Christine Blasey Ford has deep roots in Palo Alto area

Byby Leslie Brinkley KGO logo
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Christine Blasey Ford has deep roots in Palo Alto area
The professor accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault has deep roots in the Palo Alto area, as far as her accomplishments academically. Here's a look at her background.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- The professor accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, has deep roots in the Palo Alto area as far as her accomplishments academically. Here's a closer look at her background.

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Christine Blasey Ford's social media accounts have all been taken down. But according to her archived LinkedIn page, she got her PhD in educational psychology at USC 20 years ago. In 2009, she got a masters in epidemiology and biostatistics at Stanford University.

She currently teaches nearby at Palo Alto University as a professor for PhD students studying psychology.

The school says she is not in class this week and will only say Blasey Ford is a highly regarded professor. None of her students or coworkers wanted to comment.

RELATED: Washington Post reporter details Kavanaugh allegations

Blasey Ford lives in South Palo Alto. Her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanagh sexually assaulted her as a teenager first came to light in a Washington post interview over the weekend.

Lanhee Chen, a fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and a director of domestic policy studies at Stanford University, said it's obvious Blasey Ford is a well-studied serious person. He said, "It's impossible to divorce ourselves from what we are seeing today with the Kavanaugh nomination from the broader context of the Me Too movement."

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He believes it's important this all get aired out before the Judiciary Committee. He said, "First of all, the accusations are serious whether they come from a democrat, a republican or an independent, and this is sort of the classic political bombshell that has thrown this process off in a way that affects not just the likelihood of Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation but also has deep implications for the politics of the mid-term elections."

Take a look at the latest stories and videos about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh here.