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Call her Doctor Barbara Kairson

Barbara Kairson, administrator of the DC 37 Education Fund, was one of 192 graduates who recently received their doctoral degrees in education from Capella University.

“That was the realization of a lifelong dream,” said Dr. Kairson, who has worked to manage the union’s education benefits for the last 24 years.

“We are very proud of her tremendous achievement,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “Barbara Kairson stands as a symbol to our students of what they can accomplish through hard work.”

Capella University, based in Minnesota, is an accredited online institution that has graduated more than 14,000 students from the United States and around the world. The doctorates were presented March 14 in Jacksonville, Fla.

For her dissertation, Kairson did research that showed the transformative effect of education on the lives of ethnically diverse union women. Her academic work, which was based on her union experience, helped to inform others about DC 37’s long commitment to education and the innovative work done by the Ed Fund since its creation in 1971.

“I am excited to be able to use this credential in my work with the Education Fund and to develop new programs that will help to meet the increasing demands of current and future DC 37 members for knowledge,” she said.