Message from the Dean - November 4, 2024

November 4, 2024

Hello, CALS,

Finally, some good soaking rains! We’ll get those into the “win” column for next year's growing season. Too bad the Cyclones couldn’t etch another "W" into the football season this damp weekend, but a great game overall, and there are more games to go. It was a terrific Homecoming Weekend here at Iowa State, from those of us who were able all week long to enjoy the students practice Yell Like Hell on central campus in front of our windows, to the Department of Animal Science Chuckwagon Breakfast on Saturday morning before the game.

It was also World Food Prize (WFP) week, which included lots of terrific presentations and networking with new and old friends of the college, and so much more. Those of us attending were able to connect with some great CALS alums returning from near and far to attend these meetings and with others from the college who are now working elsewhere, such as Manjit Misra, the long-serving director of our Seed Science Center and now USDA NIFA director, and Carolyn Lawrence-Dill, our former associate dean for research and development and now the dean of agriculture at Colorado State University. We had a group of 25 students attend the meetings, and on Tuesday evening, the college hosted a special side event to celebrate with WFP meeting attendees the 20th anniversary of our CSRL Program in Uganda! All really great. If you’ve not had a chance to read about the 2024 Laureates this year, check out this webpage for some quick information on the extraordinary work they’ve done to earn this prestigious recognition.

It was also an excellent week of meetings with corporate leadership, from Perdue Farms and Cargill, and much more. And on Friday we celebrated the six 2024 CALS recipients of our highest alumni and friends awards. They were:

  • Jim Knuth, senior vice president - lending at Farm Credit Services of America, CALS Floyd Andre Award
  • Scott Hutchins, formerly with Dow AgroSciences and USDA Deputy Under Secretary, CALS Henry A. Wallace Award
  • Brad Kinsinger, dean of agricultural sciences and hospitality arts at Kirkwood Community College, CALS Outstanding Young Alumni Award
  • Robert and Patricia Jester, president and owner of Jester Insurance Services and retired president and owner of Creative Foods Ltd., respectively, CALS George Washington Carver Award
  • Kevin Roepke, U.S. Soybean Export Council’s regional director of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, ISU Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumni Award

All such wonderful representatives of the college and its impact and network.

This week, please be sure to participate in the interviews for our next associate dean for research and discovery.

Next week, I’ll write this note from Kamuli, Uganda, where I’ll be participating in a strategic planning activity for that signature program of ours.

And for those of you who were unable to attend, the recording of the Oct. 23 CALS Town Hall is now available for viewing.

My best for a terrific week - Dan

Scenes from CALS

Three people standing around a table looking at a piece of paper.
Charlie Block, right, of the Seed Science Center discussing the lab's work with the Ambassador to the U.S. from Tunisia, Hanene Tajouri Bessassi, center, and the Ambassador to the U.S. from Mauritania, H.E. Cissé Boide.  
Statue of a father, mother, child and a dog on display in front of a building.
Pioneer family sculpture in front of the Iowa Farm Bureau headquarters in West Des Moines.
Group of people standing on a stage during the World Food Prize Foundation reception.
Congratulations to the 2024 inaugural class of World Food Prize Top Agri-Food Pioneers, including Walter Suza, circled left, and Lisa Schulte-Moore, circled right. Read more about their accomplishments.
Group of people standing off to the side of a stage for a group photo.
IAAS, the student organization for students interested in international agriculture, organized attendance and transportation for CALS students to attend the World Food Prize Foundation's Borlaug Dialogue. Some of the 25 CALS students who attended the Borlaug Dialogue meetings in Des Moines last week are pictured posing for a photo with the World Food Prize Laureates Cary Fowler and Geoffrey Hawtin.