College News

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Alumni News

SUKUP WINS NATIONAL AG ENGINEERING HONOR

Charles Sukup ('76 ag engineering, MS '82) president of Sukup Manufacturing Company, was awarded the 2016 Cyrus Hall McCormick Jerome Increase Case Gold Medal Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. The award recognizes achievement in developing grain handling equipment. Sukup Manufacturing is the largest family-owned grain handling and storage equipment manufacturer in the world.  More

LONG RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FOR EXTENSION PROGRAM

Courtney Long (’10 MS sustainable ag), program coordinator for Iowa State Extension and Outreach, received the 2016 Farm Credit MarketMaker Innovation Award for her implementation of Iowa State Design Lab’s Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit program. The program helps communities develop and implement local food systems through a three-year community design process. A piece of the program includes food systems and health assessments for communities in Iowa. More

PUTNEY'S DESPERADO WINS SUPER BULL

John Putney (’68 farm operation), retired executive director of the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation, is the owner of Desperado, a black angus bull who won the 2016 Iowa State Fair Super Bull competition. Desperado, weighed in at 2,972 pounds. Putney previously won the title in 1983 with the bull, PF Black Mountain. More

CALS ALUMNI MENTOR CARVER INTERNS

Several Iowa State alumni participated in a retreat for interns in the George Washington Carver summer internship program in July. Zoriada DeFreitas (MS ’89 food technology, PhD ’94 animal science and food science and human nutrition), Keith King (PhD ’11 genetics), Jeramie Strickland (MS ’08 ecology and evolutionary biology), Derrick Coble (PhD ‘13 genetics) and Maria L. Joseph-King (MS ’07 statistics, PhD ‘13), rounded out the ProTeam of industry and career professionals who participated in dynamic, fast-paced activities with interns sharing their career experiences. The program hosted 34 interns from across the U.S. – 23 undergraduates, one graduate student and ten high school students. More

ALUMNI, STUDENTS NETWORK AT AG MEDIA SUMMIT

Thanks to the support of alumni, agricultural communications option students were able to attend the Ag Media Summit for the first time in July. Four members of the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) club attended the annual professional development conference. The agricultural communications option, available to agricultural and life sciences education majors, has grown steadily since 2006 with 90 students currently enrolled. Iowa State has one of the largest ACT chapters in the U.S. with 80 student members. The Iowa State contingent included (left to right from back): Dan Manternach (’72 journalism and mass communication); Warren Clark (’80 ag businesss); Lynn Henderson (’74 ag journalism); Betsy Freese (’84 ag journalism); Kurt Lawton (’80 ag journalism); Des Keller (’82 journalism and mass communication); Dave Kurns (’82 journalism and mass communication); Peggy Manternach; Harlen Persinger (’67 dairy science, ’72 ag journalism); Jodi Henke (’86 journalism and mass communication); Rachel Lium (’16 public relations); Kelly Schwalbe (’82 ag journalism); Bobbi Burkhart, Iowa State Foundatin; Ed Adcock (’99 MBA); Kathleen Hunt, assistant professor; Cameron Jodlowski, Stephanie McMillan and Daiton Tietz.

Young Alum of the Month

Kelley Glanz

Title: Agri-Finance and Crop Insurance Specialist,

AgVantage FS

Hometown: Manchester, Iowa

Degree: ‘14 public service and administration in ag, international ag

Major Responsibilities: Provides financing and crop insurance options for AgVantage customers in eastern Iowa.

Events

Oct. 3-7 – CALS Week, Iowa State Campus

Oct. 5, 7 p.m. William K. Deal Endowed Leadership Lecture, Jim Collins, executive vice president of DuPont, Gerdin Business Building Room 1148, Free and open to the public

Oct. 8 –11 a.m.-2 p.m., Iowa State Bacon Expo, Hansen Ag Student Learning Center, Tickets required

​Oct. 11 – 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Agriculture and Life Sciences Career Day, Lied Recreation Center

Oct. 14-16 – Cyclone Family Weekend, Iowa State Campus, Registration required

Oct. 28-30 – Iowa State University Homecoming, Iowa State campus

• CALS Departmental Homecoming Activities
• ​ISU Alumni Association 50th Reunion for Classes of '65, '66 

​More upcoming CALS events

Class Notes

Did you land a new job? Receive an honor or award? Reach a milestone? We’d like to know! Submit your class note via e-mail stories@iastate.edu.

2010s

Hannah Darr ('16 global resource systems) is the new program assistant for Global Resource Systems at Iowa State.

Austin Knupp ('16 ag studies), was recently featured in a National Pork Board Real Pig Farming video.

Hanna Bates ('15 MS sustainable ag, sociology) is the new program assistant for the Iowa Water Center.

Lauren Husman ('15 biology) is the new middle school science teacher for LeMars Community Schools in LeMars.

Derek Brown ('13 animal science), herdsman at Madden Farms near Eldora, was recently featured in a National Pork Board Real Pig Farming video.

Victoria LeBeaux ('13 PhD sustainable ag), national program leader for the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, was featured on a USDA blog highlighting the impact of her diversity programs.

Julie Wade ('13 ag studies) has joined the team at First Security Bank and Trust in Hampton.

Laura Cunningham ('10 ag business), a farmer near Nora Springs, was featured along with her husband, Aaron, in the Globe Gazette for their experiences as beginning farmers.

Scott Mennenga (’10 ag business) is the new assistant vice president at First Security Bank and Trust in Dumont.

2000s

Jarrod Bakker (’06 animal science), a farmer near Dike, was a finalist in the National Pork Board’s America’s Pig Farmer of the Year competition.

Besty Matos (’01 MS entomology, ’05 PhD entomology, horticulture), senior industrial hygenist for Iowa State Environmental Health and Safety, is now a Registrant of the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists.

Michael Fritch (’00 agronomy), a farmer near Mitchellville, and recent graduate of the Iowa Corn Growers Association’s I-LEAD class, was featured in Iowa Farmer Today for his experience with the program.

1990s

Stephanie Essick (’99 ag business), a farmer near Dickens, has been elected to the executive committee on the Iowa Soybean Association’s board of directors.

Scott Nelson (’99 MS agronomy, crop production and physiology), is the new director for the Iowa Soybean Association’s On-Farm Network.

1980s

Mark Schleisman (’86 ag business), a farmer near Lake City, was featured by the Iowa Pork Producers Association for water quality practices he implements on his operation.

Mark Mueller (’81 ag business, ’87 agronomy), a farmer near Waverly, has been re-elected to serve as district three director on the Iowa Corn Growers Association’s board of directors.

Ed Trauth (’80 ag business), owner of TeamLogicIT, recently opened an office in Naperville, Illinois. The company is a national chain, providing IT management services for businesses.

1970s

Brian Kemp (’73 animal science, ’88 MS professional ag), a farmer near Sibley, has been elected to the American Soybean Association board of directors.

Ralph Lents (‘73 animal science), has been elected to serve as district seven director on the Iowa Corn Promotion Board’s board of directors.

Tom Renner (‘70 farm operation), a farmer near Klemme, has been elected to serve as district two director on the Iowa Corn Promotion Board’s board of directors.

In Memoriam

Clayton Wangsness (‘64 ag and life sciences education), 74, of Decorah, died August 28.

Harry Meinert (’53 ag engineering), 89, of Seminole, Florida, died June 7.

Faculty Memoriam

Chet Britt, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, died Aug. 30 at the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames. Memorial gifts may be made online (the bottom of the page offers an area to enter “Chet Britt Memorial Fund”).