Message from the Dean - December 16, 2024

December 16, 2024

Hello, CALS,

Here we go into the last week of the semester with everyone looking forward with great, happy anticipation for the holidays!  

And, of course, we're all looking forward to CALS Convocation this Friday at 9 a.m. in Hilton Coliseum, the university's graduate student commencement Friday at 7 p.m., and the undergraduate student commencement Saturday at 1:30 p.m.! Please try and attend these celebratory events. And remember, at CALS Convocation, you can be in the handshake and high-five line (no need to sign up in advance or wear anything special – just be there to celebrate all the grads as they come off the platform, and help add to the smiles)!

This time of year is crazy with events and happenings. Here are a few notable ones from last week that I was involved with, as were many of you:

  • conclusion of the interviews for our next CALS Associate Dean for Global Engagement and director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods
  • farewell celebration at the World Food Prize Foundation for their outgoing president, Ambassador and former governor Terry Branstad
  • welcome reception at the Knoll for the new (since August) Reiman Gardens director, CALS animal ecology alumna Christine Prescott
  • Iowa Turkey Federation and Iowa Pork Producers Association holiday banquets 
  • annual meeting of the Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment Board (see image below)
  • Iowa Farm Bureau annual meeting 
  • CALS Crosspollinating Art and Science gallery display and competition in the Student Innovation Center - great thanks for this to Dior Kelley and Carmen Bain (see images below)
  • Story County United Way end-of-campaign celebration, with Iowa State receiving high honors for our consistent and leading commitment to United Way – great thanks to all who have contributed
  • Graduation day for the 20 individuals who participated in the CALS Staff Champions professional development series led by Ruth MacDonald (see image below)

Whew – that’s a lot! The Crosspollinating Art and Science competition generated truly fantastic artworks, and those will be on display in the Curtiss Hall dean’s gallery in January. I hope you’ll come over and have a look. Really great work!

We won’t have a Monday newsletter for the next two weeks while so many of us are on vacation, but the news will return on Monday, Jan. 6. Please remember, too, that some of your colleagues will be working all through the holidays, every day in fact – caring for the plants and other organisms in our many growth chambers and greenhouses, and for the animals in our labs and on our farms here in Ames and across the state. Let's keep those fine folks in mind as they venture out every day all through the holidays.

The week we come back, on Jan. 8 at 4 p.m. in Sukup Atrium, we’ll celebrate the naming of the ABE department chair position as the Larry and Bunita Buss Endowed Department Chair, to be held by Amy Kaleita. Larry and Bunny will be with us, and it’ll be a wonderful time to celebrate them and all they have done for Iowa agriculture and Iowa State! Please mark your calendars for that.

My very best to each of you for wonderful, restful, peaceful, happy, and fun holidays! - Dan

Scenes from CALS

Group of people standing inside a large building listening as a student talks.
Last Thursday, students, staff and faculty gathered in the Student Innovation Center to see the art entered into the Crosspollinating Art and Science competition, hosted and organized by GDCB faculty member Dior Kelley as part of her participation in the CALS Innovation and Entrepreneurship Faculty Fellows program. Students from across campus showcased creations that pulled together art and science in a variety of ways, both in their interpretations and their construction.
Student standing and talking to two other students about two art pieces on display on easels.
Wyatt Bailey, left, graduate student in entomology, received Most Inspired honors for the "A Muddy Night" artwork he entered in the Crosspollinating Art and Science competition. The piece, pictured at left, was made using soil, sticks and other elements found in nature. The Best in Show award went to Joshua Woolfolk, senior in animal ecology, for his trio of photos, "Sanctity of Sunlight." The Best in Collaboration and Best Use of the Student Innovation Center awards both went to "Hive Mind," created by EEOB's Amy Toth and chemical engineering students Alex Kurtt and Eric Serrano.
Group of people standing and looking up at the camera. They are wearing red polo shirts.
The second cohort of the CALS Staff Champions received their certificates of completion last week. The group met every month this semester to learn more about CALS, develop leaderships skills and create lasting connections between departments.
Two people standing next to each other. One is holding a glass vase, another is holding a framed certificate and medallion.
Carmen Bain, serving as executive director of the Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment Board, presents a certificate and Iowa State glassware to alum Dennis Carney at the Board's annual meeting last week. Carney completed eight years on the Board and served as its president.
Three men standing on a stage while one man gestures with his one arm wide while shaking another man's hand.
At the Iowa Farm Bureau annual meeting breakfast, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award was given to Sam Cogdill, right, of Dunlap, Iowa. He is one of our CALS alums who serves on the Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment Board.
Large stage in a conventional hall with a person standing and talking at a podium.
Also during the annual Iowa Farm Bureau meeting, CALS alum Bill Northey, whom we miss so very much, was posthumously awarded the organization's Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award.
Christmas tree decorated with red and gold ornaments, with a plastic cow next to it.
The CALS tree at the Knoll, featuring Curtiss the cow, decorated in appropriate CALS style by our CALS Student Council leadership. Well done, and in my view, the best of all the trees on display!