Iowa State is offering its many married couples the opportunity to work together and further their careers.

Cheryl Achterberg, inaugural dean of the College of Human Sciences, and John Brighton, new vice provost for research, are soon to become one of the many couples working at Iowa State.

Achterberg said when hired by Iowa State as a new dean of the college, she did not know her husband would also get an offer.

“That was a coincidence,” she said.

“We were separated for the past three years, I’m glad to get back together.”

After she was chosen as an inaugural dean of the college, the announcement that her husband was hired as vice provost for research came as good news for both of them.

“We thought it would be ideal if we could both have positions in the same area,” Brighton said.

She said it was an ideal situation given they had previously been in a position that separated them for five days a week and required them to drive four hundred miles each weekend.

Achterberg said a university is a common place for couples because every university, in order to attract talented people, offers couples an opportunity to work together on the same campus.

“It’s a matter of being together at the same state, same town and same campus,” she said.

There are several other couples working on the same campus at Iowa State.

Gene Deisinger, program manager for public safety, and Maureen Deisinger, academic advisor for the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, are working at Iowa State.

“We both are enjoying wonderful careers at Iowa State,” Gene said.

He said Iowa State has many great benefits for couples who chose to work together and access to those benefits for them is outstanding.

Being in close proximity to a spouse offers many benefits of its own.

“We occasionally meet for lunch,” Gene said.

Brighton said he is excited about the position Iowa State offered and the fact that he would again be involved in university life.

“An important goal is to support faculty and deans in any way I can in their research, including proposals, grants, funding, graduate students and facilities,” he said. “The recent experience here at the National Science Foundation the past couple of years, and previous experience at universities have prepared me for doing this.”

Previously, Brighton was an executive at the National Science Foundation.