Age: 37
Occupation: Associate Professor of History, Mount Mercy University; Owner, Ebert Honey LLC.
What do you consider your greatest professional achievement(s)?
Achieving the balanced teaching, research and service resume that earns promotion and tenure at Mount Mercy University. In terms of business identity, it has been an extraordinary experience helping build Ebert Honey LLC with my father as a family business founded on a diversified revenue model.
What would most people be surprised to learn about you?
My brain will shut down after about 30 minutes in a traditional office unless I am facing critical deadlines. I have a great need for large windows and natural light.
What’s something people should know about your generation in the workplace?
We’re not a perfectly uniform generation of individuals or workers – personalities seem to matter. We are a bit strange in being the generation with educations and careers that bridge the early internet and almost universal smartphone adoption. I think that trajectory has affected many of our outlooks and resolutions about technology in the workplace and our personal lives.
If you had $1 million to give, what causes would you support?
Mount Mercy University, Iowa State University, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Iowa Honey Producers Association, the History Center, Willis Dady, the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, and Czech Village/New Bohemia Main Street.
Who are your local mentors?
Edy Parsons, department chair and a fellow history professor, has been my primary mentor at Mount Mercy University. Her advice comes with special insight from her earlier life in corporate circles and growing up in Hong Kong. Tim Klima at Shuttleworth & Ingersoll has provided valuable conversation and lines of questioning that apply to several aspects of life.
