     
|
|
Profiles in Giving: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Janice Baumback |
|
Janice Baumback (1971 M.S.W.) is a woman who makes choices with care. "My family owes the UI a whole lot. More than we can ever pay back," said Baumback, who was married for nearly 50 years to the late Clifford Baumback (1953 Ph.D.), a professor in what is now the UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business. That's why she chose to create the Clifford M. Baumback Entrepreneurial Studies Award in the Tippie College of Business, and the Janice S. Baumback Graduate Student Award in the School of Social Work, which is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Born in Shanghai, China, Janice Baumback came a long way to become so committed an Iowa fan. Her father was a professor at Jiao Tong University until she was five, when the family relocated to Seattle during China's bloody civil war. She received a B.A. degree in sociology from the University of Washington in 1944 and had nearly completed work on an M.B.A. degree at Northwestern University when she met and married Clifford. The two moved to Oklahoma when he was offered an academic position, then to Iowa City, where he completed a Ph.D. degree in industrial management. Clifford overcame a decade of serious health problems and began teaching in the UI business school in 1962. When he retired in 1980, he was a nationally renowned expert in the field of small business. He died in 1995. In 1968, Janice made a key decision in her life, returning to school for an M.S.W. degree -- attending the UI along with two of her three grown children. She enjoyed a 14-year career as a social worker in the UI Department of Child Psychiatry -- and stays in touch with some of the families she served. Service remains central to Baumback's life -- her commitments reveal thoughtful choices about giving back to the community. The scholarships she created will benefit many generations of UI students, and she volunteers many hours to help local human services organizations. She also made gifts in the form of a charitable gift annuity (CGA) to the UI Museum of Natural History and Hancher Auditorium. "I'm altruistic, but I'm also a pragmatist," she said. "With a CGA, one can invest in programs that one believes in -- especially programs like these that so enrich our lives -- and also receive a guaranteed income at an attractive rate of return. "We're all given three things in different proportions: time, talent, and treasures, and we must choose what to do with them," said Baumback. "I believe it's our responsibility to use these gifts to help the community." Some decisions come easy -- and The University of Iowa is grateful for the choices Baumback has made.
|
 |
|
