Deb Thalheimer Long’s career and life since graduating with me from Amherst College have been marked by subtle yet profound transformations. From Wall Street to academia, from the Baltimore public schools to the hospital floor, Deb has navigated big career pivots with intentionality. Now a nurse specializing in wound care and infusion therapy, she brings to her patients the same attentiveness she has offered students, colleagues, and friends: an ability to read people gently, listen deeply, and act thoughtfully.

The conversation explores how her gift for quiet perception, honed at Amherst through the close reading of texts and refined through her study of literature, theology, and now medicine, has shaped her approach to work, family, and community. Her story is one of continuous learning and service, and of finding profound meaning in small, human acts of compassion. Along the way, she shares lessons she’s passed on to her two grown sons, both out in the world now, and the two bits of terrific life advice they’re most likely to say they hear from their mom.

Episode Highlights:

How Deb’s winding path from finance to French literature to nursing reflects a life lived with intention.

The subtle art of listening, and how she uses it to discern both what people say and what they can’t quite express.

What she’s learned about compassion from her students, her patients, and her own aging parents.

The role Amherst played in teaching her to read closely, not only books, but people.

The simple but powerful advice she’s passed along to her children about integrity and accountability.

Plus, she nominates two new classmates to appear in the guest’s chair.

You can email Deb at DeborahTLong22@gmail.com.