Rachel A Blumenthal ►■

Pronouns: she•her•hers

Departments and Positions

Upper School English Department Chair

Credentials

Vanderbilt University, B.A., English and History
Northwestern University, M.A., English
Northwestern University, Ph.D., American literature

Biography

I come to Menlo from the Midwest, where I lived for over a decade. I grew up in Atlanta, but I did my doctoral work in Chicago, a city I’ll always think of as my first adult home. While living in Chicago, I taught at Northwestern University, Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and The Odyssey Project of Illinois Humanities. After graduate school, I taught English at Indiana University Kokomo for five years before relocating to the west coast to join the Menlo community.

I’m passionate about making literature accessible to all audiences, and my work with both the Chicago Humanities Festival and Indiana Humanities instilled in me an abiding commitment to creating public spaces for thought and dialogue. I can’t wait to see what new opportunities await in the Bay Area! When I’m not in the classroom, you can find me writing, hiking, sampling fabulous local restaurants, and playing with my Siberian cat, who is slowly adjusting to the snowless climes of California.