Barb Glover first came to MMI in 1978, working as a paraprofessional over the summer in a classroom for children who were deaf, blind or had complex health care needs. At the time, she was attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha, studying interior design.
She enjoyed the work so much that she stayed on after the summer. When educators began serving children with complex health needs in their own districts, closing the classroom at MMI, Glover transitioned to being a clerical assistant in MMI’s physical and occupational therapy departments. It was where she first met Wayne Stuberg, PhD.
When Dr. Stuberg, now associate director of MMI and director of MMI’s University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), asked her to become his administrative assistant in 2016, she rejoined him. And when Dr. Stuberg retires later this year, Glover will retire as well.
“I started here with the old building, and I’m going out with the old building,” Glover said with a laugh. “There’s something nostalgic about that for me.”
She’s leaving with a boatload of friends and a lot of pride in being a part of the MMI family.
“I fell in love with what we did for the kids, and the services we provided them and their families,” she said. “I was always super proud to tell people about where I worked. I don’t have a big degree, and I don’t do the fabulous, wonderful things that our clinicians and researchers do — but I wanted to have some kind of impact. I hope I did.”
The desire to have an impact fueled her decision to leave the physical therapy department and work again for Dr. Stuberg.
“Working with Wayne and the UCEDD, that is a reach that went not only across the state, but nationally and internationally, and it was exciting to be a part of that before I left,” she said. “Leaving physical therapy . . . it was hard for me to do that.”
Glover said that in her 42 years at MMI, she’s always seen the institute as a “feel-good” place.
“A lot of that was the people, my co-workers,” she said. “We work with families who maybe feel down or negative about their challenges, and we turn their experiences into something positive. I loved being part of that.
“I’ll miss the people,” she said. “They’re wonderful people. I love the families and the kids — basically, everything that has kept me here for 42 years is what I’m going to miss. But I’m planning on volunteering at MMI as much as possible.”
And after serving on the UNMC Safety Committee, the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center Building Committee and in other volunteer positions outside of campus, Glover is sure she can find plenty to do.
But no interior design plans?
“It is funny to think about that now,” she said. “MMI just turned my future around.”