Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | spring 2007

SPRING 2007
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ISU Sesquicentennial:
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THE TOP 150 OF EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING

I don’t know about you, but whenever I watch those “top 100” shows on TV – you know the ones, where some film institute chooses the top 100 greatest lines in movie history, or some other topic – or listen to the “top 100” countdown of the decade’s best songs or whatever, my reaction is, “Hey, who came up with this list?” They obviously didn’t ask ME!

So it’s with no small amount of hesitation that as Iowa State heads into its sesquicentennial anniversary year, we roll out two “top 150” lists in this issue of VISIONS. Not only that, but we are foolish enough to try to select the most important moments from 150 years of Iowa State history and cram them into a timeline that runs fewer pages than most comic books. And we won’t stop there! Nope, we’re also planning to run additional “top 10” lists and “150 years of this or that” in several upcoming issues.

Call us crazy. That’s OK. We don’t mind. We thought it needed to be done. We knew when we started working on this commemorative issue that the task was not
just difficult, it was downright impossible. So we didn’t even try to come up with THE perfect lists. I mean, really: Could YOU list the 150 definitive moments in Cyclone athletics? I didn’t think so.

So here’s how we approached our timeline and our list-making. We hit the highlights. We made sure we showed both depth and breadth. We added local flavor and folklore. We tried to represent many Iowa State sports and academic disciplines. We spanned the full 150 years of ISU history. We attempted to show uniqueness and variety and human interest. We did all of this even though it meant leaving out a huge number of very worthy names and moments and events.

I will tell you that we did not attempt to put these lists together in a vacuum. We had input (and then feedback) from all corners of campus. Although Tanya Zanish-Belcher (director of special collections for the University Library) authored the university timeline, she had the wisdom of all the university historians who came before her, plus current historians, a history committee, and a great staff in the University Archives. Kate Bruns worked with the ISU Department of Athletics, among other folks, on her 150 moments in Cyclone athletics list. And I worked with the colleges and other units on campus in addition to the 150th history committee to craft the list of 150 “VISIONaries.”

I’ll also tell you this: It was a lot of fun, and I think I learned more about ISU history in the past six months than I had in the previous nine years since I came to Iowa State.

We know the minute this issue goes on press, we will regret something we put in or left out. We know that there is probably a name misspelled or a fact that’s wrong. As editor, this stuff gives me nightmares! The one thing that doesn’t scare me, however, is that you, the readers, will disagree with what is included – and not included – on the lists and the timeline. That’s OK! We want to hear from you. Let us have it if you think we’ve made a minor blunder, or even if you think we’ve totally screwed up.

Please do keep in mind that more historical events, inventions, philanthropic contributions, and individual successes will be recognized in upcoming issues. And just remember that there was NO WAY we could list everyone and everything in just one issue—although we tried!

OK, enough disclaimers and groveling from yours truly. Just dive right in and savor the rich, wonderful history of this Iowa State University. I think you’ll agree that the past 150 years really have been an amazing journey.

About the Writer | Carole Gieseke is the editor of VISIONS magazine.