| Honored by: | Lee and Linda Luther and Dean Stebbins |
| Brick location: | E:17 map |
Mrs. Stebbins has had an attachment to Iowa State University nearly her entire adult life, having spent almost 50 years as an Ames resident. Her roots to the university run in several directions. She was married to Jean Laffoon, a professor of entomology, from 1946-1973. After Dr. Laffoon's death, she married Dean Stebbins, a former physics professor at Iowa State, in 1974.
Mrs. Stebbins has served in several capacities on the Iowa State campus. She worked as a nurse at the college hospital for many years and also served as a hostess at the dining room of the Memorial Union. Her contacts in these jobs ran all the way from freshman students on their own for the first time to university administrators and faculty.
She is a woman who has had a chance to observe--and participate in-- the daily comings-and-goings of the university. She had front row seats at Cyclone basketball games at the Armory in the 1950s and 60s. She is an excellent cook who has opened her home on many occasions for meals prepared for faculty members, students, and visitors to ISU. She is the mother of an Iowa State graduate, Lee, who received a journalism degree in 1972.
In summary, Mrs. Stebbins is a woman who has not necessarily sought the spotlight at Iowa State, but is the kind of person who is an essential and vital part of any university. She has been an advocate for Iowa State wherever she has gone, a behind-the-scenes heroine of whom the university can be proud.
Submitted on 8/95