Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | spring 2006

SPRING 2006
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Cover Story:
The 20 Most Ingriguing People on Campus

Alumni Profile:
An Iraqi hero

Alumni Profile:
Putting the fun in functional

Alumni Profile:
Three wishes for Stephanie Kobes

Alumni Profile:
Roy Reiman: I could write a book

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YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A STAR

Here’s a provocative thought for you: Who are the most intriguing people you know?

Think hard, because these people are not always the most obvious, most important, or most successful.

Maybe it’s your co-worker who is a single mom raising a handicapped child on her own. Or the guy you know who has a collection of bricks from exotic locations. Or the quiet, older woman down the street who used to be lead singer in a rock band.

I like learning obscure facts about people. I recently found out that someone I work with was a ballet dancer up until just a few years ago. And another dreams of being a pilot someday.

I think that’s interesting. Because who we appear to be is not necessarily all that we are. We all have secrets and dreams, quirky hobbies, hidden talents, brushes with greatness, past lives.

It wasn’t hard to find 20 intriguing people on campus. What was hard was narrowing the pool to just 20. As we started working on the cover story for this issue of VISIONS, we kept hearing about more and more people we wanted to meet. We wanted to pick their brains. Snoop around in their offices. Go to their houses. Find out what made them tick. What was that old tabloid slogan? Inquiring minds want to know. That was us.

So we started checking people out, and here’s what we found:

Iowa State has a professor who is the world’s foremost authority on starch. A student who made Glamour magazine’s “Top 10 College Women.” A quiet videographer in Extension who had donated nearly 14 gallons of blood. A scientist whose chimp research could make her the next Jane Goodall.

We found out what it’s like to be inside the Cy mascot costume during the big game… and to be the unfortunate student employee who gives a parking ticket to an irate driver. We found people who collect dirt, salt & pepper shakers, and vintage Christmas decorations.

We found a student who was just 13 years old, and another who was 76. A vet student whose father decided to come back to vet school along with him. A professor of chemical engineering who plays in a jazz band … and a sociology prof who plays the stand-up bass in a big band combo.

We learned that Iowa State has an anthropology professor from a small Moroccan village, and a plant scientist who used to work in a Chinese pencil factory. We found people who’d overcome extraordinary odds, devoted themselves to fascinating research, and had truly bizarre interests.

In the course of narrowing the field to just 20 and then photographing each of them, I had some rather bizarre experiences myself. I spent one whole afternoon inside a food-storage freezer in Friley Hall.
I handled – with my bare hands – a huge, hairy tarantula, not once but twice. I played fetch with the world’s smartest dog.

I hung out with a guy who’s an expert on medieval costuming and weapons. I spent an afternoon with the woman on campus who knows all the university’s untold secrets. I drank coffee with a Ph.D. student who has written a musical about Iowa, invented a solution for charging your cell phone, traveled to 32 countries...and lives alone in the woods.

I learned a lot, laughed a lot, and made friends with a lot of great people. I’m glad I met every one of them. I can’t stop telling people about them. I hope you enjoy them.

About the writer | Carole Gieseke is the editor of VISIONS magazine.