Hilton Chair Provides College With Flexibility

A new endowed chair will give the College of Family and 
Consumer Sciences the flexibil-ity to meet the changing needs 
of students and the public.

The Dean Helen LeBaron Hilton endowed chair is a full-time 
position, funded by the endowment. It will be filled on a 
rotating basis, allowing college officials to focus on 
different areas. The college also has flexibility in how long 
each chair holder is appointed.

"The Hilton Endowed Chair presents an unusual opportunity for 
the College of Family and Consumer Sciences," said college 
Dean Beverly Crabtree. "My colleagues around the country are 
looking at our chair with great interest because of its 
flexibility. The structure of the chair increases our agility 
in addressing priority issues central to the mission of the 
college."

Outreach, spreading research results and knowledge beyond the 
campus, is one of the college's priorities, so Allison Engel 
('73) has been chosen as the first to hold the chair. Engel, 
an award-winning journalist, will help disseminate 
information about faculty research through local and national 
media. She will hold the chair during this academic year.

The Hilton chair was endowed through a $1.3 million gift from 
the estate of Helen LeBaron Hilton. Hilton was dean of the 
College of Home Economics (now Family and Consumer Sciences) 
from 1952 to 1975. 

Appointed by President Eisenhower, she served on the 1960 
White House Confer-ence on Children and Youth. She also 
served on a national panel on vocational education during the 
Kennedy Administration. 

Hilton was the first woman elected to the Ames City Council 
and was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1983. 
She died in 1993.

"Dean Hilton was recognized worldwide as a leader in the home 
economics profession," Crabtree said. "She made many 
significant and lasting contributions to our college, the 
university and the nation. Now, because of this generous 
bequest, her legacy will continue."

_____
contact:  Michelle Johnson, News Service, (515) 294-8986
updated:  9-28-95