The university community is invited to celebrate two accomplished alumni, George Washington Carver and Frederick Douglass Patterson, on Monday, Feb. 3, during the third annual George Washington Carver Day event. The 75-minute program begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall (registration opens at 5 p.m.), followed by an ice cream reception in the South Ballroom. Online registration is requested by Monday, Jan. 27. Leaders from the colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and Life Sciences planned the event.
In addition to studying at Iowa State about 30 years apart, Carver and Patterson built distinguished careers in science at Tuskegee University in Alabama -- where they knew each other -- and each has a building named for him on Iowa State's campus.
About Carver
Carver
Carver received bachelor's (1894) and master's (1896) degrees in agriculture from Iowa Agricultural College. He was Iowa State's first Black student and faculty member before leaving for a lifelong career at Tuskegee (1896-1943), developing hundreds of food products from peanuts, sweet potatoes and about a dozen other plants native to the southern United States.
Jewel Bronaugh, who serves as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and president and CEO of the 1890 Universities Foundation, will present the main talk on Carver's life and legacy. Since 2016, the foundation has built partnerships and mobilized resources in support of the 19 historically Black land-grant universities, which includes Tuskegee. She is a former dean of agriculture at Virginia State University, Petersburg, also one of the 19.
Bronaugh's talk is part of the Lectures Program series, and students can scan their ID cards for class credit as they leave.
About Patterson
Dan Grooms and Ruby Perry, deans of the veterinary medicine colleges at Iowa State and Tuskegee, respectively, will share remarks on Patterson.
Patterson
During a yearlong celebration (2022-23) of the 100th anniversary of Patterson's graduation from Iowa State in veterinary medicine, the college named its main building for him. As president of Tuskegee (1935-53), Patterson founded the school's colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Engineering and created the commercial aviation program that morphed into the World War II fighter squadron, the Tuskegee Airmen. In retirement, he founded the United Negro College Fund, an organization that has raised billions of dollars for scholarships for African American students.
The program also will include brief remarks from Kenneth Quinn, emeritus president of the World Food Prize Foundation, Des Moines; and Simon Estes, F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Artist in Residence and adjunct professor of music. The duo had a pivotal role in the 2022 legislation that made Feb. 1 George Washington Carver Day every year in Iowa.
Student contributions
Cantamus, a 60-voice ensemble directed by assistant teaching professor of voice Jennifer Rodgers, will perform two songs, including the premiere of "ISU Carillon Call," a spirit song that blends pieces of "Bells of Iowa State" and "Hail Iowa State," arranged by May 2024 music alumna Madison Mayfield.
Student winners of a creative poster competition also will be announced during the program. Students from any ISU college were invited to design a poster that promotes the lasting impact of either Carver or Patterson's accomplishments in the world today. The 10 submissions will be displayed in the South Ballroom; the top poster about each alumnus receives a $750 cash prize.
Related stories
- Iowa State community remembers an accomplished alumnus, Feb. 2, 2023
- Feb. 1 will be George Washington Carver Day in Iowa, June 23, 2022
