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Brenda McGuire ’83

New Chance at an old dream

Brenda McGuire remembers growing up in suburban Philadelphia near Merck & Co., Inc., a major pharmaceutical company with a large presence in the area. She set her sights on getting a job there. After earning an R.N. license and working 15 years at local hospitals, she went back to school to get her bachelor’s degree. When the demands of her career and family didn’t allow her the time or flexibility to attend classes locally, she enrolled in the distance education program at Saint Joseph’s College. The courses required self-discipline, but she earned the degree she needed to get a job at Merck.

While busy with work and earning her bachelor’s degree concentrating on business administration, McGuire realized she could spend quality time with her two young children by doing homework together around the kitchen table in the evenings. “I was setting an example,” she says.

At Merck now for 23 years, McGuire did clinical research for the company before moving into a position as Regulatory Liaison (after getting a master’s degree in Regulatory Affairs/Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance from Temple University). She now works closely with the Food and Drug Administration to help get appropriate prescription medicines switched to over-the-counter status.

She recalls fondly the relationships she had with the staff and faculty at Saint Joseph’s. “They make a concerted effort to get to know, care about, and support distance education students,” she says. Looking back at the program that allowed her to get her B.S. degree from home, she says, “It was exactly what I needed.”

Brenda McGuire ’83
B.S. in Professional Arts, Concentration in Business Administration
Regulatory Liaison, Merck & Co., Inc.
Line Lexington, Pa.

Table of Contents
President departs
Come to the Caribbean
Math class to love
Faculty research
Swinging into summer
High on basketball

Reunion: Book it soon!
Photos, photos, photos
Class Notes
Fund for Saint Joseph's

Beijing, here we come!
In a comma coma?
Children of alumni
Dr. House's legacy
Academic muscles

Write letter to the editor
Alumni profile
Campus scene

Doing good in Guatemala:
An online extra

Environmental news