HISTORIC SPRING COMMENCEMENT...2019/06/06 · \爀屲The Assistive Techn對ology Lab will be...
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HISTORIC SPRING COMMENCEMENT • 5339 graduates • Dr. Robert Easter, Honorary Degree Recipient and Speaker • Simon Estes, Commencement Speaker and Vocalist
Transcript of HISTORIC SPRING COMMENCEMENT...2019/06/06 · \爀屲The Assistive Techn對ology Lab will be...
HISTORIC SPRING COMMENCEMENT
• 5339 graduates• Dr. Robert Easter, Honorary Degree
Recipient and Speaker• Simon Estes, Commencement Speaker
and Vocalist
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Good afternoon! It’s a pleasure to welcome you to campus. We always appreciate the opportunity to host the Board and fellow Regents presidents and colleagues for these meetings. It was a historic spring for Iowa State University! Our spring graduating class of 2019 was our largest ever – more than 5300 students completed their degrees. We also awarded our 145th honorary degree to Dr. Robert Easter. He is president emeritus of the University of Illinois. He was also the featured speaker at our morning undergraduate ceremony. Simon Estes was the featured speaker (and vocalist) at our afternoon undergraduate ceremony – sharing his thoughtful, inspiring, and emotional story of overcoming challenges of injustice with character and faith. It was a truly special weekend and a wonderful way to send our graduates off. [next slide]
STUDENT EXCELLENCE
Goldwater Scholars: Jacqueline Blaum, Atte Kadoma, Matt Ryan and Nikita Kozak
Udall Scholar: Carissa Moyna
Udall Scholar: Jacob Wright
Fulbright Award: Collin Powell
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Our students continue to excel and amaze us with their national honors! Four Iowa State University students received Goldwater Scholarships, the nation's premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering. Jacqueline Blaum, a junior in physics and computer science from Bettendorf. Atte Kadoma, a junior in materials engineering from Minnesota. Nikita Kozak, a junior in mechanical engineering from Waukee. And Matthew Ryan, a junior in chemistry from Rochester, Minnesota. The maximum number of nominees you can have is four. This year, Iowa State is one of only 20 institutions — including Yale, Stanford, Duke and Ohio State — to have all our nominees selected as scholars. We also had two students named Udall Scholars: Carissa Moyna, a junior in civil engineering from Elkader; and Jacob Wright, a junior in agronomy and environmental studies from Virginia. They are two of only 55 students from across the United States selected for the prestigious award. The Udall Foundation awards scholarships for leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to the environment or Native American nations. And finally, Collin Powell, a graduate student in Interior Design, has earned a Fulbright Award. As a recipient of the award, he will live in Vienna, Austria, where he will conduct research on the city’s public housing with an emphasis on creating innovative housing solutions. He’ll also take classes and teach English. [next slide]
CULTIVATING GLOBAL HUNGER FIGHTERSWORLD FOOD PRIZE IOWA YOUTH INSTITUTE
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Each spring, we welcome hundreds of Iowa high school students to Iowa State University to experience some Hilton Magic and join the fight against global hunger as part of the World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute. This was the eighth year for this event done in partnership with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the World Food Prize. It also marked the last year for Ambassador Ken Quinn in his role as president of the World Food Prize. We’re very grateful for his visionary leadership and strong partnership. I also want to recognize David Acker, associate dean for global agriculture programs here at ISU. His leadership is integral to making this event a huge success every year. He was recognized by the World Food Prize last fall with the inaugural “Inspiring the Next Generation” award. He’s pictured there with Norman Borlaug’s daughter, Jeanie. This year at the Iowa Youth Institute, more than 300 students from all across Iowa participated. They had the opportunity to showcase their own work to fight global hunger and poverty and interact with Iowa State faculty and students who are innovating solutions to these global challenges. A teacher from Nevada wrote us about his student, Amelea Jones – she’s in the blue dress in the photo on the lower right. She returned from the Iowa Youth Institute with a goal of becoming an agronomist. She said her favorite sessions included crossbreading soybean plants and learning about mung beans. She also enjoyed hands-on opportunities - learning how to separate strawberry, pea and soybean DNA. In addition to Ambassador Quinn, the students also got to hear from Governor Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Gregg, and interact with other state and local leaders. We’re very pleased and proud to host this wonderful event. [next slide]
FACULTY EXCELLENCE
American Academy of Arts and Sciences • Pat Thiel• Distinguished Professor of
Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering
• Research has advanced understanding of quasicrystals and metamaterials
Presenter
Presentation Notes
We’re very pleased to recognize the achievements of two outstanding faculty members. First, Dr. Pat Thiel, Distinguished Professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering, and a faculty scientist at the Ames Laboratory, has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This is an extremely prestigious honor, recognizing Dr. Thiel’s innovative research and scholarly excellence. Her research focuses on surface chemistry on an atomic scale and has advanced our understanding of quasicrystals and metamaterials. She is one of only about 200 individuals to earn election into the 2019 class. Since 1780, the academy has honored exceptionally accomplished individuals engaged in advancing the arts, democracy, education, global affairs, and science. She’ll be formally inducted in October. [next slide]
FACULTY EXCELLENCE
Iowa’s New Poet Laureate• Debra Marquart• Professor of English• Poet and musician• Six books• 50+ grants and awards
Presenter
Presentation Notes
We’re also pleased to recognize Dr. Debra Marquart, Professor of English, who has been appointed by Governor Reynolds as Iowa’s new poet laureate. This two-year honorary post makes her the state’s official poetic voice and the top advocate for poetry in Iowa. Dr. Marquart is an award-winning author of six books. She has received more than 50 grants and awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a PEN USA Nonfiction Award and the (pronounce: Vok-my-ster) Wachtmeister Award for Excellence in the Arts. [next slide]
ENTREPRENEURIAL EXCELLENCE
Startup Technology Company of the Year• Gross-Wen Technologies• Dr. Zhiyou Wen and Dr. Martin
Gross• Patented wastewater treatment
technology to recover nutrients• Slater, IA installed the
technology
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Our faculty also are demonstrating entrepreneurial excellence. A company started by an Iowa State professor was recently named Startup Technology Company of the Year. The award was presented by the Technology Association of Iowa during the 2019 Prometheus Awards program. Gross-Wen Technologies was founded in 2014 by Dr. Zhiyou Wen, professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition, and Dr. Martin Gross, former post-doc at ISU. The company uses a patented wastewater treatment technology to recover nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater. In fact, the community of Slater recently installed Gross-Wen’s technology as part of a total upgrade of its wastewater treatment plant. Gross-Wen was a member of the very first cohort of the ISU Startup Factory – our startup accelerator program, and the company is housed at the ISU Research Park. Gross-Wen was honored for demonstrating significant market potential, creativity, and a promising future. [next slide]
WELCOMING AND INCLUSIVE CAMPUS
Assistive Technology Lab• Located in Durham Hall• Accessibility resources: speech-
to-text, text-to-speech tools, screen readers, screen magnifiers
• Peer mentoring, community building
• Digitally accessible coursework• Opening in fall 2019
Presenter
Presentation Notes
As part of our commitment to enhancing our welcoming and inclusive campus environment, we are creating a centralized, physical space on campus where students with disabilities can have easy access to assistive technology resources. The Assistive Technology Lab will be located in Durham Hall and provide accessibility resources such as speech-to-text and text-to-speech tools, screen readers, and screen magnifiers. The lab will also provide peer mentoring and a space for community building. Faculty can use the lab to learn how to use assistive technology in the classroom and make their coursework digitally accessible. The project is being spearheaded by ISU’s Digital Accessibility Coordinator Cyndi Wiley and the Computational Advisory Committee. The lab is slated to open this fall. [next slide] Question from the Board – what do you do for deaf students? Office of Student Accessibility will connect them with resources. Signers are available in the classroom; material can be provided ahead of time. Have had an increase in students with disabilities. We are stretched a bit thin with signers. We use a number of part-time signers. Looking at using students in our sign language programs, but need to mindful of having well-trained signers.
ISU EXTENSION AND OUTREACH: FLOOD RESPONSE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Nearly three months after flood waters overwhelmed southwest Iowa, the recovery and cleanup continues – more rain has fallen, many families and businesses remain displaced, and farmers in this area and across the state struggled to get into the fields for planting. This is where ISU Extension and Outreach comes in. Our Extension staff live and work in every Iowa county. They know how to connect their neighbors to Iowa State resources and with partner agencies because they do it every day; they do it especially well during times of natural disasters. ISU Extension and Outreach has organized meetings and provided spaces for citizens to hear from federal, state and local agencies, and facilitated Q&A sessions. Extension staff continue to reach out to displaced families to offer resource information. One top resource is the Iowa Concern Hotline. Hotline counselors are key players on the Department of Human Services Project Recovery Outreach team and provide communication between the hotline, mental health centers and individuals impacted by the disasters. And as part of the Governor’s Flood Recovery Advisory Board and working groups, ISU Extension and Outreach continues to help farmers safely remove damaged grain, evaluate planting options, rehabilitate flooded land and assess levees and infrastructure. This truly is Iowa State’s unique land-grant mission in action! [next slide]
LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
Sarah Rajala, Retiring Dean, College of Engineering
Sam EasterlingDean-select, College of Engineering
Rick SandersPresident, ISU Research Park
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Finally, I want to recognize an outgoing and two incoming members of our excellent university leadership team. Sarah Rajala, Melsa Dean of Engineering, is retiring. We’ve had some wonderful opportunities over the past few months to recognize Dean Rajala and her pioneering efforts as the first female dean of the engineering college at Iowa State. During her six-year tenure, the college grew to become the 8th largest College of Engineering in the nation – with more than 9500 students enrolled last fall. She has positioned the college for a strong future by supporting faculty and research excellence, leading efforts to build and renovate key facilities, launching innovative new programs, and always putting students first. Sam Easterling will take the helm in the College of Engineering in July. We’re very excited to welcome him back to Iowa State. He’s an ISU alumnus and recently served as head of the department of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech. We look forward to how he will build on the college’s excellence and national prestige. We also have a new president of the ISU Research Park. Rick Sanders succeeds Steve Carter, who retired in December following an 18-year tenure. Rick has served on the Story County Board of Supervisors since 2010, and as Chair of that Board from 2013 to 2018. Rick assumed his new role last week and will continue to cultivate partnerships and develop new growth at the Research Park – which is a powerful engine of economic development for Iowa as a whole. [slide]
THANK YOU
Presenter
Presentation Notes
That concludes my presentation. I welcome any questions you may have.
