Inside Iowa State
Aug. 29, 1997
Ag college seeks new standard of excellence
by Steve Jones
Iowa State's $300 million capital campaign, Campaign Destiny: To Become the Best, couldn't be more appropriately named for the College of Agriculture. The already-strong college will benefit from new or expanded programs, increased scholarship opportunities and much-needed construction projects.
"Campaign Destiny will have a major impact on the College of Agriculture," said David Topel, college dean. "The funds will provide our faculty and students many new opportunities to excel."
Just over half of the college's $67.6 million campaign goal was reached with a single gift. In September, President Martin Jischke announced a $34 million estate gift to the college from anonymous, long-time ISU supporters. The donation is the largest in the history of higher education in Iowa and thought to be the largest ever to a college of agriculture.
The bulk of the donation will go into an endowment to fund academic chairs, professorships, graduate fellowships, undergraduate scholarships, and research and teaching grants, Topel explained.
"Agriculture is one of the foundations of the land-grant movement," Jischke said. "This gift will help Iowa State build the best college of agriculture at any land-grant university in the United States, if not the world."
Nearly $45 million has been raised to date by the college during the campaign that ends in 2000.
College officials are approaching a $3.5 million goal for animal science facilities. The funds will supplement a $15 million Iowa Legislature appropriation for a 74,400-square- foot addition to Kildee Hall and the Meat Laboratory. The project, which includes renovation of several Kildee laboratories, will be completed next year.
The addition is needed badly, said Dennis Marple, head of animal science. Faculty have been unable to apply for some research grants because current laboratories are outdated.
"We're severely limited in some areas, such as food safety research with contagious pathogens," Marple said. "The private fund raising is very important to this project."
One construction project already is complete. Donors provided $650,000 for an addition and remodeling project at the Seed Science Center. The project included a high-tech training facility that serves both ISU students and seed industry clients.
Roy and Bobbi Reiman, Greendale, Wis., gave another gift to expand the Reiman Gardens and contribute to a maintenance endowment.
College officials want to raise $18 million to construct a new building to house the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. CARD is an internationally known public policy research institute that provides decision makers with economic analyses in areas such as agriculture, international trade and rural development.
Other campaign goals include three endowed academic chairs in agricultural economics and one each in sustainable agriculture and rural sociology. Also planned are a starch research facility at the Center for Crops Utilization Research, an endowment for an annual biochemistry and biophysics symposium and two new entomology education programs focusing on the environment.
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