Message from Endowed Dean Daniel J. Robison
Greetings from Curtiss Hall! Last week I completed my first full work week in my office on campus. I started work January 21 with a full week of donor and alumni visits in Florida, including a university-wide reception — hard work, but someone has to do it! My wife Julie and I made the transition from West Virginia and have been settling into a warm new home in Ames, despite the polar vortex and all the snow and ice.
With my staff, I’ve been working hard to fill my calendar with meetings and visits, both on campus and around the state. It’s a long list. But I will be diligent on getting out and learning as much as possible from our alumni, friends, supporters and stakeholders. I especially look forward to hearing your thoughts about our college’s future.
I’ve learned very quickly that we do have fantastic alumni. Two weekends ago, I enjoyed mingling with more than 150 alumni plus incredible CALS student leaders at our reception prior to the CALS-sponsored women’s basketball game — which we won over my previous school, West Virginia. Go Cyclones! It also was my pleasure to be at center court to present alumna Elizabeth Burns-Thompson with our Emerging Iowa Leader Award.
During that basketball game, I did a radio interview that reached about 30,000 listeners and Cyclone.tv viewers. I want to give you the same message: It is an honor and privilege to lead one of the very best agricultural and life sciences institutions in the world. The reputation of Iowa State and CALS is fantastic, everywhere I’ve traveled. My main job is to continue to help the college move forward, so we can do more for more people — more innovation in research, more ways we prepare students to achieve in a demanding world that continues to change faster and faster, and more engagement through extension, outreach and service to our state and communities — and our world.
This week I’m traveling again. I’ll be in Arizona to meet many more alumni and supporters at another university-wide event. The week after I’ll be back on campus continuing to get acquainted with our superb college team and our students, including a meeting with our hardworking CALS student ambassadors who do such a great job recruiting for us. All in all, it is very much a pleasure to begin to put names to faces.
I am excited to be part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’s great team, which includes 40,000+ alumni around the world. Please don’t hesitate to contact me and let me know your hopes for our future. Together we’ll do great things.
Daniel J. Robison
robisond@iastate.edu
