Diana Repack '85, MBA'00, D.Sc.'06 liked Robert Morris University so much that, not only did she get her bachelor's degree in business information systems from here, but she also came back for her master's (MBA '00) and her doctorate (information systems and communication, D.Sc. '06).
She also married one of the professors.
"I got three degrees and a husband from RMU," says Diana, who now lives in Moon Township and works from home as senior systems analyst for WellPoint.
In May 2012, Diana decided to give back to Robert Morris since it has been such an integral part of her life. "I just decided it was time to give back," she says, adding that she plans on establishing a scholarship in order to help future students. "I was fortunate that my parents paid for my tuition. A lot of people don't have that, and today the cost of education is getting so high. I thought this was the best way to thank RMU for all it gave to me."
Diana first started out at Penn State-Beaver before moving on to IUP and finally RMU. "I got extremely homesick and wanted to be closer to home," she says. "Plus, I liked the small classes here, and all the professors knew your name. You hear it all the time, but it's true: at RMU they really know you and care about you."
After transferring to Robert Morris in 1983, Diana chose the business information systems program because she wanted to get into software development. Following graduation, she held a couple of short-term positions before landing a job as a programmer at RPS (now FedEx). From there she went on to work for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and then TechRx, a small pharmacy technology company in Moon Township.
It was during this time when Diana first met Bill Repack, assistant professor of management at RMU. The two of them were attending a conference at the university when she noticed an airplane pin on his lapel. Diana was in flight training at the time and approached Bill to find out if he was a pilot, which he was. That started a conversation. "The next day he ended up asking me out," she says. "The rest, as they say, is history."
Not long after they got together, Bill suggested that Diana come back to school for her master's, which she received in 2000. She followed it up with her doctorate in 2006, once again thanks to her husband's urging. "He knew I liked to learn and that I loved being a student," says Diana. "Bill was very influential in me coming back to RMU."
RMU and airplanes aren't the only things that Diana and Bill have in common, either. A couple years ago they both earned their black belts together in Tang Soo Do (Korean karate). Diana is now a second degree black belt and is currently working towards her third degree.
Overall, Diana believes that RMU is important for the Pittsburgh region at large. "The fact that it's out here in Moon makes it very accessible," she says. "I love this campus.
"Whenever I go to the grocery store across from campus, I can hear the music from the stadium, and it makes me smile. I love living in a college town!"