Alumni Memories

Theodore (Ted) Hutchcroft

Agricultural Journalism, B.S., 1953; Education, PhD., 1978

Theodore
Hutchcroft

The agricultural journalism curriculum at Iowa State readied students for a variety of career paths that enabled us to help shape agriculture throughout America and the world. We owe a big thanks to practical, hands-on instructors like Rod Fox, Jim Schwartz, Ken Marvin, Harry Heath and Bill Ames.

The Iowa Agriculturist magazine was a great training ground. Actually editing and publishing a magazine was a chance to try our skills, yet by the end of the year we had to have sold enough ads to pay our way. That was real world experience.

The Agriculturist was ranked one of the nation’s top student-managed agricultural magazines. Year in and year out some of the best agriculture majors at Iowa State wrote for the Ag. They helped make it a magazine for the entire Division (now College), not just a journalist’s, exercise. Nothing in my career has given me quite the satisfaction as the year I was its editor. The Ag lived nearly 100 years. It’s unfortunate today’s students no longer have that opportunity.

I learned to use hot type, then adapted to cold type. Now everything is digital. As I have adapted to each new technology, the fundamentals of good writing have remained unchanged — clear, concise, complete.

My ag journalism degree led to meaningful work assignments, often taking me beyond my comfort zone. The ability to handle those challenges is what I carried away when Iowa State gave me that diploma back in 1953.