Professor Shearer received her B.A. degree from Purdue University. She then went on to receive her M.A. with distinction from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. After working for three years as a Senior Market Research Analyst in Freeport, Illinois she went on to earn her Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame. Her dissertation entitled " The Domestic Economics and International Politics of U.S. Foreign Trade Policy: 1945-1980" was selected by Garland Press for publication and recognized for outstanding economic research for the period 1985-1990. At Valparaiso University she is currently teaching Comparative Politics, International Relations and U.S. Foreign Policy.