Donna earned her M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh, where she also taught in the English Language Institute.  In addition, she has worked as an Academic Advisor at both the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Cincinnati.  Before joining the Center for ESL at the University of Kentucky, she taught Linguistics in UK's Department of English.  Donna is currently recruiting ESL student musicians to form a chamber music ensemble.

She lives with her husband, a basso buffo who can sing in seven different languages, and her daughter, who is a vampire.