FY22 APPOINTED & DESIGNATED DIRECTORS SOPHIA ANN MAGILL
MICHELE APPELGATE
ISU President’s Designee
Alumni Relations Council Representative
Political Science, B.A. 2005 Spouse: John Tillo (’06 political science) Life Members
Term expires ’22 Journalism & Mass Communication, B.A. 1988 Spouse: Monte Appelgate (’88 landscape arch) Annual Members
75
Email: smagill@iastate.edu
Email: michelea@iastate.edu
Current Hometown: Ames, Iowa Original Hometown: Charter Oak, Iowa
Current Hometown: Ames, Iowa Original Hometown: Ames, Iowa
Sophia serves as director of federal relations in the Office of the President at Iowa State University. She advocates on behalf of Iowa State University’s federal priorities by promoting research, higher education, and science activities in an effort to increase federal support and expand awareness of the university in Washington, D.C. She is actively engaged in the higher education community, serving as current chair of the Council on Government Affairs at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) and on the Council on Federal Relations Steering Committee at the Association of American Universities (AAU). Before joining the Office of the President, she served at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Sophia has professional experience in government, higher education, and the non-profit sector, including work in the Office of Admissions at Iowa State University, the Iowa House of Representatives, Iowa's Office of the Governor, and the White House. As a student, Sophia served as ISU's student government president. Sophia also holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was the 2005 recipient of the ISUAA's Impact Award and was the inaugural chair of the Young Alumni Council. She met her husband at ISU, and they reside in Ames with their two children.
Michele is the director of marketing and communications for ISU’s Ivy College of Business. After graduating from Iowa State, she moved to the Philadelphia area to start her career as a newspaper reporter. Michele and her husband, Monte, returned to Iowa in 1992 and for 22 years lived in Mason City, where they raised their son, Tim, and daughter, Emily. Michele was very active in the Mason City community and was elected to the Mason City Board of Education for two terms. She left the newspaper business in 2000 and spent 10 years as the public information officer for the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health. She received national training from FEMA and gained experience in emergency risk communication. In 2010, she was hired as the director of marketing, public relations, and governmental affairs at North Iowa Area Community College. When she had the opportunity to return to Ames and work at her alma mater, she couldn’t resist. At Iowa State, Michele is a member of the University Relations Council, the Alumni Relations Council, and graduated from the 2018-2019 Emerging Leaders Academy.
ISUAA Board Work: Distinguished Awards and Finance Committees; and Risk Management Liaison
ISUAA Board Work: Alumni Giving and Constituent Engagement Advisory Work Groups; Awards Review and Selection, CEO Evaluation, Officers Nominating, and Strategic Plan Goal 2 Collaborative Partnerships (Chair) Committees
