Remarks by Dean Wendy Wintersteen College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Spring Semester Convocation and Medallion Ceremony, February 15, 2008
Good afternoon. Thank you for coming to our annual Spring Semester Convocation of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Today we honor some of our very best faculty and staff with our annual College awards. Before we do, we have a special event - the presentation of Endowed Chair Medallions to two faculty members. President Gregory Geoffroy will help us recognize our newest endowed faculty members.
Now I'd like to invite forward our honorees one at a time; be presented with their medallion; and provide a few brief remarks about how the endowed position supports their programs.
The Frances M. Craig Professorship
The Frances M. Craig Professorship was established through the Craig Family Fund. The Craig Family Fund allows the President to place special emphasis on faculty support. It provides faculty with funds for research and honors outstanding individuals. The fund was established through a bequest from Frances M. Craig, combined with past gifts from other family members. Frances was a 1949 home economics graduate.
Today we present the Frances M. Craig Professorship to Basil Nikolau, professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology - and in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Since joining Iowa State in 1988, Dr. Nikolau's research has focused on biochemical and genetic regulation of plant metabolism, and plant metabolic engineering. His work explores the future of metabolic biology to improve oils, starches and proteins from crops for bioenergy, food and feed uses. He also leads advances in improving production of biobased lubricants made from soybeans. He serves as the director of the Center for Metabolic Biology.
Please join me in honoring Dr. Nikolau.
The Pioneer Hi-Bred Agronomy Professorship
The Pioneer Hi-Bred Agronomy Professorship supports outstanding faculty in the Department of Agronomy. The professorship is made possible by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., as a commitment to excellence in faculty scholarship in critical areas of importance to agronomy. Today the Pioneer Agronomy Professorship is awarded to Michael Thompson, professor of agronomy. Dr. Thompson has studied the chemical and physical properties of soil since joinng Iowa State in 1980. Dr. Thompson teaches courses in soil chemistry, clay mineralogy, soil genesis and classification and ethical decision-making in agronomic sciences. His research focuses on environmental applications of soil science, with emphasis on chemical processes and soil mineralogy. His work shines new light on identifying the conditions that favor movement and transformation of contaminants, organic matter and clay in soils.
Please join me in honoring Dr. Thompson.
I want to once again thank President Geoffroy for helping make this event special today. Let's recognize our two medallion honorees one more time.
The Impact from an Excellent Philanthropy Program
Today's two medallion honorees reflect the impact we can have with an excellent philanthropy program. Endowed faculty positions are a powerful tool for recruiting and retaining great people.
And we hope to have lots more of these medallion ceremonies in the coming months. Already, we have scheduled medallion ceremonies for the Kinze Professorship, the Lush Chair in Animal Breeding and Genetics, the Laurence Baker Chair in Statistics and the Baker Professorship in Agronomy.
Currently, our College has more than 20 endowed chairs and professorships - a real point of pride for us. One of the key priorities for the College in the recently announced Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose is to dramatically increase that number.
I'm proud to say that I am also on the list of spring medallion recipients. Last fall, I became the holder of the first Endowed Deanship at Iowa State. The Endowed Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences was established through the generosity of an anonymous donor and will help me and future deans of the College to promote excellence in our programs. It's my intent to direct resources from the deanship to support our Entrepreneurship Initiative, to support faculty excellence and to support our marketing and recruitment efforts to bring the best and brightest into the College.
Philanthropy continues to be more and more important for our College and how we meet our mission. We're blessed with an incredibly productive and hard-working development team at the ISU Foundation.
Every week I work with alums and friends who are interested in making a gift to the College. I am able to share with them how you - our faculty and staff - make an incredible difference in the lives of our students and address the critical issues of the state, nation and world.
I also share with them that my husband Robert and I have made a commitment to Iowa State University as a way of saying thank you and to help ensure the university's great future. We have established a scholarship for graduate students in my home department of Entomology and made an estate gift to further enhance the Endowed Deanship in Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The High-Quality Work of College Faculty and Staff
Thank you for all you do, faculty and staff, in making this a great College. The achievements we honor today speak volumes for the high quality work we do every day in teaching, research and extension.
A quick word about our College's sesquicentennial lecture next Thursday, February 21. Lowell Catlett, dean of College of Agriculture and Home Economics at New Mexico State University, and an ISU economics alum, will speak on " Dreaming the Future: Trends and Technologies for the Next 150 Years." Join us in the Sun Room of the Union at 7 p.m.
Thank you!
