Professor Patricia Wren is an Oakland University professor who is concerned about everyone’s health, including yours.

A suburban Chicago native, Wren came to Michigan with hopes of earning her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. After she received a phone call from a former classmate at DePaul University in Chicago, everything else fell into place.

“I think all people that go into health care have some sort of personal life experience,” said Wren. “Their mom has breast cancer or a friend dies tragically in a car crash. For me, it was just a young man that got diagnosed with HIV in the late ’80s, which was all too common.”

Wren claims that she had a life changing moment. After hearing about her friend’s tragic news, she begged faculty until she was hired in on an AIDS project. She then went on to earn her master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan.

Wren received her associate degree from Harper College in Illinois, her bachelor’s and master’s degree from DePaul University, her master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan.

As a health science professor, Wren is involved with a variety of health care research on and off  campus.

“Right now, I am doing research on women with breast cancer and how to try to help them become better survivors… I’m a little bit of a mutt,” Wren said. “If my colleagues have studies going on and they need my help, then I try to help in any way that I can.”

Wren says her approach to teaching is influenced by her health education background. She says that her master’s degree in public health has influenced who she is and what she does.

“I think you kind of have to be a little creative in order to get people to change their health behaviors and I think my approach to teaching is clearly influenced by that,” Wren said.

As far as bringing her work home with her, Wren’s life is highly influenced by the concepts she teaches to her students. After years of teaching her students about people who do not have access to health care, Wren decided she needed to “walk the walk” in her own life. She sold her home in Ann Arbor and is currently working on a new home located in downtown Detroit.

This semester, Wren’s courses include: HS201, personal health; HS302, community and public health; and Exercise Science 201, stress management.