Iowa Department of the Blind Director Emily Wharton resigns

The Iowa Capitol as seen Feb. 7, 2024. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Emily Wharton, director of the Iowa Department for the Blind will be retiring Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced.

Her resignation comes after battling Stage 4 kidney cancer for more than a year and a half, according to a news release from the department Tuesday. The Des Moines Register reported that she is on immunotherapy treatment after having a kidney removed in September and finding that the cancer moved to her brain in November.

In her retirement letter, Wharton stated that metastatic kidney cancer is “a battle I most likely will be continuing to fight for the rest of my life.”

“Treatment side effects and the chronic conditions they create have greatly reduced my stamina and tolerance for stress,” she wrote. “While my love of public service and passion for empowering blind Iowans to be gainfully employed and live independently has not diminished, I am afraid I can no longer continue to  put forth the high level of energy and effort our citizens deserve.”

Wharton, a former client of the Department for the Blind, served as its director for seven years She was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in March to continue serving as director after the 2023 state agency reorganization law changed the position from appointment by a three-member commission to appointment by the governor.

Previously, she served as the department’s technology director, and is a graduate of the Iowa Blindness Empowerment and Independence Center.

“Emily Wharton has dedicated her career to serving the blind,” Reynolds said in statement Tuesday. “She has long been a passionate advocate, empowering blind Iowans to live independently, work, and fully contribute to their communities. She has made a difference in the lives of many Iowans, and I am grateful for her service.”

Wharton said in the news release that she was grateful for the “innovation, work ethic, and dedication of our agency staff” and the time she spent at the department.

“Before I became ill, I had a practice of commenting on and signing every evaluation in the agency,” she said. “This would regularly make me tear up with gratitude at how much heart and soul people put into serving blind Iowans. I will greatly miss being a part of this extraordinary community.”

Sarah Willeford, who currently serves as the Department for the Blind library director, will take over as interim director while the state looks for a new permanent leader for the department.