AU boasts about 1,900 dedicated staff members. Meet a recent retiree: Stephanie DeStefano, CAS/MA ’16, former grounds operations manager, Facilities Management.

I worked at AU for 20 years as the grounds operations manager. My job was to oversee the landscaping on campus, and I was involved in creating the AU Arboretum and Gardens. Before that, I earned a degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland and was the grounds manager at a large retirement community for 18 years.

A typical day included something new, which I liked. It never got boring. My office was in the Osborne building, right in front of the soccer field.

I came to AU because I met Mark Feist, then assistant director of facilities, through the Professional Grounds Management Society. We became friends, and he told me about the benefits of AU and the arboretum starting to develop. Mark helped show me the ropes at AU, and I retired in July last year after he retired that January.

I remain connected to AU by doing things with alumni relations and AHealthyU. (Recently, I was on a Retire Well lunch Zoom call.) I stay in touch with our landscape architects on campus and lead moonlight tours with arboretum manager Mike Mastrota.

My favorite place on campus to steal a quiet moment depended on the season. In the summer, it was probably the amphitheater because it was shadyv and you’d always hear birds and see squirrels running around. Campus is at its prettiest in the summer, when a lot of perennials bloom. It is wonderful to hang out in the gardens and watch all the honeybees, hummingbirds, and butterflies.

I found my community at AU through my job. I would frequently get calls from staff members or faculty asking me questions about certain plants. And when I got my master’s degree in public anthropology, I did my final project interviewing faculty across campus to find out whether they used the arboretum in their curriculum. I got to meet a lot of faculty that way. 

Because Facilities Management couldn’t work from home during COVID, we redid landscapes and things that required machinery that would normally be disruptive to classes. We actually were more productive during the time that most students, faculty, and staff were [off campus]. Another silver lining was that we got to meet a lot of neighbors on campus during that time. They came with their kids and taught them how to ride their bikes on the quad, and they walked their pets all over.

Now that I’m retired, you can find me spending time with my grandchildren, three daughters, and dog. My hobbies include horseback riding, gardening, and taking care of my own landscape. I have a waterlily pond, so it is wonderful to be home during the daytime and see them blooming. I’ve really enjoyed watching birds, frogs, and the occasional snake come around. If I hadn’t pursued horticulture, I would have worked with animals or wildlife.

But my job at AU was best because no two days were the same. I never knew who I would run into or what I would find. It was rewarding for people to seek me out or stop me and say, “Hey, I'm so glad I ran into you, I [have] been wondering what this plant is.” 

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