Barbara Mae Jacobs, née Barrow, was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1926. She came to Indiana University in 1944 and graduated in 1948. She describes her education in home economics, her short career in education, and her family life in Cleveland, Ohio. She also describes her work on the board of the Indiana University Foundation, its fundraising efforts, and university funding in general. She also reflects on the greater role women have taken in politics and other areas of the public arena.