Remembering Barbara Mack

Source: Iowa State Daily

I don't often write much in the way of personal stuff on this site, but I found out a little bit ago that one of my favorite professors from my time in college at Iowa State University, Barbara Mack, died this morning at home. She was 59.

Needless to say, it was a huge shock. Not just because of the suddenness of her passing, but also because of her larger than life personality. During my years at Iowa State (1994-1998), she was the instructor for two of my classes, JLMC 101 (Mass Media and Society) during my first semester of college and Law of Mass Communication in the spring semester of my sophomore year.

It didn't matter which class she was teaching - she was tough in all of them, but extremely fair. I remember squeaking out a decent grade in JLMC 101 as I adjusted to college, and how she regularly scared students who fell asleep during her class. She somehow managed to find these sleeping beauties despite the class having around 400 students in the cavernous Curtiss Hall auditorium.

The other major memory of Dr. Mack came during the media law class.

A blizzard had hit central Iowa on this particular day in January 1996, and basically every school in the state and region had shut down for the safety of their students and staff. Every school, save for Iowa State University. Then-President Martin Jischke had decided to have classes that morning despite the weather conditions.

To make it to the class at Agronomy Hall, Dr. Mack had to brave the iced-over Interstate 35 from her home in Des Moines with little to no visibility. This obviously left a bad taste in her mouth, and she spent the next 30 minutes basically ripping Jischke, from whom she had worked for three years during the early 1990s. It was beautiful, and made braving the horrible weather almost worth it.

That said, Barbara Mack was a wonderful professor who made you work to earn what you received, and for that, I thank her and will remember her.