Points of Pride

Alumni

Alumni architects

USDA buildings and their architectural structures in Washington D.C. bear more names of Iowa State alumni than those from any other university.

Alumni leadership

More than one-third of the Fortune 500 companies have Iowa State alumni in leadership positions.

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver (1894, M.S. 1896), Iowa State's first African American student and faculty member, and internationally famous plant scientist.

CEO of HON Industries

Stanley M. Howe ('46), president/CEO/chairman of HON Industries from 1964 to 1996; he was with HON for 38 years.

Leader of women's suffrage movement

Carrie Chapman Catt (1880), leader of the women's suffrage movement and co-founder of the League of Women Voters.

Distinguished chemist

Samuel P. Massie (PhD '46) and fellow ISU alumnus George Washington Carver, are the only African Americans named to the Chemical and Engineering News 75th anniversary 75 most distinguished chemists of all time.

3M President

Allen Jacobson ('47), president/chairman of 3M from 1984 to his retirement in 1991; he was with 3M for 44 years.

ISU astronaut

Clayton Anderson (MS '83), NASA astronaut, Johnson Space Center; first Iowa Stater in space; currently on the International Space Station.

Keeping Carver's legacy alive

Paxton Williams ('00), Executive director for the George Washington Carver Birthplace Association; wrote and performs one-man play about the life of George Washington Carver.

Founder of Wallaces Farmer Magazine

Henry C. Wallace (1893), founder of Wallaces Farmer magazine in 1896.

Lake Mead's namesake

Elwood Mead (1883), commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation during the construction of Hoover Dam, and for whom Lake Mead is named.

Undefeated

Cael Sanderson ('01), Undefeated four-year ISU wrestler (159-0), an achievement Sports Illustsrated called the second most impressive feat in college sports history; won gold medal at 2004 Athens Olympics

Making America great

Nancy Cox ('70), Chief of the Influenza Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Was named 2006 Federal Employee of the Year and was on Time magazine's "100 most influential people of the year" and Newsweek's "15 people who make America great" lists.

Poet Laureate

Ted Kooser ('62), U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet.

Presidential experience

Dwight Ink ('47), worked with every U.S. President from Eisenhower to Reagan, in urban affairs, environment and energy, education, foreign affairs, disaster reconstruction, and other areas of the federal government.

Lipitor inventor

Bruce Roth (PhD '81), inventor of cholesterol-lowering drug, Lipitor.

White House reporter

Hugh Sidey ('50), longtime White House reporter for Life and Time magazines.

Olympic gold medalist

Nawal El Moutawakel ('88), first African woman and first Muslim woman to earn Olympic gold; first woman to chair International Olympic Committee Commission.

DNC chairman

Charles Manatt ('58), former chair of the Democratic National Committee, co-chair of the 1992 Clinton-Gore presidential campaign, and former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

Farmall inventor

Bert Benjamin (1893), inventor of the Farmall tractor, the first tractor that could plow and cultivate row crops.

Medal of Science recipient

Darleane C. Hoffman (Ph.D. '51), Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the researchers who confirmed the existence of element 106, seaborgium; recipient of the 1997 National Medal of Science.

U.S. Vice President

Henry A. Wallace ('10), U.S. Vice President (1941-44), U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1933-41), U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1944-45) and Progressive Party candidate for U.S. President (1948); established Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., which led the commercial development and introduction of hybrid seed corn.

Honeywell CEO

James J. Renier (Ph.D. '55), chairman and CEO of Honeywell from 1988 to 1993.

Tuskegee Institute president

Frederick Douglas Patterson (DVM '23, MS '27), president of Tuskegee Institute and founder of the United Negro College Fund.

President, Rockwell Collins

John D. (Jack) Cosgrove ('56), retired president, Rockwell Collins; he was with Rockwell Collins for more than 40 years.

Pulitzer Prize winner

Robert Bartley ('59), editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal, won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1980.

President, US West

Richard McCormick ('61), president and CEO of US West since 1991.

Inventor of the first electronic digital computer

John V. Atanasoff (M.S. '26), inventor of the electronic digital computer; recipient of the 1991 National Medal of Technology.

U.S. Senator

Tom Harkin ('62), three-term U.S. Senator from Iowa and author of the 1990 American With Disabilities Act.

Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing

Lauren Soth ('32, M.S. '38), winner of the 1956 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing (Des Moines Register) for coverage of U.S.-Soviet relations in agriculture.

Boeing president & CEO

T. A. Wilson ('43), president/CEO/ chairman of Boeing from 1968 to 1993; he was with Boeing for 48 years and led the development of the B-47 and B-52 bombers.

Texas Instruments CEO

Jerry Junkins ('59), CEO of Texas Instruments from 1985 until his death in 1996; he was with TI for 37 years and led TI to international prominence in the calculator, computer chip and computer industries.

Creator of Silicon Graphics Inc.

Ed McCracken ('66), creator of Silicon Graphics Inc., the company that provided sophisticated computer graphics for such hit movies as "Jurassic Park"; and "Forrest Gump."

Lockheed Martin CEO

Vance Coffman ('67), CEO and chairman, Lockheed Martin Corporation.

BellSouth Communications vice president & CFO

Isaiah "Ike" Harris ('74), vice president and CFO of BellSouth Communications.

Pulitzer Prize winner

Tom Knudson ('80), winner of two Pulitzer Prizes--in 1985 for national reporting (Des Moines Register) for a series on farm health, and in 1992 for public service (Sacramento Bee) for his coverage of environmental threats to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Photos of George Washington Carver and Carrie Chapman Catt courtesy of University Archives.
Photo of Clayton Anderson courtesy of NASA.
Photo of Nawal El Moutawakel courtesy of ISU Alumni Association.