Centers, Institutes & Programs
These ISU centers, institutes and programs serve producers, agribusinesses, rural communities, policymakers and educators and scientists across the nation and around the world. Those not administered in the College and by the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station are designated with an asterisk.
Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC)
Mission: To provide independent producers and processors with critical information needed to build successful value-added agriculture enterprises.
Mary Holz-Clause and Don Hofstrand, Co-directors
Source of funding: partial support from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Rural Business Cooperative Service. ISU Extension provides administrative support and serves as the fiscal agent for AgMRC and its projects.
Mission: Coordinate educational programs and services for beginning farmers; assess needs of beginning and retiring farmers to identify opportunities for programs and services; and develop statewide programs to educate beginning and retiring farm families. The Center is a part of Iowa State University Extension.
Michael D. Duffy, Director and John R. Baker, Administrator
Source of funding: College of Agriculture.
Brenton Center for Agricultural Instruction and Technology Transfer
Mission: To deliver quality credit and noncredit educational offerings, provide reliable services and ensure exemplary support for technology use and distance education efforts of the College of Agriculture.
Gaylan G. Scofield, Director
Source of funding: College of Agriculture, Distance Education Tuition Funds, on-campus departmental projects, private office campus projects and private gifts.
Center for Agricultural and Rural Developmen t (CARD)
Mission: To conduct innovative public policy and economic research on agricultural, environmental, and food issues. CARD uniquely combines academic excellence with engagement and anticipatory thinking to inform and benefit society. CARD researchers develop and apply economic theory, quantitative methods, and interdisciplinary approaches to create relevant knowledge. Communication efforts target state and federal policymakers; the research community; agricultural, food, and environmental groups; individual decision-makers; and international audiences. Established in 1958, CARD is among the largest university-based agricultural policy research institutes in the United States.
Bruce A. Babcock, Director
Source of funding: College of Agriculture, federal contracts and grants and private industry.
Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation
Mission: The Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University, created by the Iowa Board of Regents in 2006, provides law and policy expertise to the citizens of Iowa and the nation.
Roger McEowen, Director
Source of funding: Information Coming
Center for Crops Utilization Research (CCUR)
Mission: Established in 1987, it is committed to adding value to and increasing the utilization of Midwestern-grown crops to increase grower profitability and contribute to rural economic development by conducting basic and applied research, development, technology transfer and commercialization activities in developing new food, feed, biofuels and biobased products.
Lawrence Johnson, Director
Source of funding: Iowa Agriculture & Home Economics Experiment Station (IAHEES), USDA, U.S. Department of Energy, commodity boards, industry, state and public agencies, Plant Sciences Institute (PSI).
Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition (CDFIN)
Mission: To conduct and foster interdisciplinary research to improve human nutrition and promote good health through new and traditional foods.
Diane Birt, Interim Director
Source of funding: IAHEES, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USDA, commodity boards, industry, state agencies and PSI.
Center for Integrated Animal Genomics (CIAG)
Mission: Created in 2002, it utilizes integrated systems-wide genomics approaches to address current and future challenges and opportunities in animal agriculture and human health. The Center’s research areas include animal and microbial genomics, bioinformatics, comparative genomics and animal-microbe interactions.
Max F. Rothschild, Director
Source of funding: College of Agriculture, Vice Provost's office and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Center for International Agricultural Finance (CIAF)
Mission: To assist developing countries and nations with economies in transition to successfully develop small and medium scale farm and agribusiness enterprises utilizing the resources of the Iowa State University faculty and staff for training and advice.
David G. Acker, Director
Source of funding: USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service.
Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL)
Mission: To engage in the discovery and application of science-based and indigenous knowledge to promote resilient, sustainable rural livelihoods in developing countries. We initiate and support collaborative training and development activities that strengthen the capabilities of rural people and their institutions to: improve agricultural and natural resource management practices; build assets; diversify income sources; and achieve food security, nutrition and health. CSRL’s partners are indigenous nongovernmental organizations, universities and international research institutes.
Robert E. Mazur, Director.
Sources of funding: private gifts through the ISU Foundation, the Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, College of Agriculture, government and private grants.
Community Vitality Center (CVC)
Mission: To serve as a catalyst for innovative projects and initiatives designed to improve the vitality of Iowa communities. CVC assesses and encourages best practices for stimulating entrepreneurship, philanthropy and rural-urban policy studies leading to actions that help to stimulate economic vitality of communities and rural areas. The CVC facilitates networking among small and medium size rural communities, sponsors policy analyses, engages communities in dialogue, and fosters discussion among rural and urban interests.
Mark A. Edelman, Director
Source of funding: USDA, College of Agriculture, ISU Extension, match dollars from collaborating interest groups and communities.
Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI)
Mission: Established in 1984 by a grant from the U.S. Congress, it uses comprehensive data and computer modeling systems to analyze the complex economic interrelationships of the food and agriculture industry. It is a dual-university research program. FAPRI programs are conducted cooperatively by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at ISU and the Center for National Food and Agricultural Policy (CNFAP) at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Jacinto Fabiosa, Co-director
Dermot Hayes, Co-director
Source of funding: USDA (special grants, Economic Research Service (ERS), National Research Initiative, Program of Research on the Economics of Invasive Species Management (PREISM) and industry.
Institute for Food Safety & Security (IFSS)
Mission: To protect Iowa's and the nation's vast investment in agriculture; and directly serve production, processor and consumer needs by enabling rapid identification and effective responses to food safety and security concerns that have impact throughout the global food chain.
Manjit Misra, Director and Anthony L. Pometto III, Associate Director
Source of funding: USDA and industry.
Institute for Social & Behavioral Research (ISBR)
Mission: To support, promote, and facilitate state-of-the-art interdisciplinary social science research that will increase our understanding of important social problems and improve the quality of peoples’ lives.
Carolyn E. Cutrona, Director
Source of funding: Vice Provost for Research, College of Liberal Arts, College of Human Sciences, IAEHEES, Extension, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Drug Abuse, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the MacArthur Foundation.
Mission: To enhance the vitality, profitability and growth of the Iowa beef industry.
John D. Lawrence, Director
Source of funding: Legislative appropriation and Extension 21 funds.
Iowa Pork Industry Center (IPIC)
Mission: To promote efficient pork production technologies in Iowa, maintain Iowa's pork industry leadership and strengthen rural development efforts.
John W. Mabry, Director
Source of funding: College of Agriculture.
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Mission: Named for Iowa-born conservationist Aldo Leopold, this center was established by the Iowa Legislature in 1987 to conduct research on the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of farming practices, to help develop profitable farming systems that preserve the productivity and quality of natural resources and the environment, and to work with ISU Extension to share these findings with the agricultural community and the public.
Jerry DeWitt, Director
Source of funding: State of Iowa.
Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute
Mission: Goals of the institute include conducting research to develop new cold-hardy grape varieties that can thrive in the Midwest, conducting enology (the science of wine & wine making) research, developing a wine quality award program that will provide wine buyers a quality-assurance stamp of approval, establishing an outreach program to the industry by training a team of specialists, and partnering with community colleges to develop job training programs specific to growing grapes and making wine.
Murli Dharmadikari, Director
Source of funding: Information Coming
North Central Regional Aquaculture Center
Mission: It is one of five regional centers established to develop collaborative interstate research and cooperative extension programs for commercial aquaculture. The Center is administered jointly by Michigan State University and ISU. The role of the Associate Director is to guide extension and outreach activities of the Center.
Joseph E. Morris, Associate Director
Source of funding: USDA-Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)
North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD)
Mission: To initiate and facilitate rural development research and education programs to improve the social and economic well-being of rural people in the region.
Cornelia Flora, Director
Mary Emery, Associate Director
Source of funding: USDA-CSREES, American Distance Education Consortium, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, Ford Foundation, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Lumina Foundation for Education, National Rural Funders Collaborative, Rural Poverty Research Center (RUPRI) and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station
Mission: As part of the National Plant Germplasm System, (1) Acquisition, documentation, conservation, characterization, distribution and enhancement of plant genetic resources (PGR) and their diversity effectively and efficiently; and (2) facilitating utilization of plant genetic diversity in research and in crop improvement.
Candice A. Gardner, Research Leader
Source of funding: USDA-ARS, CSREES NC-7 Multi-State Project.
Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI)
Mission: To provide objective analysis and facilitate public dialogue concerning the impacts of public policy on rural people and places. ISU is a full partner in the RUPRI consortium with the universities of Missouri and Nebraska.
Lois W. Morton and Paul Lasley, ISU Coordinators
Source of funding: Information Coming
Mission: To improve the production, quality assurance, marketing, utilization and regulatory environment of seed through research, testing, teaching, outreach and international programs.
Manjit Misra, Director
Source of funding: USDA, seed industry, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), American Seed Trade Association, Iowa Seed Association and Foreign Agricultural Service.
U.S. Pork Center of Excellence
Mission: Established July 2005, it is to add value to the pork industry by facilitating research and learning for U.S. pork producers through national collaboration.
David Meisinger, Director
Source of funding: College of Agriculture, USDA, industry boards and various outside state organizations
