Meet Pamela

I hold a PhD in Learning, Teaching and Social Policy from Cornell University, a MA in Foreign Language Education from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA in Spanish from Bryn Mawr College. I have more than 20 years of experience in higher education, including as Director of Professional Development at Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Most recently I have been supporting graduate students at Harvard Law School with their writing and communication skills. I have worked with hundreds of graduate students and scholars on navigating academia, finding their scholarly voice, and building inclusive classrooms and academic communities.

I see the world of higher education through my background in language instruction. My work teaching international students to identify and discuss the unwritten norms and rules of their disciplines as they learn to teach and communicate their research in the US academic context made me keenly aware of the challenges that all graduate students face in becoming professionalized in their fields. I help scholars get in touch with and present their best version of themselves and build strong and successful academic communities. My skills translate across many contexts; I am a builder, a motivator, a collaborator, and a community builder.

Learn more about me on my blog!

Career Highlights

  • Creator of professional communication programs for international graduate students and longtime member of the International Teaching Assistant Interest Section in the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) organization. Read the October 2024 story about Pamela’s work and approach.

  • One of the founding designers of Harvard Horizons, a Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences development initiative in which each year, 8 PhD students are chosen to present brief, compelling talks in a public symposium. The program was created to celebrate interdisciplinary sharing of graduate student research projects, and to provide a cohort of outstanding students the opportunity to hone their skills in presenting their research for a general audience. 

  • Co-author of a high-touch online course on the fundamentals of university teaching aimed at an international audience of new and experienced instructors. The course received the highest Net Promoter Score from student evaluations in the history of GetSmarter.

  • Coach for the winners of the Star Friedman Challenge, scientists who are preparing to present short presentations of their research for the public.

  • Dissertation: Navigating Graduate School: International Students, Institutionalism and Language Ideologies, winner of the Marvin and Ruth Glock Research Award at Cornell University.

About my Approach

One of the challenges that scholars face in building an academic career is that so much of what it means to be successful as a teacher and researcher is left unspoken, or ambiguously defined. How do you demonstrate excellence in the classroom? What is important about communicating the impact of your research, and to which audiences? At Polished Owl Consulting, I believe that you already have what it takes to succeed, and it’s my goal to encourage and support you by helping you clarify the answers to the three most important questions you face in charting your course through your career:

What is your context?

What are the norms and rules of your field(s), and the institution(s) in which you are working (or hope to work)?

What are your goals?

What are you hoping to gain through your pursuits? What kinds of projects and roles interest you?

What do you need to learn?

What skills do you need? How can you develop your identity, find your voice, and present the best version of yourself?

Whether you’re a prospective graduate student trying to decide if a PhD is right for you (or wanting support with your application materials), a new student starting your program, or a faculty member or academic professional looking to expand your portfolio, I am here to help you make the most of your opportunities. Schedule a coaching session or book a workshop for your group, and bring my expertise into conversation with your unique needs and experience.

Meet my Partners

Adam Beaver

Director, Center for Teaching & Learning, Brandeis University

Adam Beaver is a founding partner of Polished Owl and contributor to its online advice guides. Prior to assuming his current role at Brandeis, Adam was Director of Pedagogy at Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning from 2016–2024, where he partnered with me to develop programming for faculty and graduate students. Adam provided leadership and strategic direction for faculty programming, while working closely with faculty and graduate students on topics from effective lecturing to navigating the academic job market. Before his time at the Bok Center, Adam was an assistant professor of History at Princeton. He received his AB, AM, and PhD from Harvard, as well as his MSt from the University of Oxford.