Development Office: Projects

Attracting gifted faculty

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' ability to attract and retain outstanding teachers and researchers is strengthened when we are able to offer endowed chairs and professorships. These endowed faculty positions carry great prestige within the university community and provide our faculty with the resources they need to aggressively pursue their research agendas, which very often leads to extraordinary achievements.

Endowed professorships allow the college to recruit up-and-coming faculty who can build their reputation within their field of study at Iowa State. Endowed chairs represent one of the highest honors Iowa State University can bestow on a faculty member and they are often given to faculty who have distinguished themselves at the national or international level to retain them for the benefit of the faculty, staff, and students at Iowa State.

Recruiting the brightest graduate students

Graduate fellowships provide the necessary resources to attract promising young scholars to Iowa State, which in turn helps to develop a vibrant, intellectual community. The many outstanding graduate students at ISU who are supported by private gifts represent the next generation of scientists, researchers, business leaders, policy makers, and teachers. They are the future of agriculture in the world. Endowed fellowships allow graduate students to focus on their personal intellectual growth during their time on campus, and often these graduate assistants are paired with senior faculty to assist in ongoing research and teaching agendas.

Supporting the next generation of agriculture leaders

Scholarship support provided by private gifts helps the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to meet the financial burden placed on our outstanding undergraduate students. More than 60% of the nearly 3,000 undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have documented financial need, and as costs associated with attending ISU continue to rise, private support in the form of scholarships can made the difference between pursuing and completing an undergraduate degree at Iowa State. Undergraduate scholarship support can be targeted in a number of different areas, and high priorities for the college in the coming year include support for study abroad programs, the Excellence in Agriculture Scholarship program, which attracts and retains academically gifted undergraduate students, and scholarships that target students who transfer to Iowa State from community college or another university.

Targeted college projects

Several college programs are funded entirely, or in part, by private gifts. These important initiatives contribute to the overall well-rounded nature of the college in serving the people of Iowa and the world. Key projects for the current year include additional funding for the sustainable rural livelihoods project, resources to upgrade and renovate the Brenton Center for Agricultural Instruction and Technology Transfer.