VISIONS Summer 2018

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T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R M E M B E R S O F T H E I O WA S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N |

iowa Lakeside laboratory Science, art, and &nature meet on the shores of West Okoboji

Summer 2018


GE TTI NG STA RT ED

by Carole Gieseke CGieseke@iastate.edu

Loyal

A bittersweet farewell

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ost of us, when we take a new job, think of it as somewhat temporary. “I’ll just stay two years,” we think, “or maybe five.” Rarely do we enter into a professional position with the idea that we’ll stay a decade…or three. When Julie Larson (L)(MS ’84 higher ed) started with the Alumni Association back in 1984 as an eager, young professional, I’m sure she didn’t imagine that she would be retiring from this organization – 34 years, several promotions, a couple of houses, a husband, two kids, and two grandkids – later. She just knew she wanted to work with students and make a difference in their college experience. It may be just a coincidence that Julie started on Iowa State’s Founders Day, but that sort of foreshadows the impact Julie would have, not just on the Alumni Association but also on the university, and the Ames community. She grew up in Iowa City (shhhhh…don’t tell anyone) and got her undergrad degree out of state, but Julie is a Cyclone through and through. There are several of us on the Alumni Association staff who never 2

went to school here but luckily stumbled onto campus, well into our professional careers, and just never left. That describes me for sure – I came here in 1997 after working at a university in Missouri for 15 years. If you’d asked me then how long I planned to stay, I might have said five years (I bought a house, after all), but it was hard to project out very far because I didn’t know how much I would love it here, how much Iowa would feel like home. My daughters were young when we left Missouri (Lauren, at age 6, famously said, “I don’t want to be an Iowaranian!”) but they both grew to adulthood in Ames. When our association’s leader, Jeff Johnson, arrived in 1999, I’ll be honest: None of us thought he would stay. He’d been at the University of Kansas and University of Illinois, and we thought Iowa State would be just one more rung on his career ladder. But we were wrong. Jeff’s still here; his kids grew up here, and he’s as much of a Cyclone as anyone who came here for college as a wide-eyed freshman. The impact he’ll leave someday will be indelible. We’ve talked about loyalty and

longevity a lot lately, probably because Wendy Wintersteen was named ISU president last November, and she’s the poster girl for embracing Iowa State and making a home in Iowa. We’ve talked a lot about Julie’s tenure, too, because 34 years is a very long time to stay with one organization, even though her job title has changed several times. Julie is retiring this summer – hard to believe, since she still looks about 38 – and it’s hard to imagine this place without her. When I sat down to interview her for the story that starts on page 26, it was a bittersweet conversation. We’ve been through so much over the years, had so much fun together, learned so much from each other. Things have changed dramatically in our profession; we’ve moved our offices three times; staff and programs have come and gone; but we’re still here. Our hearts are here, and we’ve chosen to stay. I wish her well in her retirement, of course, and I know she’ll be around, but it won’t be the same as having her here every day, with her 100-megawatt smile. 

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


Iowa Lakeside Laboratory was founded in 1909 for “the study of nature in nature.” Today, it’s a Regents Resource Center. Photos by Jim Heemstra

COVER STORY

DEPARTMENTS

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2 Getting Started 4 Letters to the Editor 6 Around Campus 28 Cyclones Everywhere STATEment Makers, newsmakers, Cyclone stories, Association news, alumni events & more 44 Sports 46 Calendar

‘If you want to see Iowa in all its glory, it’s here’ Iowa Lakeside Laboratory is a hidden gem in northwest Iowa FEATURES

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Catching the entrepreneurship bug at Iowa State

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Julie Larson: ‘A true passion for Iowa State’

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Just for kids: A LegaCY Club activity page

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

On the Cover: Iowa Lakeside Lab is a biological field research station with abundant natural resources on the shores of West Okoboji. Photo by Jim Heemstra

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Thomas A. Connop**# Chair-elect ’76 History Dallas, Texas Nicole M. Schmidt** Immediate Past Chair ’09 Const. Engr., MS ‘13 Ankeny, Iowa

Gregory Smith** ’91 Occupational Safety, MPA ’10 public admin. Marion, Iowa

HE

NE LO

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Larry Pithan** ’73 Mech. Engr. Andalusia, Illinois

Ping!

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Lawrence Cunningham**^ Chair ’02 Liberal Studies Ames, Iowa

S TA

Marc Mores** ’95 Exercise and Sport Science Parker, Colorado

S EV E RY W

E

OFFICERS

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2018-2019 ISU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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CIA

C L W IT H #

YC

Miguel Aguilar (’93 history), responding to a post linking to the “Madam President” story online (from spring 2018 VISIONS)

#

Timothy R. Quick**# Vice Chair of Finance ’01 Marketing, Intl. Business Clive, Iowa Kathy A. (Sullivan) Peterson**^ Vice Chair of Records ’95 Speech Comm. Aurelia, Iowa Joan Piscitello** University Treasurer ’98 MBA Ex-officio/voting West Des Moines, Iowa #

Jeffery W. Johnson**# Lora and Russ Talbot Endowed President & CEO PhD ’14 Education Ex-officio/non-voting Ames, Iowa ELECTED DIRECTORS Daniel A. Buhr**# ’95 Elec. Engr. Ames, Iowa Wendell L. Davis** ’75 DVM Overland Park, Kan. Heather L. (Reid) Duncan** ’06 Public Service & Admin. in Ag. Kansas City, Mo. Duane M. Fisher** ’73 Ag Ed., MS ‘80 Mt. Auburn, Iowa

#

Deborah Renee (Verschoor) Stearns**# ’81 Journ. & Mass Comm. Altoona, Iowa Amy Burrough Tetmeyer** ’91 Accounting Johnston, Iowa Kurt Alan Tjaden**#^ ’85 Accounting Bettendorf, Iowa Dana (Willig) Wilkinson** ’78 Interior Design Bettendorf, Iowa Eric Wittrock**# ’92 Mech. Engr. Urbandale, Iowa Suzanne J. Wyckoff**# ’70 English Riverside, Mo. APPOINTED DIRECTORS Office of the President Representative To Be Determined

Phyllis M. Fevold**^ Non-alumni Representative Ames, IA Blake Heitman*** Senior, Marketing Student Alumni Leadership Council Representative Roselle, Illinois Membership Key: *Annual member **Life member ***Student member

Kari A. (Ditsworth) Hensen** ’96 Sociology, MS ‘98 Higher Ed., PhD ‘05 Ankeny, Iowa

^Business member

Donald A. Hoy**# ’63 Ag. Business Weatherby Lake, Mo.

“Not sure how the rest of you spent your Saturday but Jeff Johnson and I spent our Saturday doing yard work for a group of ISU alums who generously (or foolishly) donated money to @isualum to have us work in their yard. Great time was had by all. Go, Cyclones!” From Jamie Pollard (L), ISU Director of Athletics; the yardwork package was purchased at the 2018 Cardinal & Gold Gala

Michele Appelgate* ’88 Journ. & Mass Comm. College Representative Ames, Iowa

Jeffrey Grayer** ’05 Liberal Studies Grand Blanc, Mich.

Erin Herbold-Swalwell** ’03 Liberal Studies Altoona, Iowa

“Very special greetings to Wendy from all ISU alumni in El Salvador.”

# 2017 Sustaining Life donor To apply for the Board of Directors, go to www.isualum. org/board. The deadline is Nov. 1. Meet the Board: www.isualum.org/about/ board

Letters 

WE’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU Let us know what you think about

stories in this issue – or about other topics of interest to VISIONS readers. Email your letters to: CGIESEKE@IASTATE.EDU.

WONDERFUL MEMORIES OF IOWA STATE

I just re-read my spring copy of VISIONS magazine. It brought back a lot of wonderful memories. Just two months ago, I lost my wife of nearly 68 years, Lora M. Palmer Parker (’52 home economics education). We met during our freshman year at Iowa State and were married our senior year. We had a great life together: three children, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Thanks, Iowa State. Don Parker**

’52 farm operation Muscatine, Iowa **

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Life member of the ISU Alumni Association

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“Just renewed my alumni membership!”#ForeverACyclone

“ISU alums. Three degrees. Met during Homecoming. Lisa, a third-generation legacy. Anthony, a Phi Psi like Lisa’s father & Lisa’s brother. The Campanile. Top-of-the-hour bells chimed after the post-proposal kiss!”

From Aja C. Holmes (A)(PhD ’14) of Sacramento, Calif.

A comment from @denisefriesth on an ISUAA Instagram photo of a marriage proposal under the Campanile in May

“Congrats to everyone graduating this weekend from the nation’s best #Land GrantUniversity and becoming an @isualum of @IowaStateU!” #ProudAlumni #CyclonesEverywhere #GoCyclones

“It’s official. My baby is a future Cyclone!” #CyclonesEverywhere From Chika Chaparrita, who shared a photo of the LegaCY Club certificate

From Jeremy Davis (L)(’01 ag ed, MS ’04) of Ames SUMMER 2018 / VOLUME 31 / NO. 2 EDITOR: Carole Gieseke ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kate Bruns PHOTOGRAPHY: Jim Heemstra, Rachel Mummey DESIGN: Scott Thornton LOCAL PHONE 294-6525 TOLL-FREE 1-877-ISU-ALUM (478-2586) WEBSITE www.isualum.org

VISIONS (ISSN 1071-5886) is published quarterly for members of the Iowa State University Alumni Association by the ISU Alumni Association, 429 Alumni Lane, Ames, IA 5001 1-1403, (515) 294-6525, FAX (515) 294-9402. Periodicals postage paid at Ames, Iowa, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to VISIONS, ISU Alumni Center, 429 Alumni Lane, Ames, IA 50011-1403. For ad rates please call 515-294-6560. Copyright 2018

by the ISU Alumni Association, Jeffery W. Johnson, Lora and Russ Talbot Endowed President and CEO and publisher. The ISU Alumni Association mission: To facilitate the lifetime connection of alumni, students, and friends with the university and each other. Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, ethnicity, religion,

national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance, 3280 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.

Printed with soy ink on recycled and recyclable paper.

STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE ISU ALUMNI DIRECTORY THANK YOU to the 34,000 Cyclones

everywhere who have already responded with information updates to be included in the 2019 Iowa State University Alumni Directory.

NEW!

If you still have updates to make, or would like to order your own copy of this incredible directory, please call 866-616-3036. All updates and orders must be placed by August 1, 2018. For more information, please visit www.isualum.org VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

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JIM HEEMSTRA

Around Campus

Shaina Destine

Cleansing the

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s is the case at many institutions, the historical archive of Iowa State University has been largely whitewashed – telling the stories primarily of its white graduates and faculty, leaving the stories of the university’s early black scholars lost to history. Resident librarian/archivist Shaina Destine (A) is working to change that by building a new digital archive showcasing Iowa State’s black alumni who went on to successful careers, focusing primarily on academia during the period between 1900-1950. She’s crowdsourcing a lot of the information, she says. People who have heard about her project are sending her emails or leaving notes on her desk. She’s also finding support from librarians and archivists at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), where many of those prominent black ISU researchers and scholars went on to build successful careers in an era when schools like Iowa

State were more likely to educate than to actually hire them. They’re stories like that of Frederick D. Patterson (DVM ’23), who founded the United Negro College Fund. Of Samuel Massie, Jr. (PhD ’46 organic chem), who was the first black professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. And of Destine’s personal favorite, Cecile Edwards (PhD ’50 food and nutrition), a rare black female early ISU graduate who became dean of three separate schools at Howard University. Destine adopted the project early in her residency because the need for it was obvious as soon as she stepped on campus. “I was kind of getting the lay of the land and understanding the archives when I realized there were no people of color represented in any of our archives, really,” said Destine, a University of Maryland graduate who came to Iowa State in June 2017 as a participant in the Association of College and Research Libraries’ diversity alliance residency program. “We have agricultural collections of all different

kinds of plants or all different kinds of birds or pigs, but it was like no black people ever came here outside of Jack Trice and George Washington Carver. I said, ‘That can’t be real.’ Some people that I looked up aren’t even in our yearbooks.” Destine hopes to mold her project into a template that can be used for research about other underrepresented communities at ISU – as well as used at other colleges and universities. (“A lot of what I’m going to end up doing for the rest of my life is repairing relationships between communities of color and universities,” Destine says of her future career aspirations). “All the students I’ve talked to are very excited about the project,” Destine says. “I get asked about the project every day. There are black students here, and they want to feel represented and like their university [cares] about them and their contributions to campus. I think it’s going to be big, and I hope it outlasts me.”

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L SOCIETY

Family seeks to preserve historic Ames home

AMES HISTORICA

T Archie and Na

ncy Martin

“…that house is 100 years old. It’s been

through quite a bit and has an unbelievable story to tell.” – Grant Shipp

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

he great-grandson of legendary Ames residents Archie and Nancy Martin is working to restore the Martins’ historic home at 218 Lincoln Way. The Craftsman-Style bungalow, which is registered as a historic landmark but is currently being used as a rental property, is historic in its own right – but it is particularly noteworthy because the Martins used it to provide shelter to prominent black scholars like Frederick D. Patterson and Samuel Massie, who studied at ISU during a period of restrictive on-campus housing policies. Grant Shipp, a native of Washington, D.C., says his great-grandparents were born into slavery in Wilmington, N.C., and Austell, Ga., and migrated to Ames in 1913 with their six adult children in search of a better life as one of Ames’ first black families. Shipp and his family would love to see the house preserved as a tribute to the Martins’ contributions to the Ames community, as well as to Iowa State College. It’s an important piece of broader American history, Shipp says. “When you live in a house, you’ve got to keep it up, and that house is 100 years old,” Shipp told the Ames Tribune. “It’s been through quite a bit and has an unbelievable story to tell.” To learn more or to contribute to Shipp’s fundraising project, visit www.gofundme.com/martin houserestoration.

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Around Campus

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owa State University has joined 15 other public and private universities to form “FedByScience,” a new federal program that is working to demonstrate the ways in which U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)funded universities and researchers are creating a safer, healthier, and more productive food system. The website, which can be found at www.fedbyscience.org, showcases work like that of Lisa

Schulte Moore, an ISU professor of natural resource ecology and management who recently briefed U.S. Senate and House of Representatives staffers on Midwest water-quality issues she is studying through USDA grants. “As researchers, we consider it our job to provide real-world solutions,” Schulte Moore said. “But solid science and training the next generation of problem-solvers requires additional investment into

our nation’s future.” “There is so much that federally funded food and agriculture research has accomplished, but these stories need a broader audience,” said FedByScience organizer Thomas Grumbly, president of the SoAR (Supporters of Agricultural Research) Foundation. “We are delighted to collaborate with our university partners to make this initiative a reality.”

cool things you should KNOW and SHARE about ISU

1: Iowa State is allied for innovation. Funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation provided $73,237 to help 60 ISU seniors from low-income families graduate May 5. The completion grants are an initiative of the 11-member University Innovation Alliance, of which Iowa State is a member. The pioneering program was profiled on CBS News’s 60 Minutes in April. 2: Iowa State is home of the 2018 Big 12 women’s golf

champ. Cyclone senior Celia Barquin Arozamena won the 2018 Big 12 women’s golf championship April 22 in Dallas, Texas. After firing a third-round 69, she finished three strokes ahead of Texas’ Emilee Hoffman in the medalist race and become only the second league medalist in ISU history (Shelley Finnestad, 1993). It was her first-ever individual win as a Cyclone golfer. “I always wanted to win a tournament for Iowa State,” she said. “To get my first title at the Big 12 Championship is just awesome.” 3: An Iowa State student is among the 2018 Udall Scholars. ISU senior Zoey Mauck is one of only 50 students

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JOE LINK

Feeding the national dialogue

nationally to receive the prestigious Udall Scholarship this year. An honors student who is pursuing degrees in landscape architecture and community and regional planning, Mauck is passionate about her work to create more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly communities. 4: Iowa State students are helping unfold history.

Students of ISU assistant history professor Jeremy Best spent much of the spring semester contributing to the National Holocaust Museum’s “History Unfolded” project, searching local newspapers for contributions to the museum’s online archive of local news related to 34 Holocaust-era events and even organizing a community-wide fact-finding event. 5: Iowa State is addressing the state’s most press-

ing environmental problem. Thanks to state fees assessed on fertilizer sales and pesticide registrations, the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, established at ISU in 2013, has annually devoted $1.5 million to fund water-quality initiatives in Iowa – about 60 total projects and counting.

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


InBrief

RACHEL MUMMEY

■ Save the date: Wintersteen installation is Sept. 21 President Wendy Wintersteen (L)(PhD ’88 entomology) will be formally installed as our university’s 16th leader Friday, Sept. 21 at 10:15 a.m. at Stephens Auditorium. Details are still being finalized by Wendy Wintersteen the installation planning committee, which is being chaired by Olivia Madison, professor emeriti and dean emeriti of library services. Stay tuned to www.iastate.edu for details about installation events.

■ Casting the first bell On April 10, the Ohio-based company Meeks, Watson and Company was on campus to cast the first carillon bell for Iowa State’s mobile 1:5 Campanile replica – an ongoing cross-disciplinary campus project that is estimated to cost $210,000 – more than $150,000 of which has already been raised. Project organizers have their fingers crossed that the bells will start chiming in December. ■ Seeking Stephens stories Stephens Auditorium is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and the Iowa State Center is seeking your VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018 2018

#StephensStory as part of the celebration. Email your favorite memories of Stephens Auditorium to stephens auditorium@gmail.com or submit your story online at https://50.center. iastate.edu/mystory to be featured on the anniversary website scheduled to launch in September. ■ Among us ISU professor of plant pathology and microbiology Thomas Harrington, along with ISU mycologist Doug McNew, have identified three new species of the fungus Tubakia. To celebrate, the species have been named in honor of three prominent Iowa Staters: Tubakia hallii, named for the late ISU forest geneticist Richard B. Hall (’69 forestry); Tubakia tiffanyae, named for the late ISU mycologist Lois H. Tiffany (’45 botany, MS ’47, PhD ’50); and Tubakia macnabbii, named for the late ISU forest pathologist H. Sande McNabb – who noticed a leaf disease in his son’s West Des Moines neighborhood 10 years ago and encouraged Harrington to study it.

■ On the map On July 24, for the first time in a decade, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) will spend the night in Ames – and members of the community organizing committee chaired by Kelsey Bolte Carper (L)

(’11 comm studies) and Lora and Russ Talbot ISU Alumni Association Endowed President and CEO Jeff Johnson (L)(PhD ’14 education) are preparing for huge crowds. The city’s theme for Wednesday’s RAGBRAI events is “Cycling Power: Taking the State By Storm,” and will feature “human wind tunnels” of locals greeting riders as they enter and exit Ames. ■ Lawrence named VP of Extension & Outreach After a nationwide search, John Lawrence (L)(’84 an sci, MS ’86 ag econ) has been appointed vice president of Iowa State University’s extension and outreach programs. Lawrence, interim vice president since March 2017, preJohn Lawrence viously served as associate dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of extension and outreach. ■ A new who’s who Iowa State University Museums is closing in on completion of an ambitious project that will make ISU the third university in the world to create its own biographical dictionary of influential alumni, faculty, and staff. The forthcoming collection will include more than 550 biographies from 275 contributing authors. Unlike typical biographical dictionaries, the project isn’t limited to people who have died – it includes present-day ISU leaders as well.

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iowa lakeside laboratory

‘If you want to sEE Iowa in aLL its glory, it’s here.’

F

North

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or more than 100 years, students and researchers have been traveling to Iowa Lakeside Lab, a 147-acre campus located on the shores of West Okoboji Lake, for a total-emersion learning experience. Lakeside Lab’s natural environment and diversity of habitats is a hidden gem for the state of Iowa. Owned by the state and operated through the Board of Regents, Iowa State faculty and students can expect to get their hands dirty, their feet wet, and their noses sunburned while they’re tackling big, complex, global and Iowa Lakeside regional problems, one tiny piece at a time. Laboratory

T ES KE LA

OJI OB OK

BY CAROLE GIESEKE

> PHOTOS BY JIM HEEMSTRA

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JENNY WITTE

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Day 1 THREE DAYS AT IOWA LAKESIDE LAB: A Field Journal Today is Tuesday, June 20,

2017, and photographer Jim Heemstra and I arrive mid-day at the Iowa Lakeside Lab campus on Little Miller’s Bay. It’s a three-hour drive to West Okoboji Lake from Ames, and we’re hungry. We call Lori Biederman, an assistant professor in Iowa State’s Department of Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology – she’s been the contact person for our visit – and she tells us to go ahead and make ourselves at home in our rooms at the Brown Motel. The doors are unlocked. It’s not long before we hear the clanging of a bell, a signal that lunch will be served in 15 minutes in the dining hall. Soon, students and faculty noisily arrive, deep in conversation and obviously well ingrained in the daily routine. We’ve arrived here five weeks after the first summer classes began in mid-May, and small groups of students are immersed in their studies ranging from archaeology to soils, algae to ornithology. About 30 students are here at Lakeside this week, plus researchers, professors, and staff. Lunch is pre-plated and served through the kitchen window; choices are limited, but the food is tasty and diners can add salads, dessert, coffee, and other food items to their trays. Groups form at large tables near the dining hall’s large lake-view windows. It’s a glorious, clear, sunny day. I’m glad we’re here.

After lunch, Lori

ld Archaeology fie

At 1 o’clock we head to the Field Archaeology site, where state archaeologist John Doershuk is overseeing nine students who are in Week 2 of a real-life archaeology dig at a nearby state park. The students are meticulously excavating 1-meter squares of earth, each about 21 inches deep, to see what remains of an area that was once inhabited by Native American ancestors from the Prairie Lakes Woodland phase, about 1,500 to 1,800 years ago. The layers are carefully measured and the soil removed, 10 centimeters at a time. Earth is scooped into buckets, then poured into a fine sieve. Items found are documented, and the soil is tested. The process takes four to five days for each square meter. This class is four weeks long. Much of what the students are finding near the surface was deposited

here recently, since the area became a state park. Doershuk sifts through a few animal bones, nails, and bottle caps lying on a picnic table, laughingly categorizing the items as belonging to the “prehistoric 7-up culture group.” But in all seriousness, he says, this area is a “placeholder for human behavior.” As they’ve dug deeper, the students have uncovered beautiful fragments of pottery, 1,500-year-old chert, and a hide scraper. Students represent a variety of majors – anthropology, archaeology, history, English, environmental science. For Ben Anstoetter, an Iowa State cultural anthropology major, this is literally his last class before graduating in August. He hopes to someday conduct ethnographic research for companies.

takes us to Waitt Hall

to say hello to Mary Skopec, director of Lakeside Lab. We talk about our goals for the next three days – to see and do as much as we possibly can while we’re there, to hang out with each of the classes, venture out onto the lake, get some great pictures, and try to understand what makes this place so special. We develop an itinerary, but Mary warns us: You can’t predict the weather here, and sometimes the best-laid plans are likely to change. The woman knows what she’s talking about. 12

work

Artifacts found at the sta

te park site


Later in the afternoon,

we tour campus with Lori. Eleven of Lakeside’s 37 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Key among them are five stone labs built in 1935 and 1936 through the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC); each is named for an Iowa scientist: Thomas Macbride, Bohumil Shimek, Samuel Calvin, Joseph Bodine, and ISU’s Louis Pammel. Of the 147 acres that make up the Lakeside Lab campus, most is natural land. The campus can be divided into three sections: 1) the ecological studies campus, 2) the residential campus, and 3) the teaching campus.

Iowa lakeside laboratory

History

I

owa Lakeside Lab is a national model for immersive, field-based research and education. The Lab was founded in 1909 by botanist Thomas Macbride and his colleagues from the University of Iowa, for “the study of nature in nature.” Macbride chose the site for its natural diversity. From east to west, Okoboji marks a transition between ecoregions, from the eastern deciduous forest to the Great Plains. From north to south, Okoboji signals a shift from the recently glaciated landscape of the Minnesota lakes region to the much older and more dissected landscape of the Little Sioux Valley and ultimately the Missouri River Valley. Macbride’s placement of his Lab meant students could study the components of most major Midwestern ecosystems within an easy hike or ride from the Lab grounds. Ownership was held at first by a private stock company, the Lakeside Laboratory Association. In 1936 the Association deeded the station to the state of Iowa, “to be held in trust for the accommodation, promotion, support, and maintenance of scientific studies and research,” and the Lab began to be utilized by Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa as well as

by the University of Iowa. Notable Iowa State professors began to teach at the Lab, including John Dodd (algology, for 32 years), Martin Ulmer (parasitology), and Lois Tiffany (mycology/fungi, the only female professor at that time). A major construction program took place in the mid 1930s, when the Civilian Conservation Corps built five stone laboratories, four student cabins, a bathhouse, and other amenities. The most noteworthy constructions – the stone buildings – were built with massive, glacially deposited granite boulder walls topped with cedar-shingled roofs and arranged in an arc around the highest hill with the open end facing the lake. Additional buildings were added in the 1960s and ’70s. The Waitt building opened in 1998, providing a modern Water Quality Laboratory, additional classrooms, and staff offices. In 2006 Lakeside was designated a Regents Resource Center, expanding both its audience and its mission. Today the Lab is a place where people of all ages and backgrounds can “study nature in nature.” — From www.iowalakesidelab.org and from the book The Iowa Lakeside Laboratory: A Century of Discovering the Nature of Nature.

Lori Biederman, in the “north 40”

Pammel Lab Main Cottage, Lakeside’s oldest building VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG WWW.ISUA SUMMER 2018

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Day 1 Kristin Briggs

Inside one of the stone labs,

graduate students in the Ecology and Systematics of Algae class are studying what they collected this morning on Spirit Lake. The contents of the watery samples are dotted onto microscope slides, and amazing images come up on computer screens. “What we’re looking at with the microscope is 3.7 billion years old,” explains the professor, Kalina Manoylov. Students in this class have come from all over the country to study here. Each day, they go out on one of Iowa’s great lakes and collect live materials from different habitats. Researchers here have been studying these same locations for more than 100 years. Katie Johnson, a University of Georgia graduate student, shows us pictures of diatoms through the research-grade microscope. A field book from 1915 sits nearby. Johnson’s research project is comparing the community composition of today with that of 100 years ago. On the other side of the room, Kristin Briggs from Florida International University in Miami is holding a pipette filled with lake water, squeezing it gently onto a glass slide. One of her university professors sent her here to learn more about algae, she tells us. This is a world-renowned research site. Her graduate work is focused on Everglades restoration. “I want people to love algae like I love algae,” she says.

In another stone lab,

we see evidence of the Soil Formation and Landscape Relationships class, but no people. Turns out, they are on an overnight field trip to northeast Iowa. We move on. We meet one of the two artistsin-residence here this summer. Brian Schorn of St. Helen, Mich., is working on 3-D art inspired by the randomness, order, and chaos in the environment. And using a fair amount of prairie grass. Continuing on, we get a taste of some of the wonderful collections that are hidden away in the back rooms of each of the historic buildings. Here’s the herbarium, with plant samples dating back to 1919. We plan to come back tomorrow when we have more time. Down by the lake we see the Main Cottage, the only original structure from the late 1800s. The nearby dining hall was moved to Lakeside in the early 1900s. “Every building has a history,” Lori tells us.

Diatoms

It’s late afternoon,

Artist-in-residence Brian Schorn

and time to get out on the lake. We jump on the pontoon boat used by Lakeside classes and researchers and head off. Our destination: the GLEON buoy. GLEON stands for Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network, and the buoy inspires innovative science by sharing and interpreting water quality and weather data on West Okoboji. You can access the information from anywhere in the world. This little nondescript buoy floating in the water is apparently a very big, scientific deal.

1915 field notes 14

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GLEON buoy

100 years of

It was nice to be out on the water. Katie J

o hnso n

But soon we’re back on land, hopping into a ranger vehicle. Lori is driving us to a prairie, AKA the “north 40,” and we’re bouncing around like crazy, threatening to be bucked out. The ecological studies campus occupies more than three-fourths of the land mass at Lakeside, including the entire northern portion. The northwest part is being restored to prairie. Another 23 acres to the immediate east is reconstructed prairie, planted in 2002-03. A second-growth woods of box elder and other trees separates these areas from West Okoboji Lake and the residential campus to the south. Lori proudly shows off the vast prairie, with its wide variety of unique, native species. Actually, “geeking out” would not be too strong a description. She’s obviously passionate about this place, and it’s infectious.

Our first day is almost over,

but not before we have dinner in the dining hall and attend an evening lecture titled “Weather Whiplash” in Mahan Hall, a facility built in 1961 and renovated in 2003. Tonight Amy Burgin, a professor at the University of Kansas, is talking about weather’s impact on the glacially created Iowa Great Lakes and presenting other fascinating research findings, to not only the students and faculty here at Lakeside but also a number of folks from the community.

research

R

esearch has been the backbone of the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory since its creation in 1909. Today, Lakeside Lab has a treasure trove of information and research opportunities: water quality of the Iowa Great Lakes and surrounding watersheds, taxonomy and ecology of diatoms, prairie restoration, and conservation biology and ecology of prairie plants and animals. Here are a few specific examples: • The GLEON buoy (Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network) is part of a global water-quality and weather-data-gathering project located on West Okoboji. Information can be accessed from anywhere in the world. • In conjunction with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Lakeside Lab faculty and student researchers use sonar techniques to map the aquatic vegetation along the margins of the lakes for the Iowa Great Survey Lakes Vegetation Mapping Survey. • Researchers are currently investigating how the micronutrient iron contributes to harmful algae blooms so that blooms can be better understood, monitored, and perhaps prevented.

• The Cooperative Lakes Area Monitoring Project (CLAMP) provides long-term monitoring data on regional lake conditions and educate local citizens about lake ecology. • In partnership with the State Hygenic Lab, Lakeside provides water-testing services and educates citizens on how to better care for Iowa’s natural lakes. Waitt Water Quality Laboratory chemist Dennis Heimdal and other researchers are looking at data that’s been collected here for 20 years. “When the students are out in the field doing the classwork, they’re also collecting information,” Mary Skopec, executive director of Iowa Lakeside Lab, said. “We recently found a document that shows the algae collected in 1915, and in it, it says there were 200 different species of algae that were discovered at Okoboji. So, there’s this long history of data that goes way, way back 100 years, and every successive class and researcher coming in can build on that. We have at any one time 20 different researchers that are running around doing collaborative things here during the summer months.”

Chemist Dennis Heimdal runs waterquality tests with a summer intern. The Water Quality Laboratory is located in Lakeside’s newest building, the Waitt Lab, a gift from the Friends of Lakeside Lab.

Soils lab

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

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Day 2

Ornithology class in Shimek Lab

It’s early morning,

and Jim and I walk down to the lake to take some pictures of the sunrise. Jim says, “Wow, it looks like rain in the west. Look at that cloud above your head.” Before I can even respond, it begins to pour and we race, old-person style, up the hill. Ugh, talk about weather whiplash. Dripping, we sit on the protected porch of the Brown Motel, watching the rain and listening to the thunder, thinking this is not a good thing. We’re supposed to be going out on the boat this morning with the algae class to collect samples, but this storm cell looks big. It’s probably going to rain for a while. Right now, it’s almost breakfast time and the algae class outing is two-and-a-half hours from now, so we will see what happens. Meanwhile, we watch a pair of newborn fawns play on the lawn under the watchful eye of their mother. Cautiously optimistic, we meet with faculty at breakfast. All the outdoor classes are canceled, they tell us. Everyone is working in the labs this morning. Very disappointing. Hoping it clears off this afternoon. Everybody has out mobile weather apps, comparing radar. “That’s field work. Whatever comes, we take,” Kalina Manoylov says matter-of-factly. But this is our only full day here, and we need to make it count.

16

So, off we go, tromping through the wet grass, Residential cabins (left) and the dining hall

to more fully explore the collections in the back rooms of the stone labs. In one room we find a faunal collection. Wooden cabinets are filled with shelves of animal bones, by category: mandibles, skulls, turtle shells, and other bones. In another cabinet, painted gunmetal gray, is a collection of “Insects in Alcohol.” Inside are tiny vials of liquid with insects inside. Cardboard boxes, tackle boxes, wooden boxes – filled with who knows what treasures? Soil core samples. Old canning jars filled with liquid and preserved fish and other stuff I can’t identify. Tools, an old microscope, aquarium, scales, a soil-moisture meter. Some of these things seem new; other stuff looks like it came from 1965, and some looks as though it’s been here since 1920. It probably has. Flora of Iowa botanical samples are shelved in the Bodine Lab. Catalogued in 1944, some of the Lakeside Herbarium samples date as far

back as 1887. In the King Lab, we strike gold: the late Lois Tiffany’s mushroom collection. An ISU distinguished professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, Tiffany (’45 botany, MS ’47, PhD ’50) was a giant in the fields of mycology (fungi) and botany, so this is really exciting. We open cabinets and drawers to find samples of giant puffball, mycenastrum, echinodontium, and many more fungal species. Some are preserved in liquid in jars, but most are dried in plastic boxes. An extraordinary collection. In another cabinet, we find wooden drawers filled with the insect teaching collection. There’s a strong smell of mothballs. My favorite collections are the butterflies – each one is meticulously preserved and looks as if it could fly away at any moment. Another drawer houses cases of preserved moths – also beautiful. I chuckle over the irony of using moth balls to prevent the moth collection from being destroyed…by moths.

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


Brown Motel

We check in on the classes,

all working indoors until the rain decides to stop. In Shimek Hall, perhaps the most beautiful of all the stone labs, the ornithology class is getting a taxidermy lesson. Using scissors, knives, borax, cotton batting, and cornmeal, students quietly work under the guidance of professor Neil Bernstein to make deceased birds look lively and natural. In the Calvin Lab, the archaeology class is cleaning up the artifacts they found yesterday at the state park site. They’d clearly rather be digging, but the rain has forced them indoors. They wash the samples, label them, and leave them to dry on paper-towellined cookie sheets. They’ve found a piece of Sioux quartzite at level 7 and a bone fragment from a large deer or perhaps an elk at level 5. Professor Doershuk tells us, “Every square we open [at the archaeology site] will give us another peek into the whole area. The trick is going from bits and pieces to the behavior that created it. That’s the challenging but fun part.” Suddenly, the sun appears through the windows, and the whole lab lights up. “Let’s gear up and head to the site!” Doershuk says. It has finally quit raining. Archaeo

logy cla

How can I experience lakeside? TAKE A CLASS Lakeside gives students a unique educational experience: small, full-immersion, field-oriented courses. Each summer, Lakeside offers 15-20 university courses. Most courses meet all day (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Monday through Friday. Course enrollments are usually limited to 11 students. Weather permitting, students normally spend at least part of each day doing fieldwork. Summer 2018 courses include acoustic ecology, animal behavior, glacial geomorphology, field archaeology, ecology of algae blooms, environmental nonfiction, paleolimnology, ecology and systematics of diatoms, ethnobotany, and more. Students from any college or university can take classes at Lakeside. Visit www.lakesidelab.org to view a complete list of classes, to register, and for scholarship opportunities. VISIT Visitors are welcome at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory on West Okoboji Lake. During the summer months, a variety of public programs are offered, including

science seminars, family programs, artist lectures and exhibitions, adult nature weekends, guided hikes, a kids’ day camp, and more. Lakeside’s buildings and natural areas are actively used for university classes and community outreach programs, especially in the summer. Buildings can be rented by non-profit community groups when not in use for Lakeside purposes. Lakeside can accommodate up to 92 guests: 47 in cottages and hotel-style units with private baths, heat, and air conditioning; and 45 in unheated cabins served by separate bath houses. Lakeside’s facilities are not available for weddings and private parties. HOW TO GET HERE The Lakeside campus is located on Highway 86 north of Milford, in northwest Iowa. As you get close on Highway 86, look for the silver water tower on the west side of the road. Lakeside’s entrance is marked by stone gates that are normally open. When you arrive, please check in at the North Office. There is plenty of free parking.

ss

Artifacts from the dig site

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

17


Day 2

Collections

While the class groups head to their fifield sites,

I sit down with Lakeside Lab director Mary Skopec for an in-depth discussion about the unique opportunities Lakeside provides to the state of Iowa. You can read my Q&A with her on page 23.

Common yellowthroat

After dinner and a walk,

Jim and I eagerly connect with Neil Bernstein’s ornithology class. The group is on the north side of the Lakeside campus, setting up mist nets to catch and band birds. The idea is to set up these fine nets – stretching from about 8 feet in the air down to about 2 feet off the ground – on the edge of a wooded area where birds have congregated during the day. As dusk approaches, the birds will fly out of the area and get caught in the nets, allowing students to record information about each bird, including weight and other characteristics, and to place a tiny tracking band around its leg. I’m excited to see the birds up close.

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Banding a song sparrow

But first, we wait. Bernstein says dryly, “All we do is wait. This is real biology.” And then, a flurry of activity. We have our first bird! It’s a song sparrow. One of the students, Serena, carefully bands the bird – her first. The group looks at the bird’s characteristics up close as Bernstein holds it gently in his fist. The next bird is a yellow warbler. The bird struggles and becomes tangled in the net. Finally freed, we see that he already has a band. Bernstein describes him as a student records the capture in a field journal: “Band number 2170. Banded last summer.

Recaptured male warbler. Neotropical migrant. Migrates to South and Central America.” And, Bernstein adds, because he has now been caught twice in the mist net, this bird is “spectacularly unlucky.” Our next bird is a male goldfinch. Then a gray catbird with a black crown and a bad attitude. And then a tiny common yellowthroat. The ornithology class generally catches 8-15 birds during a typical sunrise or sunset period, Bernstein says. Tonight is average; they catch a dozen birds.

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


Faculty spotlight:

alex braidwOOd We leave the ornithology students

still recording bird information, and meet up with a different group to go out on the lake to watch the sunset. This is the best weather we’ve had all day, and everyone is relaxed, joking, and enjoying the scenery. There is no data to record, no lessons to be learned. The sunset is spectacular. But before we’re back to the shore, we can already see thunderclouds forming to the west. Another storm is coming.

Botany and mycology collections

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018 8

A

lex Braidwood, an assistant professor of graphic design in ISU’s College of Design, probably isn’t the first person you’d think of when you think of a professor at a biological field research station. But he is one of Iowa Lakeside Laboratory’s most enthusiastic proponents. “It’s a wonderful place, isn’t it?” Braidwood said. “You’re surrounded by nature, and it’s a really fascinating space where it’s isolated but not remote. Right? There’s a big grocery store seven miles away, so you can get the things you need there. But it feels like you’re somewhere else.” Braidwood runs the Artist in Residence program for the Lab, and he teaches classes like Acoustic Ecology and Science + Data Design Visualization. He says he relishes the interplay between the arts and sciences. “That’s the thing that keeps me going back,” he said. “If it was just a bunch of scientists who were closed off and thought art was just about making things pretty, there would be no place for me up there.” But he relishes the conversations “where the scientists want to know more about what artists do and artists want to know more about what scientists do.” Braidwood’s main focus with his acoustic ecology class is to record nature sound. Several times during the two-week summer class, students rise at 4 a.m. and go as a group to a prairie or wetland to record what he calls the “dawn chorus,” when migratory species are incredibly active, when everything is waking up. Later, students download the data to their laptops and create audio postcards that tell a story. He says teaching classes at Lakeside and teaching classes on the Ames campus are completely different. “It’s not even the same. I mean, I’m an instructor and there are students,

but it’s really intense. The students are in one class at a time while they’re up there because the classes meet Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and you’re OUT, you’re out in the world. It’s a really focused learning experience because you really are committed to this like morning, noon, and night. They want to devote two weeks to doing this.” Braidwood’s first involvement with Lakeside was as one of its artists in residence. His project that first summer was to make music out of the data collected by the GLEON buoy. Today, as the director of the Artist in Residence program, Braidwood helps attract artists from all over the country, ranging from composers to installation artists to printmakers. He calls the program a conduit for what can happen in the intersection between art and science in Iowa. “The artists I bring up for the residency get in conversations with the science students and science professors; they go on field trips, they learn collection methods, they look through microscopes. And there’s something that happens that’s like ‘the thing we have in common is that we love nature,’ and ‘the thing we have in common is that we want the world to be a good place to live in,’ and ‘the thing we have in common is we want to understand how things work.’ It just opens the door to these really like amazing conversations.”

19


Day 3

Soils class

The next morning,

there’s another rain delay, and I am officially panicked. This is our last day here. Jim and I were scheduled to go out with the algae class at 9 a.m., but that’s been pushed back – again. We cross our fingers for a break in this blasted weather pattern. Meanwhile, the soils class, taught by ISU professor of agronomy Lee Burras, has returned from its field trip to the Paleozoic Plateau area of northeast Iowa, near Decorah. Back in the stone lab, the small class is comparing ancient rock with glacial sediment, discussing glaciers and rifts, and taking a close-up look at core samples collected as a group. They compare the color of the soil, which changes depending on the amount of water it contains, with the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils. This particular sample has a high amount of clay. Burras has been teaching at Lakeside for 13 summers. “I love teaching these field classes,” he says. “Iowa State has been involved with Iowa Lakeside Lab for a long time.”

At 10 a.m., in the middle of the soil core discussion, Core sampling

my phone rings. The algae class is in the boat, waiting impatiently for us to go out on the lake. The storm has passed. We run to the dock. Algae class

20

on West Oko

boji Lake

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


Soils class

What’s in the researcher’s tOOlbox? “As ecologists we have to use what we can.” – Kristin Briggs, graduate student in the Ecology and Systematics of Algae class Ecology and Systematics of Algae Field Archaeology

The class this morning is headed to the Triboji Canal

to collect algae samples. No sample represents the whole lake, Professor Manoylov tells me. They collect samples in the canal, at the center of lake, at the edge right off of a dock, and other places. Samples come from the same areas each time in order to track changes in the four Okoboji lakes. When we arrive at our first sample location mid-lake, the students pair up into three teams of two, each with a job to do. Reaching off the side of the boat, one group scrapes algae off of a buoy and take measurements: dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH. Another group puts water from a turkey baster into plastic bags, carefully labeling each bag. Another checks the turbidity (clearness) of the water. The three teams work simultaneously, quickly and efficiently. You can tell they’ve done this dance before. Everything will be labeled and ready to analyze when the group gets back in the lab. What will today’s algae be like? The rain will have disturbed it, and the pH will probably be neutral. Fertilizers run into the lake when it rains, so that has an effect on the water quality. We’re on the move again – wow, that all happened really fast. We go into the canal, where the water is calmer and relatively shallow. Manoylov says the canal is very unique in terms of algae. There’s a lot of phytoplankton here. The teams again do their collection, and then they’re finished. VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

Soil Formation and Landscape Relationships

Ornithology

21


Day 3

On the way back to campus,

I talk to a graduate student from Florida who just began a master’s program. He tells me his professor suggested he spend the summer here in Iowa, so he enrolled in the four-week diatom class and then added another four-week class to study algae. “The diatom class is really wellregarded,” he says. Before we make it back, the boat dies twice. Apparently this happens all the time. The driver calls someone and does a bit of McGyvering, and the boat engine sputters to life. We make it back to the dock.

11..:30. Back on land.

The soils class is outside taking more core samples. It’s suddenly very sunny. Professor Burras encourages one of the students to drive the truck to the field site. (“It’s a field class!” he says enthusiastically. “Everyone needs the experience of driving the big truck!”) The process of core sampling is loud and dirty. Once a sample is extracted from the site, the students measure “horizons,” look at a color sample book, and describe the soil’s shape, color, depth, and morphology. Burras asks the students to evaluate if soil would be good for growing corn. What else? How can we offer information that’s useful to other people? Kata McCarville is one of the soils students, but she’s also a teacher at Upper Iowa University. She brought one of her geology classes here to Lakeside last spring. This soils class, she says, is professional development for her. “It’s been an amazing class,” she tells me. “A phenomenal opportunity.”

22

Algae class collecting samples

It’s been a phenomenal opportunity for me, too. Our time at Lakeside has flown by. Jim and I say our goodbyes and head back to Ames. Three days here was not enough.

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


A conversation with mary skopec

M

ary Skopec, executive director of Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, is a native Iowan. She grew up in Cedar Rapids and received three degrees from the University of Iowa (BS and MS in geography and an interdisciplinary PhD in environmental science). She worked as a supervisor for water quality monitoring for the state of Iowa through the Department of Natural Resources and has taught environmental science classes at the University of Iowa. What’s indispensable about Iowa Lakeside Lab? I think the main thing about this place is that it’s this total immersion learning environment. So, when we look at nature, when we think about the complex environmental issues that we’re facing today, oftentimes we try to reduce them to their bits and their pieces. And the thing about being in Lakeside is you can’t do that. You have to think about it in all its complexity, all at the same time. I think that’s really indispensable, because I think it’s really hard to approach these complex global and regional problems without being able to think big. Lakeside gives students the ability to do that. And you can’t escape it. From sitting in the dining hall having conversations with faculty and students about what they saw that particular day – and just the fact that you have to deal with those issues as you’re out sampling or you’re trying to catch that animal – it just engulfs you. And I think that’s really valuable in a small setting, so you’re getting this incredible faculty interaction. Lakeside provides this really high-quality, in-depth mentorship. It’s almost like an internship at the same time that students are taking the class. It’s different than just reading the material and listening to a lecture. It’s experiencing, it’s having conversations with faculty the entire time you’re here, and I think that’s kind of stripping it back to how education used to be. You can’t hide from your professor here! How important is the multi-disciplinary aspect of this place? I think it’s critical. When I look at where the interesting things are happening in research, it happens in the seams, where geology and biology intersect. I think that as the disciplines have matured, where those things come together

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

– that interdisciplinary nexus – is where the greatest explosion in knowledge is happening. Because suddenly we’re seeing those feedback loops, and we’re thinking more holistically about these things that obviously do interact in nature. They don’t live in their own little discipline. The other thing I think that’s really great about Lakeside is there aren’t very many places in Iowa where you can go and have a highquality lake, lakes that are struggling in terms of water quality, prairie, upland grassland areas, wetlands, forested areas, savanna. I don’t know if there’s any place in Iowa where you have that diversity of habitats all in one location. The scientific and academic communities probably understand the importance of this place, but why should the average Iowan care? I always tell people that this is their legacy. This is Iowa’s natural heritage in a nutshell. If you think about understanding where we’ve come from and where we’re going, Lakeside and the Okoboji region and Dickinson County really encapsulate that. Because we’ve modified our landscape so intensely in the state of Iowa, this is really a glimpse back into our coveted natural heritage, I think. And if you want to see Iowa in all its glory, it’s here. That’s not to take away from other places in Iowa. I grew up in eastern Iowa and there are some phenomenal places, but glacial landscapes, wetlands, lake landscapes, it’s all right here, and I think that, again, that’s your heritage. If you’re from the Grand Canyon area, that’s really showy, but this is OUR heritage. People should care about that because it is inherently Iowan; it is a landscape that is precious and rare, and we all should spend some time here. People feel transformed when they come here. Certainly, people come to West Okoboji and they boat and they enjoy the water quality, but people come here to Lakeside and I think they feel transformed by this landscape, that it sort of speaks to who we are as Iowans. People have been inhabiting these lakeshores for a very long time, with good reason. They’re phenomenal. We’re connected through time and space, and I think people should care about that.

and not just summer. We have buildings that are heated and cooled, but most of our buildings do not have that. So it’s really difficult to think about bringing students up here and doing any other classes when we don’t have enough spaces that can handle people in the winter months. We’re a little bit limited in housing. If we double up, we’re at about 90 [in the summer]. In the winter time, maybe 50 in the Brown Motel and the Green Motel [because they’re heated]. We need to get fully modernized and weatherized so we can be 24/365. What else do you want people to know? I like that we have students from all over Iowa coming together, meeting each other, talking about what they’re doing. It gets them out of their comfort zone and moves them to a place where you can’t hide; you have to interact with people and get your nose out of your phone. Lakeside Lab forces you to be a little more social. I think that happens here more than in most classrooms. Conversation is sort of a lost art, and we preserve that. It’s a good thing. Lakeside Lab has been around for over a hundred years. My goal is to make sure we’re around for at least another hundred. Biological field stations are not always the most glamorous thing … but I do really believe it is the quality of education these students walk out with that separates them from their peers. Another thing I love about this place is that all the giants of Iowa natural heritage, of natural history, are here. Thomas Macbride, Samuel Calvin, all the greats walked around here. This is where they said, ‘Yep, this place is pretty awesome and we’re gonna build this field camp.’ I just love that connection in history with those folks who were so brilliant and visionary. It’s just extraordinary that they said, ‘We should protect this piece of land.’ You look at West Okoboji – every square inch is developed except for this, and that’s pretty phenomenal. Why is this place important to Iowans? This is your heritage. If you never go to Yosemite, if you never go to Yellowstone… this is Iowa’s national park equivalent. It is amazingly preserved, and that’s rare in this state. Lakeside is this little hidden gem. I think it needs to be a little less hidden, and we encourage people to come see us.

What are the Lab’s most pressing needs? I think probably the most pressing need is the ability to move into those other three seasons,

23


Catching the entrepreneurship bug at Iowa State

F

By Betsy S. Hickok

or a young man who grew up dairy farming, Geert Boelen has found a novel way to diversify his future farm business. Boelen may have come a long way from his childhood home, but farming has been a constant. Eight years ago, he and his family relocated from a dairy farm in the Netherlands to one in Brooklyn, Iowa. With his agricultural focus, he decided Iowa State was the perfect place to pursue a higher education. Besides his major in agricultural business, Boelen is taking advantage of the university’s unique minor in entrepreneurship – and participating in Iowa State’s Agriculture Entrepreneurship Initiative, created in 2005 to inspire students to think outside the box as they envision careers in agriculture. At the initiative’s core is the student incubator program, which provides resources and mentoring for around 15 students each semester as they develop business plans and concept pitches. As a participant, Boelen alighted on the tasty idea of cricket-farming after hearing a podcast titled “Are edible insects the future of food?” He is now in the research and development stage of a business cleverly called “One Hop Shop,” which raises crickets for human 24

consumption. He and his co-founder, Darian Davis, have a business goal to provide restaurants in Ames and beyond with specialty-flavored whole crickets, and ultimately to become the most efficient and sustainable cricket farming operation in the United States. Boelen’s idea is one of many incubating in the multi-pronged Agriculture Entrepreneurship Initiative, in which students network with entrepreneurs; pursue coursework, workshops and internships related to entrepreneurship; and work toward graduating with viable business plans. The program is focused as much on generating new ideas as on teaching entrepreneurial thinking, whether graduates seek to initiate startups or simply bring a fresh perspective to existing businesses. Boelen said, “I have been very fortunate to participate in the Student Incubator program. Being in the same room with like-minded people and getting immediate feedback on new ideas helps me tremendously.” The potential for the Agriculture Entrepreneurship Initiative to diversify and grow Iowa’s economy is not lost on organizations such as the Iowa Farm Bureau, which is the largest source of private support for the program. Since many of the students are preparing to return to family farms and agribusinesses,

the initiative can help re-energize rural Iowa – and the state’s economy – by infusing farming operations and agribusinesses with entrepreneurial energy, knowledge, and leadership. For the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Agriculture Entrepreneurship Initiative is among its key priorities for the Forever True, For Iowa State campaign, reflecting an entrepreneurial energy that is widespread across campus. For example, the Ivy College of Business not only offers its minor, but the college has also established the first entrepreneurship major in the state and the eighth entrepreneurship doctoral degree in the nation. Initiatives such as the CYstarters Summer Accelerator in the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship and CyBIZ in the Ivy College of Business are also winning the university a national reputation for educating future innovators. Such programs are preparing a whole new generation of professionals ready to hit the ground running – or at least hopping, in the case of Boelen. “The mentors I have through this program have helped me immensely during the semester,” he said. “They’ve supported me and questioned me to better myself as an entrepreneur and as a person.”  SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS

PAUL GATES

Iowa State student Geert Boelen (right) and Darian Davis co-founded One Hop Shop, which raises crickets for human food.


What does it mean to be forever true? It means keeping the Iowa State experience accessible for students. It means supporting world-class faculty and programs. It means creating a university for the 21st century and beyond. Your gifts to Iowa State help prepare the difference-makers to solve tomorrow’s challenges. Because the world needs more Cyclone spirit.

To learn how you can be forever true to Iowa State, visit ForeverTrueISU.com.


A TRUE PA

I WA

For 34 years, Julie Larson has touched the lives of hundreds of students and alumni through her work with the ISU Alumni Association

J

ulie Larson has tiny feet, but she has very big shoes to fill. After working for the ISU Alumni Association for 34 years, Larson (L)(MS ’84 higher ed) is retiring in July 2018. No more Big 12 spirit rallies. No more 50-year class reunions. No more board meetings, Senior Week, fundraising visits, Honors & Awards ceremonies, or Cyclone Centrals. No more early-morning-workoutsand-grabbing-a-Starbucks before 8 a.m. management team meetings. It’s time for a well-deserved break. With 34 years of service to the Alumni Association – plus additional years on campus with the YMCA and Financial Aid Office – it would be easy to focus on Larson’s longevity, but her lasting legacy is much more about quality than quantity. She started out as an adviser to the Student Alumni Association (now Student Alumni Leadership Council) on March 22, 1984. “Truly, working with students is why I came to the Alumni Association,” she says. “That was a true joy.” 26

Under Larson’s leadership, the SAA program quickly became a standout among student alumni programs nationally. And it was during those years that she left an imprint on students’ lives – and created lifelong relationships. Cyndi (Murray) Bonus (L)(’85 consumer food science, MEd ’92) first met Larson when she interviewed for a position on Senior Class Council. Larson was a new staff member at that time, but she impressed Bonus with her ability to work with each individual student’s personality and work style. When Bonus decided to return to Iowa State to earn a master’s in education, Larson served as her mentor – and, coming full circle, Bonus became Larson’s graduate assistant. “Working side by side with her and gleaning all I could about working with the students was priceless to me,” Bonus says. “I watched her maintain close and personal contact with countless alumni. “Julie embodies true passion for Iowa State University.” Later, Bonus served on the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, and her

husband, Ken Bonus, is a current Board member. Larson’s job title has changed many times over her 34 years with the organization. As director of student and career programs, she served as adviser to ISU’s Parents’ Board, worked closely with the Family of the Year program, helped create the Cyclone Alley student section for ISU basketball games, and implemented a strong alumni career resources program. As director of outreach and events, she oversaw all on- and off-campus events for the ISU Alumni Association, including alumni clubs, Young Alumni Council, reunions, special interest societies, Des Moines outreach, career resources, gala and golf fundraising events, spirit rallies and other athletics-related events, the OLLI program, and ISU retirees. She coordinated the Honors & Awards program, oversaw Alumni Days, planned receptions for Iowa community presidential visits, coordinated the Alumni Relations Council, and supervised six staff members. When the Association moved into the Alumni Center 10 years ago, Larson helped create and implement SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


SSION FOR

STATE

JIM HEEMSTRA

B Y CA ROL E GIESEKE

policies for the new facility. Scott Stanzel (L)(’95 journalism & mass comm) met Julie in 1992 as a student ambassador, and as a senior he served as chair of the newly created Student Foundation Committee of SAA. “Julie had the unique ability to simultaneously provide sound guidance and insights to students while also giving them plenty of room to make their own decisions about the mission of their SAA committees and activities,” he said. “That meant a great deal to student leaders, as it provided a true opportunity to grow and learn.” Stanzel’s family became ISU Family of the Year in 1994, and he later served on the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, ultimately serving as chair of the Board. In her most recent position as chief of staff and director of development, Larson has had the opportunity to reconnect with former students, Board members, and other alumni as she raised endowment funds for the Association. By the time she retires on July 5, she will

have helped raise about $2 million. “It’s rewarding to think that I’ve contributed in a small way to help sustain the Alumni Association for the future,” she says. Jeff Johnson (L)(PhD ’14), Lora and Russ Talbot Endowed President & CEO of the Association, has worked with Larson for 18 years. “She’s like a mini-alumni association,” Johnson says. “She’s an institution. She’s had an amazing journey, from student affairs to alumni relations professional to fundraiser. Everyone she meets, she makes them feel so special, and Iowa State continues to benefit from that.” Larson, whose husband, John, recently retired from a position with ISU Facilities Planning and Management, says she’ll miss working with the Alumni Association staff and alumni, but she’s looking forward to the opportunity to travel and spend more time with her grandchildren. “This was a dream job,” she says. “I truly can’t imagine doing anything else than what I’ve done. I’ve loved my job for 34 years. How many people can truly say that?” 27


 ASSOCIATION NEWS

Meet the 2018 STATEment Makers Cheers to the 2018 class of Iowa STATEment Makers! Sponsored by the ISU Alumni Association in conjunction with the Young Alumni Council, this recognition honors the early personal and professional achievements and contributions of Iowa State’s young alumni (graduates 32 years of age and under).

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Discover this year’s STATEment Makers’ favorite ISU traditions, their guilty pleasures, dream jobs, words of wisdom, role models, and more. STATEment Makers are profiled at www.isualum.org/ statementmakers2018.

Amanda Matthews* ’07 kinesiology & health Cincinnati, Ohio Full-time health educator and founder of “Evelyn’s Evangelists,” a volunteer organization inspired by the life lessons she learned from her late, 90year-old best friend

Amanpreet Kaur* ’13 family & consumer sci ed Philadelphia, Pa. University of Pennsylvania’s community health & engineering librarian who gained national media attention for planning the Puerto Rico Mapathon to assist in the wake of Hurricane Maria

Sarah Hillier ’12 pol sci / intl studies Temecula, Calif. A global citizen and Peace Corps alumna pursuing a career in “peace through sport”

Krisdeena Jansen ’09 sociology / interdisc studies Huxley, Iowa The child of a drugaddicted mother and survivor of physical and emotional abuse; first-generation college grad who earned a master’s degree and works at ISU as a learning and development consultant

Andrew Lopez ’12 comm studies Los Angeles, Calif. Hollywood comedian, actor, writer, and filmmaker; represented by the prestigious United Talent Agency

Bruce Niedermyer ’11 landscape arch Logan, Iowa A talented landscape architect with RDG Planning and Design who shares his talents and passions with his home community

Keith Murphy* ’11 management & marketing Kansas City, Mo. Founder and owner of Kansas City’s RisingSun EPC, a company that produces premium quality, affordable solar energy panels

Kelechi Osemele ’11 liberal studies Oakland, Calif. Super Bowl champion with the Baltimore Ravens and first-team All-Pro offensive lineman and Pro Bowler with the Oakland Raiders

Kelli Rae Soll ’11 geology Boise, Idaho Founder and director of Global Service Partnerships, an organization that provides unique international service-learning opportunities in Central America

Kevin Roepke ’06 public service & admin in ag Guadalajara, Mexico Currently the U.S. Soybean Export Council’s regional director for the Americas; previously worked in Washington, D.C., Beijing, and Kuala Lumpur for U.S. Grains Council

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


Jacquelyn Luedtke ’13 event mgmt Salt Lake City, Utah Special events manager for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation who organized special events that raised more than $9 million to support athletes in the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic games

Mitchell Harger ’16 aero engr Houston, Texas Extravehicular activity flight controller for the Flight Operations Directorate at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, training astronauts for spacewalks Vanessa McNeal ’15 child, adult & family services Des Moines, Iowa National speaker and documentary filmmaker whose work is shining a light on sexual violence Kelsey Kremer ’13 journalism Des Moines, Iowa Photojournalist for the Des Moines Register who has received four regional Emmy nominations and traveled to China to report on Iowa’s influential role in U.S.-China relations

Maia A. Zewert ’15 journalism Damariscotta, Maine A general assignment reporter and social media manager for The Lincoln County News in Newcastle, Maine, who received a writer’s award making her the top young journalist in the state

Christine Ieong ’12 civil engr Seattle, Wash. Engineering project manager for The Boeing Company who has worked to break down barriers for women and underrepresented individuals in the field of engineering

Melanie Thwing ’11 pol sci & criminal justice Waterloo, Iowa Battled a rare disease called adrenal cortical carcinoma while attending Drake University Law School; currently works as an assistant public defender in Waterloo

Samantha Dahlby** ’05 computer engr Cedar Rapids, Iowa A K-12 education coordinator for the New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative who has played a key role in expanding STEM education opportunities in Iowa, particularly in the area of computer science

William J. Olson ’09 microbiology Innsbruck, Austria A student at the Medical University of Innsbruck working on cell receptor Nr2f6 and its role in antibody responses to infection, immunization, and the development of autoimmune disease

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

To learn more about the STATEment Makers recognition program or to nominate a young alum for the 2019 awards, go to www.isualum.org/ statementmakers. Nomination deadline is Dec. 1.

Jessica Hay Watts ’11 speech comm Chicago, Ill. VP of sales for ALEX by Jellyvision, one of the nation’s leading interactive software companies; recognized by Level Eleven and by Workforce Magazine for her outstanding sales career

Vivian de la Cruz ’15 financial counseling & planning Boston, Mass. Former executive director, president, and board chair of the Latina Leadership Initiative (LLI) of Des Moines; recently relocated to Boston as an electronic medical records software specialist

* Annual member of the ISU Alumni Association ** Life member of the ISU Alumni Association

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 FROM THE PRESIDENT

Partnerships are central to the ISUAA’s DNA Dear Members: From its beginnings, partnerships have defined and sustained the Iowa State University Alumni Association (ISUAA). Here are the ISUAA’s top 15 partnerships from my perspective: #1. In 1878, alumni from the first graduating class (1872) came together and formed a partnership to create an alumni association for Iowa Agricultural College (now ISU). Volunteers ran the organization until 1914, when a professional staff was hired. #2. Since 1910, membership in the ISUAA has publicly announced a graduate’s partnership with and loyalty to the university. Early annual dues were $1. Today, membership is offered to new grads ($30) and through annual ($57) and life memberships ($1,000 & $1,500). #3. In 1932, the Association was reincorporated to legalize itself for the acceptance of gifts on behalf of the college. In this partnership, the Association’s board chose to incorporate a subsidiary organization called the Alumni Achievement Fund, later named the ISU Achievement Foundation (1980) (now the ISU Foundation). #4. In 1932 – 125 years ago! – the Association partnered with what is now the ISU Alumni Club of Chicago, the college’s first organized geographic alumni chapter, to create Iowa State’s first alumni award – the Alumni Merit Award. This award is still given each year at Homecoming. #5. In 1934, the Association and the university partnered to formalize the 25-Year Club to recognize employees who had served the university for 25 consecutive years. This program is coordinated today by University Human Resources.

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#6. In 1934, the college called on the Association to serve as its patents trustee. This partnership lasted until 1938, when the Iowa State College Research Foundation was incorporated. #7. Since 1973, the Alumni Association has partnered with students through the Student Alumni Leadership Council (formerly SAA) to engage them in a lifelong relationship with Iowa State. Today, this program is the second-largest of its kind in the nation. “Students today, alumni forever!” #8. Julie Larson (L)(MS ’84 education) began working for the Association in 1984 and for the past few years has served a joint role with the Association and Foundation. She retires this July. Thanks, Julie, for a wonderful tenure and partnership! #9. Since 1993, the Association and the Bernard Osher Foundation have partnered to bring lifelong learning opportunities to those over the age of 50. The OLLI at ISU program has grown to serve more than 800 participants. Check out the program at www.isualum.org/OLLI. #10. Since the 1990s, the Association has worked to offer competitive insurance pricing for auto, home, and recreation-related vehicles, as well as supplemental health products. Today, the Association partners with Nationwide Insurance and Wisconsin Physician Services to offer group-related insurance products. #11. Since 1995, the Association has partnered with Bank of America (formerly MBNA) to offer a Cyclone-branded credit card. Today, more than 13,000 Iowa Staters carry the card. Through their everyday purchases, the bank donates .5% of all purchases to the ISUAA. To date, more than $12 million has been provided for student and alumni outreach programs. If you carry the card, thanks. If you’d like to support this program, apply online: www.isualum.org/ creditcard.

#12. Officially opening its doors to the public in 2008, the ISU Alumni Center will celebrate its 10th anniversary at Homecoming in October. This building is a reality because of the partnership the Association has with Iowa State, lead donors Roy (’57 ag journ) and Bobbi (’06 honorary) Reiman (L), and so many others. www.isualum.org/alumnicenter #13. Since 2014, the Association has been honored to be a participant in Iowa State’s historic, comprehensive campaign Forever True, For Iowa State. The Association is partnering with donors like Lora and Russ Talbot (L)(’17 honorary) to fund program endowments totaling $12.5 million. www.isualum.org/giving #14. In 2017, the Association relaunched the ISU Legacy Program as the ISU LegaCY Club. This program is a partnership forged with parents and grandparents who desire to see their children nurtured as future Cyclones. Through a partnership with alumni Ana (’84 fashion merch) and Ed (’66 elect engr) McCracken (L), the Association was able to add a stunning new children’s book as part of the program. #15. In 2017, the Association and the Iowa State University Book Store teamed up to bring Cyclones everywhere a 24/7 online shopping option. Association members also receive a 15% discount on purchases! The Association’s strategic plan has a focus on collaborative partnerships. To find out all the ways your Association partners on your behalf, go to www.isualum.org. Partnering for the good of Cyclones everywhere, I remain yours for Iowa State!

Jeff Johnson **# Lora and Russ Talbot Endowed President and CEO PhD ’14 education

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 CA M PA I G N P R O F I L E S

‘Why I give’ ISU launched its $1.1 billion campaign, Forever True, For Iowa State, in fall 2016. For the ISU Alumni Association, the campaign will help position the Association to better serve and showcase Iowa State and Cyclones everywhere. These are just three of the donor couples who are contributing to the Alumni Association’s campaign priorities.

‘We’ve made it a priority’ “We greatly value our relationship with Iowa State University and the Iowa State Alumni Association. We would not be where we are today if it wasn’t for Iowa State’s education, principles, relationships, and understanding of agriculture and business. The ISU Alumni Association has provided the linkage for our family to keep in touch with many fellow alumni. Attending the gamewatches that are offered throughout the country has provided another opportunity to keep closely linked with the university and fellow alumni and faculty via the Alumni Association. Because of the phenomenal growth of Iowa State’s student enrollment, along with the drastic reduction of state funding to this great university, we clearly understand that philanthropy on behalf of friends and alumni remains an extremely important assignment to maintain the university and its world-class teaching and research. We’ve made it a priority to give to a number of philanthropic programs at Iowa State. In our breadth of giving, the Alumni Association Clubs Program is one small way we feel we can make a difference.”

‘An easy decision to make’ “’Forever True, for Iowa State’ are words near and dear to the hearts of each member of our family. As proud alumni we were thrilled our two college-bound children chose Iowa State to further their educations, as did many of our extended family members. We are all extremely proud of ISU and its continued history of excellence in education and research. As lifetime members of the Iowa State Alumni Association we have enjoyed the many opportunities and friendships we found by involvement with this association. So, it was an easy decision to make a financial commitment to the Alumni Association campaign in the areas of LegaCY Club Endowment and Student Leadership Programs. Our family has personally benefitted from both of these programs, and it is a thrill to help them continue to not only attract young students to ISU but to help those students form good leadership skills and professional networks for their future occupations. Working to help young adults prepare for their futures is an extremely rewarding experience, and we feel fortunate to have the opportunity to do so.”

Murray and Valerie Wise** Murray: ’73 agriculture Naples, Fla. & Champaign, Ill. Contributed $25,000 to the Alumni Clubs Endowment

Jim & Mary Kincart** Jim: ’71 construction engineering Ames, Iowa Pledged $15,000 total – half to the LegaCY Club Endowment and half to the Student Leadership Program Endowment

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

‘A small way to pay forward’ “‘Forever True, For Iowa State’ perfectly describes our loyalty to our alma mater. While students at Iowa State, we met through our involvement in the VEISHEA Executive Board. From walks on campus to Ben cheering on the Cyclones as Cy to Homecoming and Greek Week, we loved being students at Iowa State. As proud alumni, we cheer on the Cyclones at football and basketball games, and we go to KC for the Big 12 tournament every year. Allie serves as an advisor for Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Ben is finishing his term as chair of the Young Alumni Council. Contributing to the Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Programs Endowment (and also to the College of Design) is our way to support future Iowa Staters and a small way to pay forward some of what Iowa State has contributed to our lives.” Benjamin and Allison Zelle** Benjamin: ’14 ag business / MIS Allison: ’15 graphic design Ankeny, Iowa Gave $500 to the Young Alumni Programs Endowment

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 NEWSMAKERS & CY STORIES

Newsmakers ALUMNI HONORS

Writing is its own reward

 The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers has awarded Bruce Johnson (L)(’55 mech engr) with the prestigious William H. Webb Medal. Johnson was a leading educator at the U.S. Naval Academy for 35 years, where he was project manager for the Hydromechanics Laboratory and program director of Ocean Engineering. He retired in 1999 and makes his home in Annapolis, Md.

PAUL KIX Farmington, Conn.

JIM HEEMSTRA

#CyclonesEverywhere

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 This spring, former Iowa State track and field/cross country standout Betsy Saina (’13 child, adult, & family services) captured the biggest victory of her young roadracing career when she won the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris. Saina, who finished fifth in the 10,000-meter run at the 2016 Olympics but then struggled to find footing as a road racer, broke through in the City of Lights. She gained the lead with three miles to go and didn’t look back, finishing with a 2:22.56 and edging fellow Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich by three seconds. “Marathon!,” Saina tweeted after the win. “Finally figured out how we can be buddies. Great feeling to cross the finish line. I am humbled.”  Mark Hanna (’73 ag engr, MS ’75, PhD ’91), a former extension agricultural

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aul Kix (’03 journalism & mass comm) stumbled on the topic of his first book, The Saboteur, in the most unlikely of places: the obituaries. It was the summer of 2012, and Kix was intrigued by the New York Times obituary of Robert de La Rochefoucauld, a French aristocrat who became an anti-Nazi fighter during World War II. Kix didn’t have any particular affinity for the French resistance, he says. “But this is a guy who escapes three times from the Nazis – he escapes once from his own execution – he sabotages his way across Southern France, and he works for a secret group of British commandos, on whom Ian Fleming would ultimately base James Bond. You take all those things together and suddenly it’s something like, ‘Wow, this is a book I’ve got to write.’” The Saboteur was published in December and, coming full circle, received high praise from the Feb. 4 New York Times Book Review. “This is first-class adventure writing, which, coupled with a true-life narrative of danger and intrigue, adds up to all-night reading,” reviewer Alan Furst writes. “Kix has produced a narrative that is both chilling and powerful.” Kix was on the Iowa State campus in April as the keynote lecturer for First Amendment Days. He is currently the deputy editor for ESPN The Magazine. He’s written for The New Yorker, GQ, and The Wall Street Journal; he’s working on a new book and “dabbling a bit” in screenwriting. He says reviews of his book in the nation’s top newspapers and magazines have been “very warm, favorable, and kind.” “That’s been very gratifying,” he says. “But that’s not the reason I wrote the book. You know, I really wrote this book because the reward was the writing itself. Getting the opportunity to do this day after day and build this story out, that’s what I wanted more than anything else.”

 READ MORE CYCLONE STORIES ON CYCLONESEVERYWHERE.COM

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


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 NEWSMAKERS & CY STORIES

engineer at Iowa State University, is the recipient of the 2018 Iowa Master Farmer Exceptional Service Award. The award, which is sponsored by Wallaces Farmer magazine, is presented to individuals who aren’t farmers but have spent a lifetime helping farmers. Hanna retired last October after 42 years at Iowa State. His research and extension efforts were related to tillage, planting, and nutrient management  Shelby VanNordstrand (A)(’04 music) received an Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Nebraska at Omaha Alumni Association in honor of distinguished classroom teaching. She is an assistant professor of music in UNO’s College of Arts & Sciences.

Eyes on the prize

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or the first time since 2010, the Des Moines Register is the recipient of a prestigious Pulitzer Prize – specifically, Register editorial Des Moines, Iowa writer Andie Dominick (’94 #CyclonesEverywhere English, MA ’97) has received the 2018 award for a selection of Iowa-focused editorials criticizing the state’s health care policy. Dominick’s citation lauds her “for examining in a clear, indignant voice, free of cliché or sentimentality, the damaging consequences for poor Iowa residents of privatizing the state’s administration of Medicaid.” Dominick has been an editorial writer at the Register since 2001 and was also a finalist for the Pulitzer in 2014. In addition to her newspaper work, Dominick is the author of Needles: A Memoir of Growing Up with Diabetes (Simon and Schuster, 2009).

 READ MORE CYCLONE STORIES ON CYCLONESEVERYWHERE.COM

 The American Horticultural Society has announced that Kelly D. Norris (A)(’08 horticulture, MS ’11) of Des Moines is the recipient of its newest award, the Emerging Horticultural Professional Award. Norris began his horticultural career at 15, when he talked his parents into purchasing a nursery, Rainbow Iris Farm, which he still runs. He is currently the director of horticulture and education at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. He also has authored two gardening books and is a regular contributor to several gardening publications.  Alan Greiner (’85 music) has received a National Federation of State High School Associations Citation. He is currently the executive director of the Iowa High School Music Association.

TOP JOBS  Danny O’Neill (L)(’83 pol sci / intl studies), founder, owner, and “bean baron” of The Roasterie, is celebrating 25 years of business in Kansas City. The Roasterie has been instrumental in blazing a trail for 34

ANDIE DOMINICK

 George Mulholland (L)(’86 civ engr) has been promoted to associate principal at Raths, Raths & Johnson, a national architecture, engineering, and forensics consulting firm headquartered in Willowbrook, Ill. Mulholland has 29 years of experience in forensic structural engineering.

other coffee companies, helping to create a vibrant coffee culture in KC. O’Neill’s company now has nine coffee shops and a factory that air-roasts coffee beans procured from small, sustainable coffee farms across the globe. Beginning next fall semester, a Roasterie coffee “anchor store” will be located in the Hub on ISU’s central campus. It will include specialty drinks, premium teas and nitro coffee – chilled, nitrogen-infused coffee served on tap from a keg.

 Mark Sherfy (’93 civ engr) was recently promoted to vice president and development services group leader at BHC RHODES, a civil engineering and surveying firm in Overland Park, Kan.

ALUMNI BOOKSHELF  Sara Egge (’09 MA history, PhD ’12 ag history & rural studies) has published Woman Suffrage and Citizenship in the Midwest, 1870-1920. The book provides SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS



 NEWSMAKERS & CY STORIES

evidence of the importance of women in creating and shaping public attitudes in the American heartland.

To Patagonia with purpose

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he Northern Patagonia Ice Field is one of the world’s unique Patagonia, Chile locations facing biodiversity #CyclonesEverywhere challenges due to climate change. So National Geographic has enlisted R. Isai Madriz (PhD ’17 entomology) as one of its five FulbrightNational Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellows. Madriz’s mission: to help document the Ice Field’s unique residents, which are some of the rarest freshwater aquatic insects on the planet. As a storytelling Fellow, Madriz has hiked, backpacked, and packrafted through some of Patagonia’s most secluded fjords to capture never-before-seen images. Read Madriz’s catalog of blog posts and see his stunning images online at https:// blog.nationalgeographic.org/author/rimadriz/.

ISAI MADRIZ

 READ MORE CYCLONE STORIES ON CYCLONESEVERYWHERE.COM

 Terry Huffman (L)(PhD ’88 sociology) has written a new book, Tribal Strengths and Native Education: Voices from the Reservation Classroom. Huffman is a professor of education at George Fox University. He lives in Wilsonville, Ore.  Jan Elfline-Zimmerman (’80 craft design) has co-authored Actor for Life: How to Have an Amazing Career Without All the Drama, offering “fresh, accessible insights and exercises for actors to create lives that support their acting work and help sustain healthy and long-lasting careers in theatre, film, and television.”  Cristina Jones has written a book about her father, the late Glenn Gordon Jones Continued on page 38

Remembering Judy Hopson, 1940-2018 Judy Hopson, wife of the late Jim Hopson, longtime executive director of the ISU Alumni Association, died April 29 at Accura Healthcare in Ames. She was 77. Judy was born July 25, 1940 to Marvin and Mildred Frederick in Brayton, Iowa. She grew up in Brayton and graduated from Exira High School in 1958. She married Jim on Dec. 10, 1958; the couple had one daughter, Cindy Howe, and two grandsons, Donnie and Steven Howe. Judy worked more than 20 years in Ames School District kitchens before retiring in 1999. She spent many years traveling the world with Jim and the ISU Alumni Association; they visited 49 states, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Russia, and most of Europe, spreading Cyclone cheer wherever they went. In their retirement, Jim and Judy settled in Arizona where they enjoyed hosting family and friends. Jim preceded Judy in death, and Judy and Cindy moved back to Ames to be closer to family and friends. Memorial contributions may be directed to the Iowa State University Foundation.

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See you at Cyclone Central This fall, head to the ISU Alumni Center before home football games to socialize, eat and drink, watch football games, and buy new ISU gear. There’s plenty of entertainment for all ages! Be sure to catch the Cyclone Central Tailgate Step Show featuring the Iowa State University Cyclone Football ‘Varsity’ Marching Band and Spirit Squad 90 minutes prior to kickoff. The Cyclones will see action at Jack Trice Stadium on these dates: Sept. 1, 15, and 22; Oct. 13 and 27; and Nov. 10 and 24. Cyclone Central tailgates begin three hours before kickoff. Admission is free. Cash bar is available.

Find a gamewatch near you Connect with Cyclones everywhere to watch the big game on TV! For game details, go to www.cyclones.com. For gamewatch locations: www.isualum.org/gamewatch

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


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 NEWSMAKERS & CY STORIES

(’56 industrial engineering). I’m a Kiwi: A Tribute to a Very Special Dad is the story of a “determined boy who left his native Iowa to discover the world and ended up transforming the life of his little daughter completely.”

 A book by Derek S. Oden (PhD ’06 ag history & rural studies), Harvest of Hazards: Family Farming, Accidents, and Expertise in the Corn Belt, has received an honorable mention in the Benjamin F. Shambaugh Awards for the best Iowa history books

published in the past year. The awards are given by the State Historical Society of Iowa. (A) Annual member of the ISU Alumni Association (L) Life member of the ISU Alumni Association (S) Student member of the Future Alumni Network

Generations of achievement

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NANCY AND BROOKE ALMASI Cedar Rapids, Iowa

#CyclonesEverywhere

RACHEL MUMMEY

ancy Petrick Almasi (L)(’89 speech com) was not surprised when she learned that her daughter, Brooke (S)(’18 public relations), was chosen for the prestigious Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior Award. After all, her daughter had a stand-out collegiate career at Iowa State. But here’s the deal: 29 years ago, Nancy herself had been named a Wallace E. Barron Senior. Not only that, by crazy coincidence or sheer force of nature, both Nancy and Brooke were honored as Homecoming royalty during their senior years at ISU. Nancy was general co-chair of VEISHEA in 1989 and involved in the organization all four years. She was also involved in the honors program, in her sorority, and with organizations supporting her academic major. She encouraged her daughter to take advantage of all the opportunities Iowa State has to offer. “That was the best part of my college experience,” she said. “It’s where I made my lifelong friends. I learned so much through those leadership opportunities, and it’s benefited me in my career and other organizations I’ve been a part of after graduation.” Brooke took her mother’s advice to heart. She was president of Sorority and Fraternity Community Ambassadors, president of Student Admissions Representatives (STARS), and executive vice president of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. She was active with the Cardinal Key, Mortar Board, and Order of Omega honor societies; Advocates for the Alzheimer’s Association; ISU Honors; International Students and Scholars’ Cultural Ambassadors; Pre-Law Club; and the Rho Lambda National Sorority Leadership Recognition Society. She volunteered with such organizations as Students Helping Our Peers, CyServe, Dance Marathon, St. Jude Up ‘til Dawn, Feeding Lunch to Youth, Meals for the Heartland, Ronald McDonald House, and Raising Readers in Story County. “I’m very proud of her,” Nancy said. “She has done such wonderful things the last four years and has worked really hard and given a lot to the university.” “I was excited to continue in her footsteps,” Brooke said. “We’re a Cyclone family.”

 READ MORE CYCLONE STORIES ON CYCLONESEVERYWHERE.COM

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SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


TRAVEL WITH CYCLONES… EVERYWHERE!

MEET A FEW OF OUR CYCLONE-FRIENDLY BUSINESS MEMBERS (OF THE ISUAA): Executive Express Fighting Burrito First National Bank – Ames Foss, Kuiken & Cochran, P.C.

The ISU Alumni Association has been offering top-quality travel opportunities to our alumni and friends for more than 40 years, hosting trips to exciting destinations all over the world.

Gateway Hotel & Conference Center

“Let us do the planning – all you have to do is enjoy yourself, meet new friends, and make lifetime memories!”

Geisinger Construction Inc.

Shellie Andersen

Director of Travel and Business Development ISU Alumni Association

Gateway Market

Global Reach Internet Productions, LLC Golf Cars of Iowa

GrandStay Residential Suites

Hunziker & Associates

Great Western Bank – Ames

Hy-Vee Food West – Ames

Greater Iowa Credit Union

Hy-Vee Lincoln Way – Ames

Green Hills Retirement Community Heartland Associates Heartland Finishes, Inc. Hertz Farm Management, Inc. Hickory Park, Inc. Home Instead Senior Care

VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

BUSINESS MEMBER

Your business can join TODAY! www.isualum.org 39


 ASSOCIATION NEWS

Homecoming 2018: ‘THIS IS STATE’ See you on campus for Homecoming 2018, Oct. 21-27. Activities will include: • Homecoming Parade (Sunday, Oct. 21) • Honors & Awards (Friday, Oct. 26) • Reunions • 10th anniversary celebration of the ISU Alumni Center • Friday night happy hour, pep rally, and Yell Like Hell finals at the Alumni Center

Tom Elston joins Association staff

• ExCYtement in the Streets, mass campaniling, and fireworks • Scholarship silent auction • Cyclone football vs. Texas Tech (Saturday, Oct. 27) Watch for more information later this summer at www.isualum.org/homecoming

How do you want to read VISIONS? Do you prefer to read your magazine on your smart phone or tablet? Want to cut down on paper waste? Say YES to VISIONS online! Send us your name, address, and email address or respond online (www.isualum.org/ visionsonline) with your preference. If you choose the digital option, you’ll receive a link via

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email letting you know a new issue is ready to read online or through the Iowa State Alumni app. If you do not respond, you will continue to receive VISIONS by mail.

Tom Elston (A)(‘09 marketing) became the director of office operations for the ISU Alumni Association in April. In that role, he will oversee human resources and other office management functions for the organization. Elston spent the last several years as an administrator at SunnyBrook Living Care Center in Fairfield, Iowa.

SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


SAY “I DO” AT THE ISU ALUMNI CENTER

AUG 9 -19

SHEA MCGRATH PHOTOGRAPHY

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VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

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 ASSOCIATION NEWS

CYCLONES ARE EVERYWHERE!

Represent your state at the Festival of Trees The ISU Alumni Association is partnering with ISU Athletics to sponsor an ISU Neighborhood Tree at the Festival of Trees and Lights in Des Moines. This year’s tree theme is “Cyclones Everywhere.” With Cyclones in all 50 states and 152 countries we’d like to represent as many locations as possible on the tree, so we’re asking for your help! Send us an ornament that represents your state or country (such as a maple leaf from Vermont or a cactus from Arizona.) We’ll update a map on our website as ornaments are received: www.isualum.org/festivaloftrees. Show your pride by sending an ornament from YOUR state or country! The festival runs Nov. 20-25 at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in Des Moines. Send ornaments to: ISU Alumni Center, 429 Alumni Lane, Ames, Iowa 50011 (Attn: Festival of Trees).

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SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


Hey, kids! How many of these can you find in this VISIONS magazine?


Southerner-turned-Iowan Haylee Young says her gymnastics career took off when she landed in West Des Moines and met Triad Gymnastics’ Tom and Donna Moretti, Chow’s Gymnastics’ Liang Chow, and Iowa State head coach Jay Ronayne. After four years competing for Ronayne’s Cyclones and graduating with a degree in public relations, she will serve as an ISU volunteer assistant coach for the 2019 season.

LIVING THE GYMNASTICS LIFE

J

ay Ronayne vividly recalls the first time he met Haylee Young. “She was probably around 13 years old, but she was so little she seemed like she was about eight,” Ronayne remembers of the bubbly blonde who introduced herself to him at West Des Moines’ Chow’s Gymnastics in 2010 as a friend of Cyclone gymnast Milan Ivory. Young, Ronayne would learn, was a top-flight gymnast who had moved to West Des Moines from Woodstock, Ga. 44

Before moving to Iowa and training at Chow’s and at Triad Gymnastics, Young trained with Ivory, then a freshman on Ronayne’s Cyclones team, in Georgia. Young knew almost nothing about Iowa when she first got to the state, she says – but Ivory was her connection to the Cyclone program. And ever the gregarious kid, the future public relations major didn’t consider herself too young to start networking. So a year later, when Ronayne started hearing the buzz about a “kid at Chow’s who’s really good,” it wasn’t necessarily a huge surprise when he realized the kids were one and the same.

JIM HEEMSTRA

Haylee Young has devoted her life to gymnastics, but her Cyclone experience has left her wanting even more “As soon as I saw her do gymnastics, I knew there was something special about her,” Ronayne said. “So we started recruiting her pretty heavily. When there’s a great gymnast in Iowa, we want her to stay in Iowa.” From Young’s perspective Iowa State was an easy choice, just as Iowa has been an easy state to embrace as home. “I committed when I was a sophomore [in high school],” she said. “I was recruited by Iowa, Ohio State, a lot of Midwest schools…but once I visited here I really didn’t look around too much. My big thing was I wanted to go somewhere I felt comfortable with my coaches – get SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS


Sports by Kate Bruns

“I don’t want gymnastics to not be in my life anymore.” – HAYLEE YOUNG along with them and have them care for me as a person, and that’s the feeling I got.” Now, more than eight years after first meeting Ronayne, Young (’18 public relations) is set to start her own career as a collegiate gymnastics coach. She plans to start learning the ropes from Ronayne by serving as a Cyclones volunteer assistant for the 2019 season. Young, who has spent her life in the gym — including training twice a day from ages 10-14 for elite gymnastics — has experienced some incredible highs throughout her collegiate and pre-collegiate career. As a club gymnast she qualified for the Junior Olympics nationals three times and in 2014 ranked among the nation’s top 10 in the floor exercise. As a Cyclone, she was a 2015 Big 12 all-around champion, 2018 floor champion, and qualified for the 2017 NCAA championships as an all-around competitor. She was a stalwart in meets and consistently posted some of the highest scores by a Cyclone individual in the past decade. For Young, those individual achievements are hard-earned and will always be cherished. But she says she has fallen in love with NCAA gymnastics because of its team spirit. “It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done,” she says of her time at Iowa State. “It’s more pressure than you can ever imagine, but it’s been the most fun time in my gymnastics career. Beating Iowa in the Cy-Hawk series by .025, which is as close as it can get, was a super-cool moment. This year we beat West Virginia twice, which was really big for us. This entire year was a big high – we ended [the season ranked] 24th in the nation.” Ask Young about the biggest highs in VISIONS WWW.ISUALUM.ORG SUMMER 2018

her college career, and she’ll rattle off those team accomplishments first. It’s several bullet points down the list before she remembers to mention she qualified to represent the best of the nation’s best at the 2017 NCAA championships. “Obviously making nationals last year was a big high in my career,” she says, “but while it was a fun meet it was nothing like it would have been if I’d had my teammates on the floor with me. Our team is literally like family.” “The weird thing about our sport is that it is truly an individual sport, and even classified by the NCAA as an individual sport,” Ronayne says. “But we [at Iowa State] treat everything as all about team, and Haylee has embraced that from the day she walked on campus.” The Cyclones, who despite a tremendous 2018 season were placed in a brutal NCAA regional this spring, saw only junior vaulter Meaghan Sievers qualify for the NCAA championships this year – ending at the NCAA Minneapolis Regional both Young’s collegiate career

“When there’s a great

gymnast in Iowa, we want her to stay in Iowa.”

– JAY RONAYNE

and her dream of qualifying as a team for the national championships. “I was super hungry to train hard and bring them all,” Young says. “But we had a tough regional. We had a really tough regional. There were some other regionals where I looked at the scores and thought we could have done it. But, you know, right place, right time.” “With the draw we had at Minnesota with the depth of the field we were up against, it was a lot of pressure on [Haylee],” Ronayne says. “She handled it incredibly gracefully. She made one little mistake on bars, one little mistake on floor, and that added up to her missing [nationals] by a tenth. It was a rough

kbruns@iastate.edu

couple of days right afterward of ‘I wish,’ but she’s a pretty tough young woman. To miss qualifying as an individual was heartbreaking to her, but even more heartbreaking to her was the fact that we didn’t have an opportunity to qualify as a team.” Young will go down in Iowa State history as one of its most popular student-athletes. Whether it’s because she’s following in her friend Shawn Johnson’s footsteps as an inspiration to Iowans or because of her “refuse to lose” attitude that has vaulted the Cyclones into the win column on many Friday nights in Hilton Coliseum, there’s just something about Young, Ronayne says. It will benefit her as a coach just as it helped make her a one-of-a-kind student-athlete. “She’s highly social, which is great for a team dynamic. She’s highly competitive, which is great for any sport. And as a performer, she loves to show off,” Ronayne says. “She’s just got ‘it,’ whatever ‘it’ is. From the moment she stepped on campus, she became the face of our program. She’s a great ambassador for our university.” Young says she has moved forward into life after competitive gymnastics with no regrets about her time as a Cyclone. Her relationship with the fans, many of whom are young girls who remind her of herself as a kid; the lifelong friends she has found in her teammates; and the career calling she has found in coaching have all been life-changing experiences. “I don’t want gymnastics to not be in my life anymore,” she says. “After having the experience I had as an NCAA athlete, I want to be an NCAA coach as well.” “She’s going to be great,” Ronayne says of Young’s coaching prospects. “She’s great at motivating people and she’s extremely passionate about the sport. She’s a gymnastics junkie. She’s been studying it her whole life.” 

45


Calendar  Cyclones Everywhere: Des Moines

 Lifelong learning Aug. 9: OLLI at ISU fall open house Sept. 10: OLLI at ISU fall classes begin

July 15: ISU Day at the I-Cubs Aug. 4: Saturday Salute at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers’ Market Aug. 9-19: ISU at the Iowa State Fair Oct. 4: Find the Wine Corn Maze young alumni event

 Cyclones Everywhere July 28: Iowa State Night at Sporting KC, Kansas City

 At the ISU Alumni Center Aug. 17: ISUAA Board of Directors annual retreat Aug. 18: ISUAA Board of Directors summer meeting Sept. 1: Cyclone Central Tailgate Sept. 15: Cyclone Central Tailgate Sept. 22: Cyclone Central Tailgate Oct. 13: Cyclone Central Tailgate Oct. 25: ISUAA Board of Directors fall meeting Oct. 26-27: Homecoming events Oct. 27: Cyclone Central Tailgate

 Homecoming 2018 Oct. 21: Homecoming Parade, downtown Ames Oct. 26: Honors & Awards Lunch & Ceremony, Scheman Oct. 26: Homecoming Happy Hour, Alumni Center Oct. 26: Homecoming Pep Rally, Alumni Center Oct. 26: Homecoming CYlent Auction Oct. 26: ExCYtement in the Streets, Mass Campaniling & Fireworks Oct. 26: All Greek Alumni Reunion Oct. 26: 50-year Gold Medal Ceremony Oct. 26-27: Alumni Band Reunion Oct. 27: Homecoming Saturday Oct. 27: Cyclone Central Tailgate, Alumni Center Oct. 27: Football vs. Texas Tech

 On campus &

around Ames

July 3: Independence Day Celebration, Reiman Gardens July 8: Annual Garden Art Fair, Reiman Gardens Aug. 20: Fall classes begin 46

 Careers

Sept. 21: Wendy Wintersteen formally installed as the 16th president of Iowa State University, 10:15 a.m., Stephens Auditorium Oct. 20-21: Spirits in the Gardens, Reiman Garden

 Cyclone Athletics Sept. 1: Football vs. South Dakota State Sept. 8: Football at Iowa Sept. 15: Football vs. Oklahoma Sept. 22: Football vs. Akron Sept. 29: Football at TCU Oct. 6: Football at Oklahoma State Oct. 13: Football vs. West Virginia Oct. 27: Football vs. Texas Tech For all Cyclone sports schedules, go to www.cyclones.com

 Alumni travel

Sept. 18: Fall Engineering Career Fair, Scheman Sept. 25: Fall Engineering Career Fair, Scheman/Hilton Sept. 26: Fall Business, Industry and Technology Career Fair, Hilton Oct. 8: College of Ag & Life Sciences Fall Career Day, Lied Rec Center

 Arts and entertainment Sept. 4 – Oct. 19: Unpacked: Refugee Baggage, Christian Petersen Art Museum Sept. 5: Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band, Stephens

Sept. 23: Steve Martin & Martin Short, Stephens Sept. 24-28: Mystical Arts of Tibet: Tibetan Monk Mandala Sand Painting Exhibition, MU Oct. 4: The Illusionists, Stephens Oct. 22: Capitol Steps, Stephens

See the world with the Traveling Cyclones! The ISU Alumni Association is sponsoring nearly 50 trips from which to choose in 2019, both domestic and international. Here is an example: Oct. 30: Something Rotten! Stephens

 Awards Oct. 26: Honors & Awards Lunch & Ceremony For criteria and to submit a nomination for ISUAA awards: www.isualum.org/awards

 Find more events online • Moroccan Discovery, Oct. 19 – Nov. 1,

2018: Discover an age-old culture in Rabat, Fez, Marrakech, Casablanca, and beyond.

Check out the 2019 Traveling Cyclones tours in the enclosed travel catalog. To view a list of remaining 2018 trips and see where in the world Cyclones are going in 2019, go to www.isualum.org/travel.

Campus Calendar: http://event.iastate.edu/ ISU Alumni Association: www.isualum.org/calendar Cyclone Athletics: www.cyclones.com Reiman Gardens: www.reimangardens.com Iowa State Center: www.center.iastate.edu University Museums: www.museums.iastate.edu Lectures: www.lectures.iastate.edu/ Homecoming: www.isualum.org/homecoming SUMMER 2018 WWW.ISUALUM.ORG VISIONS



Iowa State University Alumni Center 429 Alumni Lane Ames, Iowa 50011-1403

VISIONS magazine is published four times a year by the Iowa State University Alumni Association, which serves more than 254,000 living alumni as well as ISU students and friends. VISIONS reaches more than 52,000 Alumni Association members and is just one benefit of membership; details can be found at www.isualum.org/join.

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