Brianne graduated summa cum laude from Framingham State University, having majored in history and minored in secondary education. She was on the dean’s and president’s lists and earned the History Department Award for Academic Excellence and the Alumni Foundation Award. Upon graduation from Framingham, she began her teaching career at Marlborough High School, where she taught all levels of world and U.S. history. She was selected as the recipient of the Model Classroom, served as a NEASC Steering Committee Member, was chosen to be a certified mentor teacher, advised student government and other clubs, and founded and served as co-president of the school’s first Parent Teacher Student Organization. While at Marlborough, she earned a master’s in history at UMass Boston, where, in addition to her own coursework, she served as a teaching and research assistant. In 2007, she directed a program and taught classes for College Academy College Gate in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Through her graduate work, she learned of and applied to National University of Ireland, Galway, for the IRCHSS Doctoral Research Fellowship. She is the only non-European-Union native to be awarded this prestigious fellowship—one entailing coursework, research, and teaching. With a three-year sabbatical from Marlborough, she lived and studied in Ireland, where she completed all of her doctoral coursework; she is now in the process of completing her dissertation on the death and burial customs of Ireland. At Taft, Brianne teaches history and economics and is the faculty advisor to the Papyrus. She lives near campus with her husband, Ryan, and their son and three daughters.