Kathleen Wage was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and lived in Florida, Colorado, Tennessee while growing up. She graduated high school in Tennessee and studied electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. After a short stint working at Oak Ridge National Lab, she headed to MIT for graduate school. She signed up for the joint program between MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution when she found out the first requirement was a 10 day cruise around Cape Cod on a 125-foot sailboat. Her doctoral work focused on sonar signal processing and deep water acoustic propagation, topics she continues to pursue in her current work as a professor of electrical engineering. Kathleen is a life-long Lutheran and was welcomed by the people of Peace when she moved to Virginia in 1999. She is grateful for this opportunity to serve the Peace community.