Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | fall 2006

FALL 2006
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Cover Story:
Good Chemistry

Feature Story:
An Exemplary Leader

Feature Story:
Special Olympics USA National Games

Feature Story:
Alumni Days 2006

Alumni Profile:
The reigning queen of concrete

Alumni Profile:
Major wager

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

Alumni Center Update
Donor Profile: Glen and Mary Jo Mente
Building for Tomorrow
Continue the Legacy on Sept. 29
Tau Beta Pi celebration

Alumni Center Update (Return to top)
On July 27, 2006, bids were opened for construction of the Iowa State University Alumni Center, which will be built along Beach Avenue within the Iowa State Center area. Five bids were opened, and Woodruff Construction of Fort Dodge, Iowa, was identified as the successful low bidder. ISU’s Facilities Planning and Management department reviewed the bids and recommended the award of a construction contract to Woodruff Construction. The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved the contract, and work on the site began in August. Watch the construction progress at www.fpm.iastate.edu/webcam/alumni. To learn more, go to www.isualum.org/alumnicenter.

Donor Profile: Glen and Mary Jo Mente (Return to top)
We asked Alumni Center donors Glen and Mary Jo Mente about their decision to make a gift to the ISU Alumni Center:

Glen:
Starting with our days in Pammel Court and through our retirement in Ames, Iowa State University has been an integral part of our lives. We feel blessed by the things we’ve been able to enjoy from Iowa State, and we are excited to share in some small way in its future. It is our hope that the Library and Memorabilia Archives will provide an opportunity for alumni and friends to lounge, reminisce, and enjoy Iowa State history.

Mary Jo:
Glen is the first Iowa State graduate in his family. Both of our daughters, one son-in-law, my brother, a niece, and a nephew are all Iowa State grads. We all look forward to the beauty and accessibility of this new facility. It’s exciting! I can hardly wait.

Glen:
One thing we’d really like to do is give a huge thank you to Roy and Bobbi Reiman. We’re so grateful for their gift, because it has been the dream of every Iowa State Alumni Association Board of Directors for the past 20-25 years to have a permanent home for our Alumni Association. With Roy and Bobbi’s generous lead gift, it has made it possible for the rest of us to participate in this beautiful new Alumni Center.

Glen and Mary Jo Mente Ames, Iowa
Glen: ISU ’61 ag, MS ’63
Retired senior vice president,
Kent Feeds, Inc., Muscatine, Iowa

Mary Jo: Homemaker and volunteer

Glen’s involvement with the ISUAA:
Board of Directors 1994-2001
Chair of the Board of Directors 1998-99
Chair of The Circle, 2001-2004

Children:
Beth Marrs (’84) and her husband, Craig (’84), Ames, Iowa
Brenda Frankenfeld (’84) and her husband, Kent, Oskaloosa, Iowa
Grandchildren: 5

About the Mente’s Alumni Center gift:
Named space: Glen and Mary Jo Mente Alumni Library and Memorabilia Archives

For more information on making a gift
to the ISU Alumni Center, contact:
Dan Saftig, president of the ISU Foundation
515-294-4077, dsaftig@iastate.edu
Or Jeff Johnson, president of the
ISU Alumni Association
877-ISU-ALUM, jjohnson@alumni.iastate.edu

Building for tomorrow (Return to top)
I have really fallen in love with the process of strategic planning. The Alumni Association’s board of directors and staff just completed our strategic plan for 2006-2009: “Building for Tomorrow.” It was a labor of love to work with the Association staff and volunteers, to plan and dream about all the possibilities of the future of this great Iowa State organization.

This plan is a three-year rather than our typical five-year plan. Why? As you already know, the Alumni Association is transitioning from renting space from Iowa State to having its own permanent home – which is being funded by private support. (Thanks to the more than 100 donors who have contributed approximately $12 million of the $13 million needed to finish the building, buy furnishings, secure landscaping, and fund the endowment for this project.) This beautiful new facility will clearly provide us new opportunities to engage, support, and celebrate ISU alumni and Iowa State.

Today, Iowa State University has close to 200,000 living, addressable alumni. This num-ber will continue to grow. Current membership in the ISU Alumni Association stands at more than 50,000. Our goal is to grow that number and to continue to support our alumni-centered programs as well as student scholarship, leadership, and involvement.

Iowa State is well underway in executing its own strategic plan, and President Geoffroy has made it clear that a strong alumni association will play an important role in Iowa State’s future success. Therefore, your Alumni Association will continue to partner with Iowa State to help the university be the very best that it can be. A strong, involved alumni is critical to this success.

Simply stated: At the heart of your Association’s efforts, you can expect us to remain committed to advancing Iowa State, serving the university’s constituents, and being meaningful in the lives of our members. Each of you needs to know that you are responsible for helping us do great work for Iowa State. To this end, your Alumni Association will focus it efforts on three priorities, with their supporting goals, over the next three years (see chart below).

Please see where you fit in and where you can help. But most importantly, always let us know how we can best serve you, Iowa State, and others. You are Iowa State, and your Alumni Association is here to serve the university and its alumni…current and future ones.

Thanks again for reading this plan and committing yourself to helping us reach our goals. If you have any comments on the plan, please do not hesitate to contact me directly using the information listed at right.

Yours for Iowa State,

Jeff Johnson
President, ISU Alumni Association

Building for Tomorrow: The 2006-2009 Strategic Plan of the Iowa State University Alumni Association

Priority: Connect ISU alumni and friends to the university and to each other

Goals
• Execute effective print and electronic communication strategies
• Position the Alumni Center as an indispensable tool for engagement
• Enhance and increase membership in the ISU Alumni Association
• Provide enhanced engagement opportunities
• Enhance overall diversity efforts

Priority: Engage students for a lifetime relationship with Iowa State University

Goals
• Strengthen and increase membership in the Student Alumni Association (SAA)
• Strengthen outreach and engagement efforts toward graduating students
• Increase and promote diversity within each SALC committee
• Increase student awareness of the ISUAA
• Develop and promote a culture of leadership within SALC and
across the ISU campus
• Position the Alumni Center as an indispensable tool for engagement

Priority: Position the ISU Alumni Association to advance Iowa State University

Goals
• Ensure the organization’s staffing structure and resources are well aligned with the long-range goals of the university and the Association
• Enhance the technological health of the organization
• Strengthen the financial health of the organization
• Position the Alumni Center as an indispensable tool for engagement
• Broaden and enhance strategic partnerships, internally and externally
• Strengthen the roles ISU alumni, students, and friends play in helping to advance the university and the Association

Continuing the Legacy on Sept. 29 (Return to top)
Do you have a student who’s a junior or senior in high school? Iowa State has a college visit day just for you: Legacy Migration. On Friday, Sept. 29, you and your Cyclone-to-be are invited to ISU for a campus tour, information, programs, and fun activities. Register before Sept. 15 on the Web at www.isualum.org/
services/migration or call (877) ISU-ALUM for more information.

Tau Beta Pi celebration (Return to top)
The Iowa Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, founded on Dec. 20, 1907, will be celebrating 100 years of service to the College of Engineering and Iowa State during VEISHEA 2007. The group is planning local activities for alumni members who will be in Ames. Further information will be made available at www.isualum.org/reunions as planning progresses, or those interested in attending may e-mail tbp-cabinet@iastate.edu. The Iowa Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi is the oldest continually active honor society at ISU.