PERSONAL BACKGROUND

As I mentioned on the home page, I am a professor of sociology at University of Idaho. I teach a wide range of classes, have received several teaching awards, and am a scholar of consumer bankruptcy.

I was born in Eastern Oregon and raised in a working-class family. Neither of my parents had college degrees; Dad worked for the Highway Department and built custom homes while Mom worked primarily at the Umatilla County Courthouse as a clerk. As a result of the skyrocketing interest rates in the early-1980s, my parents lost their home in foreclosure and eventually, after they divorced, Dad filed bankruptcy.

I was not expected to attend college, but as luck would have it, I earned my undergraduate and graduate degrees from Washington State University. My dissertation work focused on bankrupt couples in Spokane, Washington. After I graduated in 2001, I accepted a one-year post-doctoral position on the Consumer Bankruptcy Project (CBP). In 2002, I joined the faculty at Ohio University. In 2016, I accepted a position at University of Idaho.

I have been involved with the CBP since 2001. First as a post-doc and eventually as a co-principal investigator. I have authored and co-authored many journal articles and book chapters over that time. My co-authored book with Professors Foohey and Lawless, Debt’s Grip, is coming out August 2025.

My husband, Mark, and I live just north of Moscow, Idaho, on what is often referred to as The Palouse. The name of the region is a reference to the Appaloosa horse, that has been central to the Nez Perce and this area since the 1700s. My personal interests include horses, dogs, quilting, reading, and gardening.

Note: That lovely horse in the picture is my boy, Rowdy. He is a Paint, rather than an Appaloosa. The picture was taken near Wallula Gap, above the Columbia River in Eastern Oregon. In the distance is Washington state.

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

For more information about my publications and such, please visit my department website: https://www.uidaho.edu/class/csj/people/deborah-thorne.