Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

October 11, 2002

A perfect fit

As the business manager, Deanne Brill is a driving force at the Plant Sciences Institute. Photo by Bob Elbert.

by Teddi Barron
Deanne Brill is precisely where she wants to be, doing precisely what she wants to do. She's on the ground floor. She's behind the scenes. She's surrounded by great minds. And she's taking care of business.

Brill is business manager for the Plant Sciences Institute. She's been the institute's administrative point person almost since its inception in the fall of 1999. (Actually, she has been the institute's only full-time administrative staff person.) She handles everything from tracking the $5 million budget to organizing scientific symposia to proofing the annual report.

"She's been a driving force for the Plant Sciences Institute," said Steve Howell, institute director.

It's the perfect job for her. "Everything came together to give me the background for this position," Brill said.

During her 30-year career, Brill has held staff positions at the university level, the college level and the department level. She also earned a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in industrial relations. All the while, Brill was packing her administrative tool kit with experiences, theories and skills that landed her in the right place at the right time.

A native of Ellsworth, Brill came to Ames in 1971 after a year at a community college and a short stint in Colorado. She worked for 12 years as an administrative assistant at WOI radio, where she became proficient at interacting with the public.

She also discovered the quality she values most in a workplace. "I was around really creative and smart people at WOI," Brill said. "To be around intellectually stimulating people keeps you on your toes. It brings you up to the next level."

While at WOI, Brill got to know the late Lee Hadley, an Iowa State English professor and author who participated in a radio program. Brill enrolled in Hadley's creative writing class.

"For one assignment, we had to write a magazine article. I did the entire article on growing an artichoke. I learned everything there was to know about growing an artichoke. I had hardly ever eaten an artichoke," Brill laughed. "They don't even grow here!"

Never one to back down from a challenge, what Brill did next is characteristic. "The following year, I grew two artichokes, just to see if it could be done," she said.

Brill earned an A in the class and gained the confidence to pursue a degree in English. "I took classes more for enrichment -- not for my career, but because I wanted to take them," she said.

In 1986, Brill took a position as an administrative assistant in the office of the provost for academic affairs at Drake University. During her six-year stint in Drake's central administration, she learned the finer points of interacting with higher education administrators and academic units.

In a letter of recommendation years later, a top Drake administrator wrote: She takes her job seriously, but she doesn't take herself seriously.

"I thought that was about the nicest thing anyone ever said about me!" Brill said.

While at Drake, she did, however, get serious about completing her bachelor's degree and added a business minor. "I was a late bloomer in terms of the pursuit of higher education. But I'm tenacious in pursuing and achieving goals," she said.

At age 42, with the hard-earned diploma in hand, Brill returned to Iowa State to work as administrative specialist for the biochemistry and biophysics department. She learned the nuances of university, college and department policies and procedures. She saw faculty life close up. "I have a lot of admiration for scientists," she said.

Two years later, in 1994, Brill entered the graduate program in industrial relations with an emphasis in human resources. "It's been helpful in my career," Brill said. "Many of the classes I took -- complex organizations, business law, organizational psychology -- are just good, general background for working in a huge organization like a university."

She completed her master's degree last May, after eight years of working full-time and going to school. "I never thought I'd be one of those people who can't decide on a creative component topic!" she laughed.

In 1997, Brill joined the administrative staff in the College of Agriculture, working in the Office of Budget and Finance. Among her many responsibilities: developing and administering the college's $13 million budget.

In the fall of 1999, Brill was asked to help "establish a physical presence" for the newly created Plant Sciences Institute. She assisted interim director Colin Scanes by setting up offices in the Office and Laboratory Building.

"Even before I applied for this job, I thought the institute was an exciting concept. I thought it would be wonderful to be part of it from the beginning," Brill said. She was hired as administrative specialist in January 2000 and promoted to business manager in July of this year.

"I see my role as being a facilitator, of bringing the right people together to achieve a goal. I'm really proud of the accomplishments of the faculty members and of the institute as a whole," she said.

"The job has lived up to my expectations more than I would have imagined. There's more variety and more challenge in this job than any I've had," she said.

One challenge is the interdisciplinary nature of the institute. "From an administrative standpoint, it's a matter of recognizing that the faculty come from all the colleges in the university. Each college has its own culture, its own rules and you need to be very sensitive to their different policies," she said.

Through all the meetings she coordinates, reports she writes, budgets she prepares, grants she tracks, and events she plans, Brill keeps her energy level up and her stress level down with exercise. "I'm a little obsessive about that. I'm the most unathletic person in the world, but exercise has been an important part of my life for years," she said.

One of her favorite tasks was helping select artwork for the first Plant Sciences Institute building, the Roy J. Carver Co-Laboratory. The many prints by Georgia O'Keefe (Brill's hero) in the institute's offices reveal her love of art. "Art is really important to me. I've taken watercolor classes and I loved it. It's something I will certainly do when I retire."

For now, Brill looks forward to the "positive stress" of her job and the challenge of keeping things moving forward.

"Shortly after I took this job, it became clear to me that my education and experience -- everything just dovetailed for this to be a perfect job for me. And it has been."