Iowa State University

Inside Iowa State
Dec. 12, 1997

ISU to award two honorary degrees at commencement

by Anne Dolan

Fall commencement ceremonies are set for the weekend of Dec. 19-20. An estimated 390 students -- an unusually high number for fall commence-ment -- will receive master's (270) or doctoral (120) degrees during an 8 p.m. ceremony Friday, Dec. 19, in C.Y. Stephens. Professor of English Neal Bowers will address the graduates.

An estimated 1,350 students will receive bachelor's degrees at Saturday's under-graduate ceremony in Hilton Coliseum. The ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. Richard Jacobson, the Des Moines businessman for whom the athletic department's new building is named, will give the commencement address.

Honorary degrees

President Martin Jischke will confer honorary degrees on Emery Castle and Edwin Krebs during the undergraduate commencement ceremony.

Castle, one of the founders of the field of resource economics, will receive the Doctor of Humane Letters for his achievements in agricultural economics and contributions to improving rural life in America.

Castle received a Ph. D. in agricultural economics from Iowa State in 1952. For 10 years (1976-1986), he served as vice president or president of Resources for the Future, a Washington, D.C., public policy research institute of applied economics. The institute completed large-scale environment and agriculture studies. A year after he retired from Resources for the Future, he obtained funding from the Kellogg Foundation to establish the National Rural Studies Committee, which he still chairs. The aim of the committee is to increase the attention given by higher education to issues of concern to rural America.

Krebs, co-winner of a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, will receive the Doctor of Science for contributions in biochemistry and medicine.

Krebs spent most of his career at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he still holds a position as professor emeritus in the departments of pharmacology and biochemistry. In 1992, Krebs, and his colleague of 30 years, Edmond Fisher, were awarded the Nobel Prize. Their discovery in basic cell activity affects virtually all aspects of cell biology research. In experiments on muscle contraction done in the early 1950s, the two demonstrated for the first time how the activity of cell enzymes can be turned on and off. More research showed that their discovery, known as reversible phosphate addition, is present in all cell types.

College receptions

Graduating students and their guests again may attend an on- campus luncheon prior to the undergraduate ceremony Saturday. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is sponsoring a brunch for its students from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Maple-Willow-Larch dining center. Tickets should be purchased by Monday, Dec. 15, in 243 Catt. Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for children ages 3 to 12.

The Student Alumni Assn. is sponsoring a luncheon for all students from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the second floor lobby area of Scheman. Tickets should be purchased by Friday, Dec. 12, in 158 Memorial Union (Alumni Suite). Tickets are $13 for adults and $6.50 for children ages 2 to 12.

The colleges also will hold receptions or convocations for their graduating undergraduates Saturday morning at various locations. The College of Education will hold a post- commencement reception Friday evening for its graduate students as well. See the schedule below for a complete list of commencement activities.

Commencement schedule
Fall semester 1997

Friday, December 19

Saturday, December 20

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Revised 12/11/97