Debra Armand-Cade

I was born and raised in Chicago and moved to Tucson in 2019 when I joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as the Senior Academic Advisor. I’ve worked in higher education for 18 years and an Academic Advisor for 15 of those years. I completed a BS in Human Resources Management and MS in Instructional Design and Technology from Purdue University and Purdue University Global, respectively.

What I enjoy the most about advising is building relationships with students. No two advising relationships look the same as each student has their own unique needs. Being genuine, open and honest helps to foster these relationships and establish trust and rapport for both the advisor and the advisee. I am so excited to join the Academic Services and Support team as I have the opportunity to continue to support students but also support and mentor the dedicated and talented CS advisors.

In my free time, I enjoy knitting or doing something crafty or doing absolutely nothing. I look forward to weekly FaceTime calls with my three grandsons (Xavier, Kenzo and Ezra). I am not athletic at all (my kids got all that talent), but I enjoy watching football. During football season you will find me in high school stands somewhere cheering my youngest on at least until he graduates.

Favorite books: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Color Purple, Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Notes of a Native Son, If Beale Street Could Talk, Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Four Agreements
Favorite TV Shows: Abbott Elementary, The Golden Girls, Ted Lasso, Truth Be Told, Big Bang Theory, Girlfriends, A Different World, Martin, New Girl, Black-ish
Favorite Movies: The Color Purple, Life, Coming to America, Cooley High, The Little Shop of Horrors, School Daze, Dead Presidents, Crooklyn, Juice, Poetic Justice, Friday
Favorite Music: Anything 60s/70s/80s R&B/Soul/Hip hop (Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, Minnie Riperton, Rose Royce, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, The Commodores, The Jacksons, The Sugar Hill Gang, Salt-N-Pepa and more), 90s/00s R&B/Soul and Hip hop (Whitney Houston, 2Pac, Biggie, Mary J. Blige, SWV, JayZ, Nas, Jodeci, Usher, so many more!), Jazz/Blues (Nina Simone, B.B. King, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnnie Taylor and more)
Favorite Quotes: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou
“Deal with yourself as an individual, worthy of respect and make everyone else deal with you the same way.” - Nikki Giovanni
“Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” - James Baldwin