Ronni Sanlo, Ed.D       

With a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and a masters and doctorate in education from the University of North Florida, author, LGBT historian, and playwright Dr. Ronni Sanlo is the Director Emeritus of the UCLA Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Center, having previously been the director of the LGBT Center at the University of Michigan. Ronni writes with a focus on LGBT history and has over 100 academic publications to her credit including her memoir The Purple Golf Cart: The Misadventures of a Lesbian Grandmother, and the play Dear Anita Bryant. She and her wife, Dr. Kelly Watson, live in Palm Springs and are working on a lesbian history project. Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Sanlo originated the award-winning Lavender Graduation, a commencement event that celebrates the lives and achievements of graduating LGBT college students.