Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | summer 2008

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DISTINGUISHED AWARDS CELEBRATION

Iowa State honored 12 outstanding individuals and one corporation during the 2008 Distinguished Awards Celebration on Friday, April 11.

Awards were presented in a public ceremony at the Curtiss Hall auditorium on Friday afternoon, followed by a public reception. Honorees and special guests were invited to a black-tie dinner that evening in the Durham Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor given to alumni by Iowa State University through the ISU Alumni Association, and the Honorary Alumni Award is the highest honor given by the university through the Alumni Association to individuals who are not ISU graduates. The Order of the Knoll awards are the highest honors presented by the university through the ISU Foundation. The True and Valiant Award is a special achievement award given for the first time this year.

Distinguished Alumnus Award

Clayton C. Anderson*
MS ’83 Aerospace Engineering
League City, Texas

An astronaut at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Clayton Anderson holds the honor of being the first Iowa Stater in space. Anderson spent five months in 2007 on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 15 – one of only 21 Americans to have been part of an International Space Station expedition. “I am proud to be Iowa State’s first astronaut in outer space,” he said. “My Iowa State flag flew proudly with me on the Space Station.”

Distinguished Alumnus Award

David J. Drury**
’66 Mathematics
Urbandale, Iowa

David Drury is a retired president and CEO of The Principal Financial Group, one of Iowa’s largest companies and a Fortune 500 leader. He is a loyal contributor and adviser to ISU’s College of Business. “I’ve always been proud to say I was a graduate of Iowa State,” he told the audience at the public ceremony. “[In accepting this award], I’m glad that Iowa State is proud of me.”

Distinguished Alumnus Award

Charles T. Manatt**
’58 Rural Sociology
Washington, D.C.

Attorney Charles Manatt is the founder of the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. He served as the chair of the Democratic National Committee and was co-chair of the 1992 Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. In 1999 President Clinton appoint-ed Manatt as the U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic. He told the audience, “Accessibility, affordability, and a modern school experience are most important for preparing students for today’s world.”

Distinguished Alumna Award

Olive Mwihaki Mugenda
MS ’83 Family Environment;
PhD ’88
Nairobi, Kenya

Olive Mugenda is the vice chancellor of Kenyatta University in Nairobi, the first woman ever to be selected for this position through an open search process at a large public university in Kenya. Her daughter Angela is currently a freshman in aerospace engineering at Iowa State. “I am deeply grateful to Iowa State for making me who I am today,” she said. “Iowa State will always be part of us as a family and will always be part of me.”

Distinguished Alumna Award

Trudy Huskamp Peterson**
’67 English, History & Speech
Washington, D.C.

Trudy Peterson joined the staff of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., in 1968. She served as acting archivist from 1992 until her retirement in 1995 – the only woman to hold this position to date. She has served as POW commissioner of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on MIAs/POWs and as director of archives and records management for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She said, “Iowa State taught me that we have to have
sciences AND humanities. Thank you, Iowa State.”

Honorary Alumna Award

Donna M. Hoover**
Scottsdale, Ariz.

Hoover Hall, in the Engineering Teaching and Research Complex, is a testament to Donna Hoover’s loyalty to Iowa State. She and her husband, Gary (’61 mechanical engineering) have not only supported the College of Engineering but also Cyclone athletics and other areas of the university. “I not only appreciate Gary’s enthusiasm for Iowa State – I share it,” she said. “This is the highest honor I have ever received.”

Honorary Alumna Award

Karen A. Kolschowsky**
Oak Brook, Ill.

Karen Kolschowsky has generously supported University Museums, animal science, Cyclone athletics, and the ISU Alumni Association. But she is best known for her creation, along with her husband Gerald (’62 agricultural business), of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, a program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The initiative has worked with partners to secure better lives for people in rural Uganda. “I became a cheerleader for Iowa State, and I am still bursting with pride for Iowa State,” she said.

Honorary Alumnus Award

Carl F. Vondra**
Ames, Iowa

Carl Vondra is a distinguished emeritus professor of geology in ISU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He directed the Geology Department’s field station near Shell, Wyo., from 1965 through 2003. Over the years, the geology field course became one of the nation’s best and most respected. The field station now bears Vondra’s name. “I realized my dreams at Iowa State,” he said. “I found my lucky star here.”

Order of the Knoll Cardinal and Gold Award

Joan Urenn Axel**
’64 History
Muscatine, Iowa

Joan Axel is vice president and director of Stanley, Lande, & Hunter Attorneys and Counselors. She is a longtime Iowa State volunteer, helping to create the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, helping to initiate the Mary Louise Smith Chair, serving as president of the ISU Alumni Association Board of Directors, and serving on the ISU Foundation Board of Governors. “I’ve been a champion of Iowa State for life,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed and loved Iowa State all these years.”

Order of the Knoll Cardinal and Gold Award

Arend (Sandy) J. Sandbulte*
’59 Electrical Engineering
Duluth, Minn.

Sandy Sandbulte is the retired president and CEO of ALLETTE, Inc. (formerly Minnesota Power), and he has been a committed partner and faithful friend to Iowa State. He has been chair of the ISU Foundation Board of Directors as well as chair of its investment and nominating committees. “Every time I came back [to Ames], I got this feeling for Iowa State – it was something like love. The university has had an impact, not just on me but on my whole family.”

Order of the Knoll Corporate and Foundation Award

3M
St. Paul, Minn.

The 3M corporation has contributed $1 million to ISU’s Engineering Leadership Program that provides scholarships, academic programming, and leadership activities for College of Engineering students. The company has also provided research grants and, during Campaign Destiny, partnered with Iowa State to establish a challenge campaign that raised $740,000 from the 3M Foundation, employees, and retirees for the Engineering Teaching and Research Complex.

Order of the Knoll Faculty/Staff Award

Manjit K. Misra
Ames, Iowa

Manjit Misra is the director of Iowa State’s Seed Science Center, which is considered a national and international leader in seed research and technology. “The Seed Science Center is taking ISU to the world, and we are bringing the world to our students,” he said. “We are making a difference…and I am happy to play a role in this success.” Misra is also director of the Institute for Food Safety and Security and the Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products.

ISU True and Valiant Award

Owen J. Newlin**
’51 Agronomy, MS ’53
Des Moines, Iowa

Owen Newlin, a retired senior vice president of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, is committed to achieving the best for Iowa State. He has been a member of the ISU Foundation Governors since 1977 and is a member of the ISU Foundation Board of Directors. He chaired Partnership for Prominence, ISU’s 1988-1993 fundraising campaign. He also served as a member and president of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa. Newlin said, “I met my wife at Iowa State. We always included Iowa State in our broader family. This is a great honor.”

To view full biographies of the 2008 honorees, go to www.isualum.org/dac.

Nominations
To nominate alumni and friends for the distinguished alumni and honorary alumni awards, go to www.isualum.org/awards/nominate. The nomiation deadline is Aug. 1 for 2009 awards.

*Annual member, ISU Alumni Association
**Life member, ISU Alumni Association
Note: Only ISU degrees are listed.