Hello, CALS,
Welcome to another great week in our college - a week that will conclude with the CALS Convocation on Friday at 10 a.m., and the university-wide undergraduate commencement ceremony on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., both in Hilton Coliseum. The graduate ceremony will take place Friday at 7 p.m., also in Hilton Coliseum. I hope you'll be able to attend.
Last week was full for all of us. For me, that included the annual meeting of the ISU CALS Agriculture Endowment led by Carmen Bain as its executive director. Carmen was recently passed this torch by Mark Honeyman after more than a decade in leadership of the endowment, and 30 years on its board or in its leadership – thanks, Mark!
The Ag Endowment predates and is independent of the ISU Foundation, but draws support from the ISU Foundation and the university. It has an interesting history, dating from some of the earliest gifts to the college, which came from C.R. Musser of Muscatine, Iowa, who was a banker and from a wealthy lumber company family. The Musser family, working with the George Weyerhaeuser family, floated logs down the Mississippi to Muscatine. Then in the 1930s C.R. Musser gave farms and funds to the college, via discussions and planning with his friend and a renown former dean/chair/professor, Henry H. Kildee. The Ag Endowment is the key supporter of our college’s signature program, Science with Practice, which the group initiated with Mike Retallick in the early 2000s (thanks, Mike!). The Ag Endowment Board also just voted to support our new CALS Innovation and Leadership Academy – details on that coming soon!
Last week I also had a chance:
- with the other deans to meet with the horticulture department’s external advisory board for a terrific discussion led by their chair and alum, Mike Gooder;
- to attend with John Lawrence the annual Iowa Farm Bureau meeting, where its long serving president and great friend of the college, Craig Hill, retired, and new president and agronomy alum, Brent Johnson, was voted in to the office;
- to attend the Iowa Turkey Federation annual banquet with their executive director, Gretta Irwin, and lots of our alums and partners;
- to meet, along with Ruth MacDonald, with our CALS Faculty Senate Caucus, led by caucus chair Virginia Hansen;
- to have dinner before the BIG basketball wins with alums Roger and Sally Stutsman and Norman and Marjorie Wonderlich;
- and over the weekend to enjoy holiday gatherings with the other ISU deans, and a gathering hosted by alums Jim and Marcia Borel.
This week, as the semester rolls to a close, we’ll have our CALS Holiday Party in the Sukup Atrium on Wednesday, from 4-6 p.m., with music, food, drinks and the unveiling of a new LEGO® statue of George Washington Carver – come see and enjoy! If you’ve never read "The Butterfly Effect," by Andy Andrews, about that law-of-nature via the story of Moses and Susan Carver, George Washington Carver, Henry A. Wallace and Norman Borlaug…you should!
Finally, I am sure you noted the passing of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole, who was indeed a stalwart public servant of the highest order. I have a great personal story about Bob Dole from when he received the World Food Prize together with his colleague, George McGovern (another of the finest public servants). Ask me about it sometime!
My very best and have a great week. - Dan
Nature in Focus
Last week Mike Gooder, horticulture alum and owner of Plantpeddler in Cresco, Iowa, presented this large poinsettia to me (and a few former deans) as a gift to the college. Stop by 138 Curtiss to see this beautiful plant!
Deidra Green, sophomore in animal science, was one of the students who presented their research posters last Tuesday as part of their involvement in the Science With Practice program. Through the program, each student is paired with a faculty mentor who guides them through their research project. It's a great way for students to gain technical agricultural skills, develop research-related skills and more!
