing her passion for working with animals. Today she has become an essential volunteer for the Southwest Monarch Study, raising monarch butterflies right in her backyard.

Avery Cornford always knew she wanted a career in a “helping profession,” but she wasn’t quite sure which one. After visiting Viterbo and meeting with faculty, she discovered the university’s social work program was perfect for her.

Academic counselor and assistant director of the Academic Resource Center (ARC) Melissa Growt received a Christmas card last year congratulating her on being named Viterbo Advisor of the Year. The note was from a former student whom Growt helped succeed academically throughout that person’s time at the university.