Stories

College of Social Sciences and Humanities

Progress at the Right PACE

“To my students, I always like to talk about how impactful the Northeastern community was for me,” says Marie Ganim, Ph.D.’05. “I hope you’re able to appreciate the program that you’re in and I hope you’re able to appreciate Northeastern professors, because to me, it was very significant and impactful in my life…a lot of [my career] had to do with my Ph.D. [in public affairs] from Northeastern.”

Dr. Ganim, a native of Lincoln, Rhode Island, is no stranger to serving the public sector—her leadership qualities and dedication to public service have landed her positions as Commissioner of the Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner, deputy chief of staff for the Rhode Island Senate President, her current service on an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and as a college instructor.

While at Northeastern, Dr. Ganim embraced the academic community, specifically through her connections with her professors, one of which being former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. “These professors were second to none…and some are still friends and individuals that I can call. We share emails when we find things [in our field] that are of interest to each other.” 

However, Dr. Ganim’s Northeastern experience didn’t end with her doctorate—she made a transition to the other side of the classroom, teaching one class each year in urban affairs and public policy. “The way I was connected to [teach the class] was from my Ph.D. professors,” says Dr. Ganim. “When they knew that I was retiring from the state government…they reached out and said ‘we have this one class we would like you teach’…and it was perfect.” 

Dr. Ganim’s teaching style is reflective of her community-based thinking and emphasis on individualization, as shown through her effort to have one-on-one Zoom calls with her remote-learning students and to get to know them on a personal basis. This philosophy runs parallel with her worldview and the leadership style expressed in her professional career, as proven through her recent appointment to the Board of Directors for PACE-RI, a not-for-profit health plan that offers health services to Rhode Islanders above the age of 55. 

A program operating in Rhode Island for just less than two decades, the concept was created in the 1970s in California through the tradition in Asian-American culture of tending to your elders in your home opposed to in an institutional situation. With that in mind, Dr. Ganim is optimistic about her new board membership and the future of PACE-RI. Beaming, she says that …“it feels like a culmination and good use of my years of experience and advocacy [for public health].”  

To my students, I always like to talk about how impactful the Northeastern community was for me.”

Marie ganim, Ph.d.’05