News from Campus – Fall 2018
ROBISON SELECTED AS NEXT DEAN OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES
Daniel J. Robison from West Virginia University has been named the next endowed dean of Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and director of the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station. Robison, dean of the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, and director of the West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station, will begin his tenure by March 31, 2019. Robison holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry, master’s in silviculture and forest influences from the State University of New York–College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse; and a doctorate in entomology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He joined WVU in 2012 after serving as associate dean for research in the North Carolina State University College of Natural Resources. “Everyone—whether you live down the street or halfway around the world—benefits from the work led by the faculty, staff and students of Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,” Robison says. “It’s a great honor to be selected to lead the college, and I look forward to working with the talented team here to address the local and global challenges of agricultural production, food safety, security and nutrition, natural resources management, and underlying life sciences.”
MAKING IMPACT: AGRICULTURAL AND BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
ISU’s Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE) received the Iowa State University Alumni Association’s Impact Award during the Honors and Awards Ceremony in October. The award honors individuals, businesses or organizations whose programs or accomplishments brought broad recognition to the university. ABE has received top national rankings from U.S. News and World Report. ABE is jointly administered by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering.
UNLOCKING YOUR INNER ENTREPRENEUR
Sara Wyant (’80 journalism and mass communication), president and founder of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., the nation’s largest communications firm focused on agricultural and rural policy issues, presented the 2018 William K. Deal Endowed Leadership Lecture on Oct. 2. Wyant’s presentation, “Unlocking Your Inner Entrepreneur: How one of the luckiest days of my life was when I got fired from a job I loved,” is available online.
SUCCESS FOR CALS STUDENT TEAMS
• Agricultural Business Club: Outstanding Chapter Award, Creative Club Award from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
• North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Judging Team: overall sweepstakes award
• Cyclone Power Pullers: first place appearance, manufacturability, innovation, written design report and maneuverability at the International
Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition
• The Horticulture Club: second place, 2018 Mid-America Collegiate Horticultural Society Competition
• Livestock Judging Team: second place at Aksarben, the National Barrow Show and the Flint Hills Mid-American Classic
• Soils Judging Team: second place group judging, second place overall at American Society of Agronomy Regional Soil Judging Contest
• National Agri-Marketing Association Club (NAMA): second place Outstanding Student Chapter, third place John Deere Signature Award
