Happy Monday, CALS,
It is truly a beautiful day, and with more than 2 inches of rain over the weekend (but not everywhere), you can almost hear the crops, lawns and flowers in the Ames area breathing a sigh of relief! But there are plenty of acres of curled corn leaves all around us still.
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Office of the Vice President for Research's annual summer retreat. The key topics were around the Iowa State sense of research professionalism, drive and energy, reputation, and the many intangibles that define our excellence. Paying attention to and caring for these parts of our Iowa State culture is every bit as important as doing our work each day. As is said, “culture eats strategy for breakfast every day,” or something like that, in the famous quote by Peter Drucker. Regardless of the origin of or how that phrase has been assessed, it makes sense to take care of what has led us to excellence and keep it always on our collective mind.
Have a great week as the prep for welcoming students back accelerates! - Dan
Scenes from CALS
An event at The Knoll last week, hosted by President Wendy Wintersteen, served to welcome Iowa State University's new Vice President for Extension and Outreach, Jason Henderson, to the Cyclone nation!
While in Viroqua, Wisconsin, this past weekend for a family reunion at Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary’s dairy farm, I saw this historical marker and found it of interest. It is certainly relevant to lots of things we still talk about today, and some we take for granted. There is some unwarranted boasting on the part of Wisconsin to claim J.M. Rusk as the first USDA secretary of agriculture, when it was actually N.J. Coleman, according to the USDA's list of former secretaries. Although that takes nothing away from Mr. Rusk. And the reference in the historical marker to the Milwaukee Riots tempted my curiosity, and that turns out to be even more interesting - read about the 1886 Bay View Massacre.
