Retired Iowa State Professor Skydives For 85th Birthday

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s Wayne Rowley diving out of a plane.

Rowley, retired Iowa State entomology professor, celebrated his 85th birthday early by skydiving in July. 

“That was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done,” Rowley said. “It was short term, of course. You get there, you meet these people and they tell you what you need to do. The instructors put a harness on you then you go up 13,500 feet.”

Rowley said he has done enough things and been enough places so he wasn’t the least bit concerned. There were around 100 divers that day and Rowley said they were all members of the Des Moines skydiving club.

“When you come out of the plane, it’s just wow,” Rowley said. 

Rowley said when you jump out of the plane, you fall very fast for about two miles. When he moved his arms and legs, he was able to adjust his position with respect to the ground.

From the sky, Rowley said the airport on the ground looks 1000 miles away. After getting to a certain altitude, you pull the rip cord, which Rowley said gives a jolt but not a terrible one.  

“We swooped and made loops and circles, it was fantastic,” Rowley said. “I’m glad I didn’t do it 20 or 30 years ago because I would spend a hell of a lot of money skydiving. I would become a regular.”

When asked what his sons thought about his skydiving, Rowley said they thought he was crazy. 

“Maybe I am,” Rowley said with a laugh.

Not 10 minutes into the interview, Rowley’s phone rang.  

“It’s my Russian grandson calling me,” Rowley said with a smile. 

Rowley said he doesn’t have an actual Russian grandson, but he does have a close friend in Russia. They met because Rowley goes on solo trips to Siberia’s peninsula, Kamchatka, every year. Rowley’s friend owns a fishing company and over the last eight years, they have become fast friends. 

He said Kamchatka has been closed to everyone because it was a very important military strategic position for the Soviet Union. After there was no Soviet Union, some entrepreneurs and biologists realized it was a vast country. This is when fishing and hunting packages allowed for tourism.  

“The first time I went there was eight years ago, I was on a 737 plane from Anchorage to Petroplavask which is the only city on the peninsula,” Rowley said. “There were so few people that each person had a row of seats on a 737.”

Each time he goes, Rowley said there are more people on the plane.

“The rivers are just full of huge Rainbow Trout, 20 to 30-inch Rainbow Trout,” Rowley said. 

He buys a one-way ticket so he can come back when he wants to. Rowley said it works really well for him. 

“My wife was a school teacher at Ames High School and she could never get that time off to come with me,” Rowley said.

While teaching at Iowa State, Rowley researched mosquito born tropical diseases.  

“I’ve worked and traveled, you name it, to East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Costa Rica, Tailand, anywhere where mosquito born tropical diseases occur,” Rowley said.  

He has been an active traveler since he became a professor. 

“It’s the best job in the world,” Rowley said. “I can’t imagine having had a better job than I did at Iowa State.”