The University of Iowa Eight Over 80 Award

Luanne Puhl shares her love of history, health, and education with the Waterloo community through gifts of time and resources because, she says, "It simply is the right thing to do."

Puhl, who graduated cum laude from the University of Iowa's medical technology program and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, had a 38-year career in hospital and commercial laboratories. She led operations as the laboratory director and became program chairperson and Chicago chapter president of the Clinical Laboratory Management Association.

Following her retirement in 2001, Puhl volunteered for several Waterloo area nonprofits, including the House of Hope, Northeast Iowa Food Bank, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare.

She has been a member and executive of the Grout Museum District Board of Directors and board president and fundraising campaign chair for the Friends of the Grout Historic Houses. She enjoys cultivating gardens for the Grout Museum facilities as well as for her condominium association and church, where she also volunteers for fundraising events and funeral luncheons.

In recognition of her extensive community involvement, Puhl received the 2018 Waterloo/Cedar Falls Mayors' Volunteer Award.

Puhl believes "education is one thing no one can take away from you." This philosophy has inspired her to establish scholarships memorializing her parents and her niece, who was a graduate of the University of Iowa Henry B. Tippie College of Business.