Marilyn Pesci
IUPUI
By Will Fay
Marilyn Pesci occupies a cluttered cubicle directly outside the Office of the University Dean of the IU School of Nursing at IUPUI. Her quarters are cramped and noisy, but she turns down offers of a private office. "I like where I am because it's where the action is." Pesci has been at the center of the school's action for 37 years. She has served as executive secretary to all four of its deans, starting in 1968 with Emily Holmquist, then Elizabeth Grossman and Constance M. Baker and now Angela Barron McBride.
Born and raised in Rushville, she moved to Indianapolis to attend Indiana Business College before joining what was then, in 1960, the IU Training School for Nurses.
In 1968, three years after the nursing school was created, Holmquist, impressed by Pesci's work on an accreditation report, promoted her to executive secretary.
She married Bill Pesci in 1982. She is not kin to Joe Pesci of Goodfellas fame, but she does have a brother-in-law of the same name who not only looks like the actor but also lives near him in Los Angeles.
Pesci considers herself blessed to be stepmother to three grown children and to have a job she looks forward to doing every day.
Q. What makes the IU School of Nursing special to you?
A. I enjoy working with faculty and students and staff. It's an exciting place. I just enjoy working in academia.
Q. What is the most frustrating thing about your job day to day?
A. Interruptions. Lots of interruptions. But I can usually cope with them. I get asked so many questions because I've been here so long. But I am always willing to help people.
Q. What is the most satisfying thing about your job day to day?
A. Producing lots of projects for the dean on the computer -- anything that has to do with administration, reports, correspondence, the budget, the mail.
Q. What has kept you here for 37 years?
A. I've just always enjoyed the my work and its been much more exciting since the middle 1980s when we had the technology explosion. I wouldn't want to change jobs at this stage in my life. I enjoy working in the dean's office. It's where the center of the action is.
Q. What is the most important thing about taking care of a dean?
A. The most important thing is to keep everything running smoothly in the office so no one drops the ball. You have to protect your dean. You have to protect her time. I screen all the mail to keep a lot of the paper work off her desk.
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