(Updated at 11:28 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 23): 

Jim Giles, Barbara Mack’s husband, will be coordinating services in Des Moines and will work to coordinate services in Ames with Greenlee School Director Michael Bugeja, Bugeja said in an email to Greenlee faculty and staff and ISU administrators. 

Bugeja said in the email that Iowa State will be making a formal statement about Mack’s death and what she meant to the university. Bugeja said he will be attending Mack’s four classes Friday with a grief counselor. Counseling has also been arranged on the third floor of the Student Services Building, Bugeja said in the email. 

(Updated at 9:40 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 23):

Greenlee School Director Michael Bugeja released a statement about Barbara Mack:

“Today we received the tragic news that our dear beloved Barbara Mack has passed away. She was an icon at Iowa State University. Alumni, journalists, attorneys, colleagues, and students found magic and inspiration in her lectures, tough love, compassion, counsel and erudition. Her husband, Jim Giles, told us what transpired in the past 24 hours.

‘She came home from classes tired as she often did early in the semester,’ he said. ‘She lay down for a nap. An hour into that I heard a call or a noise. I went to her and found her inarticulate and pounding on the bedside table. She thought she was having a heart attack. I gave her an aspirin and then transported her to the hospital for tests. She was given the whole works, and it was determined that she had no sign (of a heart attack) given her health history. The tests came up negative. She said she had a pain in her neck. She took some prescribed pain relievers. She was careful about her medicine. When we got home she was in discomfort and said she would try to sleep in the big recliner chair because the semi-vertical position might be more comfortable. She went to sleep. I checked on her during the night and she seemed fine. At 5:30 a.m., I checked again and found her gone.'” 

Long-time journalism professor Barbara Mack was found unresponsive on the floor of her home early this morning, said Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. Bugeja said resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

A 1974 Iowa State graduate in journalism, Mack went on to get a law degree from Drake University in 1977. She worked for The Des Moines Register and the Tribune Company where she specialized in broadcast law. In 1986, at the advice of her former advisor, Mack returned to Iowa State to become a professor.

Mack taught several courses in the Greenlee School, particularly classes in media law and ethics. Along with being the assistant director and associate professor in the Greenlee School, Mack was also a member of the Iowa State Daily Publication Board  and Lawyers for Libraries. 

While students will remember her strict demeanor and classroom policies, Mack will also be remembered for her dedication to her students and school.

In an interview last fall with the Daily, Mack said, “I want students to come away from a class believing there is always more to learn and there is always a way to improve their understanding. Nothing is as frustrating to me as a day in which I learn nothing.”

Details are forthcoming. Check back at Iowastatedaily.com as this story develops.