Swisher-McGinnis Family Named UI Family Spirit Award Recipients

PHOTO COURTESY McGinnis Family Bob McGinnis (second row, second from the right) and Sandi McGinnis (front row, second from the right) celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary last September with family in Amarillo, Texas.

As a member of the University of Iowa’s Card Section, Bob McGinnis (61BA) coordinated with hundreds of other Iowa undergrads in a reserved section of Iowa Stadium, using black and gold placards to create eye-catching patterns or words to entertain fans during pregame and halftime of Iowa football home games. On one fall afternoon in 1957, however, it was his voice that caught The Music Man composer Meredith Willson’s ear.

Willson was walking up the bleachers when he paused near the aisle seat of McGinnis, waiting as the UI freshman and his peers finished singing the “Iowa Fight Song.” After the final note, Willson turned to McGinnis and said, “Young man, you really sang that well,” recalls McGinnis. “My name is Meredith Willson, and I wrote that song.”

Photo credit: UI Libraries Special Collections The University of Iowa Card Section entertains fans during a Hawkeye football game at Iowa Stadium.

The Music Man became a Broadway hit that year, but that chance encounter wasn’t McGinnis’ only stroke of luck that fall. He also met his wife, Sandra “Sandi” Braley McGinnis (61BSN), when he was invited on a double date at Whetstone’s Drug Store in downtown Iowa City. Bob was more interested in Sandi than his own date and started calling her soon after. Before long, their relationship began to blossom.

PHOTO COURTESY McGinnis Family Sandi and Bob McGinnis celebrate their graduation from the University of Iowa in 1961.

Now, 68 years later, the couple will return to Iowa City alongside other members of the Swisher-McGinnis family to celebrate their longstanding connection with the University of Iowa. Throughout four generations, 25 members of the Swisher-McGinnis family have attended Iowa, including 22 graduates. On Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, the family will be recognized as recipients of the university’s Family Spirit Award at the Iowa football game. The award honors a family that has substantially benefited from and continues to advocate for the university, as well as contributes toward bettering the state of Iowa and its communities.

“We’re surprised, delighted, and excited to receive this award,” says Bob McGinnis, who is part of the third generation of the Swisher-McGinnis family to graduate from the UI. “The education I got at Iowa was better than any place I could have gone.”

A Foundation is Built

The family’s Iowa journey began in 1838 when Bob’s second great-grandfather, Michael McGinnis, built a one-room log cabin on Old Mans Creek southwest of Iowa City only three years after he’d emigrated from Ireland. In 1840, Michael helped lay the southeast cornerstone of the Old Capitol, which was officially repurposed in 1857 as the university’s first permanent building. Michael’s connection to Iowa extended to three of his grandsons—Roy McGinnis, Wes McGinnis, and Art McGinnis—who, together, logged more than a combined 100 years of service as electricians at the university.

First Generation: Charting History

Jacob Swisher (17BA, 18MA, 27PhD), the sole first-generation member of the Swisher-McGinnis family to attend the UI, dedicated his career to promoting the state of Iowa to the nation and world through his books, articles, and lectures as a research associate for the State Historical Society of Iowa. Five of Swisher’s seven children attended the university, including Bob’s mother, Dorothea Swisher McGinnis (34BSC), along with Esther Swisher, Charles Swisher, William Swisher (41BA), who wed Emelyn Hasty Swisher (42BA), and Fern Swisher Becker (41BA), who married Wendell Becker (37BSEE). Fern and Wendell’s son, Jerry Becker (67R), worked in UI Orthopedics. Another of Swisher’s children, Helen Swisher, married Iowa graduate Ray Gile (54BSC). Beyond advocating for the state, Jacob also sponsored several UI students who needed financial assistance.

Second Generation: Swisher, McGinnis Lineages Merge

By the mid-1930s, Dorothea married Clifford McGinnis (36BSEE), forming one of the family’s three second-generation couples to attend the UI. Dorothea was a librarian at UI Libraries, and Clifford worked as a janitor while completing an electrical engineering degree. He graduated as second lieutenant in the university’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), served in WWII, and retired as a lieutenant colonel after more than 30 years with the Army Reserve.

Clifford’s brother, Harold McGinnis, graduated from the UI’s University High School, a laboratory school within the College of Education, and worked for eight years in Iowa’s physics department. Clifford and Harold’s sister, Grace McGinnis Anesey (34BA), worked at UI Libraries and established a scholarship fund to support UI students.

Third Generation: Shaping Lifelong Pursuits

Bob and Sandi deepened their relationship through their involvement with the Wesley Foundation, a student program affiliated with the United Methodist Church, where they performed in plays, participated in dances, and studied.

In the classroom, they followed significantly different career paths. Sandi fulfilled her childhood dream to become a nurse and even worked as a registered nurse at the UI hospital as a senior. She continued her career at various hospitals and later taught nursing, wrote questions for the national nurses exam, served as an education director for a health care system, and worked in hospice care.

“I’ll always give credit to the University of Iowa,” says Sandi. “I never would have had all the opportunities I had without my background at Iowa.”

Bob pursued geology, then physics, and later considered a career in pharmacy before earning a degree in sociology. A member of the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, he worked with people with disabilities and volunteered with Boy Scouts of America for his independent study. The latter led to a 40-year career and executive director role with the organization. Bob and Sandi exchanged vows on campus as students, beginning what’s become a 65-year marriage.

Bob’s sister, Eileen McGinnis McCall (58BA), was also active in the Wesley Foundation and her husband, David McCall (59BSEE), participated in the UI Physics Club before both worked for General Electric Company.

Fourth Generation: Extending Iowa Ties

Charles Swisher’s daughters Deborah Thoman (77BA, 94MA) and Doreen Gudlin (87BSN) further extended the family’s UI ties. Gudlin was active in the Wesley Foundation and became a certified registered nurse anesthetist. Thoman worked for UI Health Care’s corporate and senior leadership and supported numerous areas on campus, including the College of Education, the Iowa Scholarship Fund, and Hawkeye athletics. Her three children, Susan Thoman (04BA), Steven Thoman (05BA), and Timothy Thoman (08BA), are all Iowa graduates, along with Charles Swisher’s grandson, Eric Denneny (98BBA), who married Shilpa Denneny (00BBA). Susan wed former Iowa football player Corey Brown (05BA), while Steven’s wife, Elissa Bradfield Thoman, is a current UI student.

PHOTO COURTESY McGinnis Family Despite several moves around the country, Bob and Sandi McGinnis have remained loyal Hawkeye fans throughout their lives.

A Bond Never Broken

Bob and Sandi have maintained their connection with Iowa by participating in several Iowa Voyagers trips and supporting the UI’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Development Fund and Nursing Progress Fund. Despite several moves across the country, they’ve remained loyal Hawkeye fans. Bob credits his broad education at Iowa in preparing him to work with people from all walks of life throughout his career. His memorable meeting with Willson as a freshman came full circle several years ago when he participated in a barbershop quartet rendition of The Music Man and played the lead role of Professor Harold Hill. Sandi draws on her nursing background in retirement to promote health awareness among fellow apartment residents in their Amarillo, Texas, community.

While Bob and Sandi have spent much of their postcollegiate years outside Iowa and will make their first visit to campus in nearly 15 years, their son, Matt McGinnis, has witnessed how the UI has remained embedded in their lives.

“Meeting there, getting married there, and being involved there, it's shaped their worldview and their approach to being involved in the community,” says Matt. “It's made them have a sense of grounding in family and a grounding in the sense of place over the years. Even though we've moved considerably with my dad's career, Iowa has always been home—and I think the University of Iowa has been the glue that held that together.”