Farewell Deanna Stumbo

Deanna Stumbo has been with Iowa State University for 38 years, and 26 of those years have been spent working with the Department of English. She will be taking her leave in August before the fall semester, so Between the Lines has dedicated this space to give Stumbo a warm and earnest farewell.

During her time at ISU, Stumbo has experienced many changes to her work as the university has grown and evolved—shifting so much that when she started working for the English department, student evaluations were all done on paper. She’s also seen the university registration system transition from ADIN to Access Plus to Workday. In fact, Stumbo says her biggest challenge during her career at ISU was the recent switch to Workday.

When asked what kept her motivated to continue working for the English department for so long, Stumbo had a short answer: the people. “I love the people …. It’s always been the people for me, and a lot of the other secretary staff that have been here for many years only leave because they’re tired. It’s a great place to work.”

One thing Stumbo wants to always stay the same at ISU is face-to-face communication. Even to an expert communicator, meaning can get lost in translation when emailing information, so she hopes people can still have the opportunity to meet in person.

Stumbo plans to help her husband on their farm after she takes her leave in August. “I’m really looking forward to that because I’m an outdoor person. I’ll be thrilled to help him out.”

We want to thank Deanna Stumbo for all the years she has given to the English department. We hope she enjoys her time after ISU!