After receiving her BA at the University of Redlands, Dr. Bangsund started her career in higher education administration at the University of Redlands.  She completed her Masters in education at Redlands and her MBA in finance and marketing at UCLA. Dr. Bangsund then entered the credit training program at Security Pacific National Bank (since merged into Bank of America) and the start of a 20 year career in banking.  Dr, Bangsund worked at Wells Fargo, Citibank and Kleinwort Benson, Ltd. (now part of Dresdner Bank) in the Los Angeles, New York and London offices of the banks.  During her tenure in banking, Dr. Bangsund rose to the level of Senior Vice Presidents and Division Manager for the Structured Finance Group of Wells Fargo.  She and her team lead several notable leveraged buyouts, including taking private such well known names as Jack in the Box, Rival Manufacturing, Petco and  Thrifty Drug Stores.  At Wells Fargo, Dr. Bangsund also had responsibility for recommending and monitoring the investments the bank made in private equity firms in the southern California region.

In 2001, Dr. Bangsund returned to academia and enrolled in the doctoral program at Claremont Graduate University's Drucker Graduate School of Management.  She completed her doctoral work in 2006 and accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Finance at the Eberhardt School of Business at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.  While at Pacific, Dr. Bangsund taught both undergraduate and graduate classes in Financial Management, Financial Institutions and Entrepreneurial Finance.  She also was the faculty advisor for the Eberhardt Student Investment Fund, a class that included both undergrads and MBAs.  The students managed $1.6 million of the University's endowment.