The Iowa Stater
February 2002
IOWA STATE LAUNCHES 'PEOPLE INITIATIVE'
The quality of a university is only as great as the sum of its people: That's the idea behind a new initiative announced by Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy during his installation Oct. 6 as the university's 14th president.The two-year initiative, "Investing in People," will focus on raising funds to endow undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships and assistantships, and faculty support.
Private gifts annually support scholarships for 3,500 Iowa State students, but more scholarship support is needed. Last year, nearly 71 percent of Iowa State students applied for financial assistance. While these students had an average annual need of $7,000, only 24 percent -- $1,709 -- was met by scholarships or grants.
Gifts for the university's 29 endowed faculty positions have enabled Iowa State to attract and retain some of the nation's most outstanding scholars. More gifts are needed, like the recent gift from Pitt-Des Moines Inc. that will establish an endowed professorship in civil engineering. This endowed faculty position, the first ever for the department of civil and construction engineering, will focus on steel construction education and research.
Funds also are needed for graduate students, who enhance the university's learning and research environments and eventually benefit communities as highly educated teachers and professionals.
Geoffroy and his wife, Kathleen Carothers Geoffroy, already have demonstrated their belief in the initiative by establishing the Gregory L. and Kathleen C. Geoffroy Faculty Fellowship, which will provide annual support for the teaching and research program of an assistant professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences during the first three years of the professor's appointment.