Enjoy this throwback post from 2020!
November 9, 2020
I am a first generation college student from my family. I grew up in a small community in northeast Iowa. My father never graduated from high school but my mother graduated from HS earned her RN from a local hospital. My father worked his entire career as a linotypist for a publishing company while my mother worked as a nurse. Hard work was always expected.
I had high school teachers who encouraged me to go to college and even helped with college applications. I attended the largest state university in the state of Iowa – University of Iowa. That was a pretty major change in my life but it was also an opportunity to grow and become more independent. During the first few weeks I would experience something new every day and then my roommates and I developed a routine. I started out in a triple room and I am proud to say that all three of us completed our degrees.
I ended up joining a sorority (Delta Zeta) my second semester and I was very active with all of the chemistry majors as well as I got to be a junior and senior. All of these experiences opened doors for me that I never imagined would be opened. I earned by a BS degree (1981) and a PhD (1986) from University of Iowa. My first job was as an assistant professor at Missouri State University.
Dr. Tammy Jahnke, Dean
College of Natural and Applied Sciences