Graduate Program Manager Angela Thorp retires after 19 years 

By Karen Barrett-Wilt 

When Angela Thorp talks about her 19 years as graduate program manager in the Department of Computer Sciences, she doesn’t lead with policy or paperwork. She leads with people. “I’m really a strong advocate for each and every student,” she says — and if there’s a single thread running through nearly two decades of helping graduate students navigate one of the university’s largest and most competitive programs, that’s it. 

Professor Michael Swift echoes this: “Angela cared tremendously about every graduate student in our program and worked for almost two decades to ensure their success and wellbeing. She knew just about every student by face and name and knew more about their concerns and issues than anyone else in the department. She was an advocate for students and channeled their voices to continuously improve our graduate programs.”

Finding her place 

Thorp didn’t set out to work in a computer science department. Her academic background was in conservation biology, and her early career took her outdoors as a park ranger and chief ranger interpreter with the National Park Service and Virginia State Parks. Later, she spent two years caring for severely disabled, non-ambulatory patients at the Central Wisconsin Center, work that had her considering nursing. When she eventually made what she calls a “life pivot” toward the university, the chance to do work that fit her skills drew her in: caring about people, staying committed to their success, and connecting them with resources nobody had mapped out for them yet. 

Those instincts, she says, came from unlikely places: her time as an ESL tutor, a lifelong connection to international communities, and a systems-thinking mindset that let her see how an individual student’s problem fit into the department’s larger structure — exactly what a graduate program with a large international student body needed. 

Along the way, she also became an advocate for women in computer science, contributing to curriculum initiatives and efforts to broaden participation in the field. 

“I have enjoyed being in an academic environment where people value thought and learning,” she says. Even after nearly two decades immersed in the field, she laughs that she still has “no desire to become a programmer.” 

Meeting students where they are 

Ask Thorp what she’s proudest of, and she doesn’t point to a single award or program. She points to a track record: students who faltered, fell behind, or considered giving up, finding their way back. “That’s my proudest accomplishment,” she says. 

Her method, refined over years of conversations, borrows more from motivational interviewing than traditional advising. A training session years into the job reshaped how she talks to students. Instead of asking “why” — a question she found put people on the defensive — she learned to ask what someone actually wanted. That small shift produced some of her most memorable moments, including a master’s student, close to finishing and still without a job, who admitted the one thing he really wanted to do was write comics. He’d been in the program for two years, and no one had known. She pointed him toward a contact who could help, and he left to pursue it. 

She’s also careful about how much she offers. A lesson from her park ranger days, when a retired doctor told her she gave hikers too many choices at once, stuck with her. Now, when a student walks in convinced they’ve failed, she doesn’t overwhelm them with options. She starts by reminding them of their strengths. “You’re here for a reason,” she tells them. “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t able to do this.” 

Over her 19 years, Thorp also watched the field of computer science transform — from a department known primarily for databases to one increasingly defined by artificial intelligence and machine learning. The pandemic reshaped the graduate experience, too, as remote work replaced the spontaneous hallway conversations that once built community naturally. “We have to create experiences for people that are enough of a draw for them to come together,” she says. 

She also watched students face mounting pressures from a changing job market and, for many international students, growing uncertainty about visas and employment. Through it all, her advice remained remarkably consistent: keep your eyes on the prize, strategize, prioritize, and don’t give up. 

A legacy that continues 

Throughout her career, Thorp believed every student had the ability to succeed, even when they couldn’t yet see it themselves. She listened carefully, asked thoughtful questions, and helped students find a path forward when the way ahead seemed uncertain. 

In retirement, she’s looking forward to a slower, quieter kind of attention: learning to identify the birds in her yard, returning to cello and sculpture, gardening, traveling, and finally learning to row. She plans to keep tutoring English as a second language and volunteer at the children’s hospital that, she says, once saved her own life. 

Her legacy won’t be measured only in graduating classes or program milestones. It will live on in the confidence she inspired, the community she helped build, and the countless students who left her office believing — perhaps for the first time — that they really could make it. As Chair Paul Barford says, “The Computer Sciences department celebrates the dedication, care, and commitment that Angela brought to advising students, whose lives were enriched by her wisdom, guidance, and support. Thank you, Angela, and congratulations on your retirement.”