Rob and Heather Novak were always meant to find each other, even if it didn’t work out how one might imagine.
Now, they often find each other for a walk around the Oval or lunch on campus.
Heather Novak, director of institutional research at Colorado State University, is from Las Vegas, while Rob Novak, director of communications in the Warner College of Natural Resources, is from Columbus, Ohio.
Together, they make an excellent team both as a couple and as staff members at CSU.
A few months after Rob found his way to Fort Collins, Heather was finishing up her B.S. in anthropology at CSU. Rob was getting settled in Fort Collins and working one of his first jobs, selling CutCo knives. After meeting a few of Heather’s friends through a knife demo, Rob was referred to Heather as a potential candidate for his next knife showcase.
Heather agreed, but on second thought, stood up Rob and his CutCo knives that day.
Months later they found each other again, at the same mutual friend’s house.
Rob was eager as ever to see Heather, asking the mutual friend to call and see if Heather was going to be at the party he was attending.
“Rob nervously listened to one side of the conversation from the couch, and was thrilled when I agreed to come to the party,” Heather said. “Little did Rob know then that I had been thinking about him quite a bit too.”
“The night of the party came and we spent the whole night getting to know one another,” she said. “A lunch date was set for the following week, and by the end of it, we were walking around City Park lake, hand-in-hand. The rest is history.”
Heather first joined CSU in the Student Financial Services group after finishing her master’s degree in anthropology in 2006. Rob got a job as the outreach program manager with Larimer County’s Department of Natural Resources and was there for seven years before coming to the Warner College in 2015.
Rob and Heather carpool to CSU together, but try to keep work talk away from the household when they can. They say their relationship consists of far more than their connection through CSU and Fort Collins.
Rob and Heather serve as proud representatives of CSU and its mission.
“We are both committed to CSU’s mission and care deeply about the University’s work – that’s a wonderful thing to be part of and it keeps us both happy and motivated,” Rob said. “Beyond that, I would say that we work with some really wonderful people who care about that mission like we do, and that’s really fulfilling. Go Rams!”
