A friendly face soon will be absent from the computer science department.

Rosemary Kellenberger, academic adviser in computer science, will retire at the end of the month after 13 years of service.

Kellenberger has had a long history at Iowa State. She and her husband, Gene, graduated from Iowa State, as did their three daughters.

“My husband and I started as students at ISC [Iowa State College] in 1953. Four years later, we married and moved on to Iowa City, where I received my master’s degree, and he received his jurist doctor degree,” she said.

Then, after living in Cedar Rapids for 25 years, the couple decided that Iowa State was beckoning them again.

While working on their Ph.D.s, Gene Kellenberger taught engineering law in ISU’s College of Engineering, and Rosemary Kellenberger had a graduate assistantship in the LAS Advising Center. She became an adviser in computer science about a year later.

“Gene and I believe that these have been some of the happiest days of our lives. Working with the students at Iowa State has been the highlight of our professional lives to this point,” she said.

Gloria Cain, academic adviser in computer science, said Kellenberger is good at remembering her advisees’ names and making all the undergraduates in computer science feel they are important.

“She is a warm, compassionate person who listened to students’ concerns,” she said. “She was patient and understanding, but if she felt you were stretching the truth, she would say so in a tactful way.”

Kellenberger said she plans to enjoy relaxing and spending time with her husband, who retired from the construction engineering department in December.

“We’re going to get to all those little household tasks that were always for tomorrow,” she said.

A retirement reception for Kellenberger will be held Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 225 of Antanasoff Hall.