Debra Frey Fadool is proof that Albion students canbalance a successful athletic career with high academicachievement.
Debra was a member of the 1981 MIAA champion women’scross country team, and earned All-MIAA honors in cross country in1984 and on the track in 1985. After breaking the school records inthe 1,500 (4:51) and 3,000 (11:03) meters in 1983, she was therunner-up in the 1,500-meter run and third in the 800-meter dash atthe 1985 MIAA Field Day.
After graduating summa cum laude from Albion, Debra wenton to complete a master’s degree in biology and chemistryfrom the University of Rhode Island in 1987 and a Ph.D. in zoologyfrom the University of Florida in 1993.
Debra has remained active in athletics, formerly coachingthe cross country team at Lesley College and participating intriathlons in Massachusetts and Florida.
Now an assistant professor of neuroscience at FloridaState University, she leads a team of FSU and Yale Universityresearchers who are studying the protein Kv1.3, found in the brainregion that controls information about smells. She was theinaugural recipient of the Women in Neuroscience Merck YoungInvestigator Award for her research.
Debra and her husband, Jim, ’85, reside inTallahassee, Fla., with sons James and Andrew and daughterSamantha.
