The daughter of a minister, Dr. Beckett desired to choose a field in which she could be of service to others, and found that need satisfied in public health nursing. Upon graduating from a private Christian college in Maryland, Beckett spent time working as a public health nurse in Washington, D.C. She later taught at Howard University in the Department of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, completing her graduate degree at the same time. After many years of teaching at Howard, Beckett and her husband moved to Portland where she began her career at OHSU. In this interview, Dr. Beckett discusses her work integrating the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education curriculum into OHSU nursing courses, committee work, and her opinion on how the school has changed during her time on faculty. As an African American woman, Dr. Beckett also discusses her opinions on diversity at OHSU and the greater Portland area, as well as her impactful doctoral research in trauma in African American adolescents.