| Honored by: | Alan and Vonda Junck |
| Brick location: | O:22 map |
Rachel Junck was born on December 22, 1998 in Ames, Iowa. After completing her K-12 education in the Ames School District, she chose to stay in the community and pursue an engineering degree at Iowa State University. She graduated from Iowa State University in May of 2023 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with minors in Spanish and Political Science, and a Masters of Business Administration with specializations in Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Supply Chain Management.
While at ISU, she was a member of the Cardinal Key Honor Society, Order of Omega Honor Society, and held a number of leadership positions throughout college with the Engineers’ Week Executive Team, Alpha Gamma Delta Women’s Fraternity, and the Collegiate Panhellenic Council. She worked many part time jobs, but some of her favorites included consulting at CyBIZ Lab and being an Engineering Peer Mentor for first-year students. She enjoyed “choosing her adventure at Iowa State”, including studying abroad in Madrid, Spain for a semester, competing in case-competitions and innovation sprints, and even taking classes for fun in glassblowing, chocolate-making, and beer and wine tasting. She was honored as a Legacy of Heroines Scholar from 2020-2023, as well as the 2020 Glamour Magazine College Woman of the Year, 2020 Women Impacting ISU Calendar Honoree, and 2021 Sorority and Fraternity Community Member of the Year.
Rachel also made history in 2019 when she was elected to serve on the Ames City Council, representing Ward 4. She was one of the youngest women ever to be elected to public office in the state of Iowa, winning her election at 20 years old. She was passionate in her desire to represent the student population in the community with a vote on the council, and advocate for issues like climate action and sustainability, affordable housing, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, community amenities, and more. She was re-elected to the city council in November of 2023 for her second term, and has enjoyed mentoring other young candidates running for office.
Rachel has been honored on the Plaza of Heroines by her parents, Alan and Vonda Junck, for her exceptional character, talents, and achievements.