Jane Elizabeth Heistand Magers was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1931. She received her B.A. (1954) from Heidelberg College. Upon graduation she joined the teaching staff at an elementary school in Columbus, Ohio.



Ms. Magers joined the Iowa Energy Extension at Iowa State University (1978-1982), giving workshops on active and passive solar collectors and practical applications in cooking, food drying, and water purification with solar energy. She then worked as a substitute teacher in the Des Moines School system (1982-1993) as well as acting as a Social Research Interviewer (1984-1994) at the University of Michigan.



Ms. Magers is an active peace advocate and environmentalist. She helped form the study group Ms. Earth, which also led to the founding of Citizens United for Responsible Energy (Cure). Cure worked to impose a moratorium on the building of nuclear power plants in Iowa and the implementation of energy conservation and renewable fuels. Ms. Magers also gave testimony at state and national hearings and helped organize events to bring focus to the public. She formed her own business, Resource Management Associates (1982), to advise non-profit groups on fundraising and offered workshops and services on her knowledge and experiences. She has lobbied extensively for clean air, water, and land management in the Iowa legislature for the American Association of University Women and developed position papers on state and national issues.



As a peace advocate, Jane participated in peace efforts such as the Soviet-American Peace Walk (1987) and numerous other protests and walks for peace in New York, Washington D.C., Omaha, and Des Moines. She completed the Iowa requirements for mediation (1988) and training certification from the San Francisco Community Board Program (1990). She developed a mediation/conflict resolution project at her inner-city United Methodist Church, training high-risk and gang-related youth to teach mediation skills.



She is affiliated with many public interest groups, among these are the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, EarthCare, and Youth Incentives, an after-school tutoring program she founded (1998) for low-income, inner-city students.



Jane Magers was married in 1958 and had three children, Janet, Sally, and Martin. She was married again to Vladimir Fionof from 1991 to 2001.