Alumnus Kurt Tjaden ("JAY-din") was named the ISU Alumni Association's acting Lora and Russ Talbot president and CEO, effective March 1.
Jeff Johnson
Jeff Johnson, the Lora and Russ Talbot ISU Alumni Association Endowed President and CEO, is taking a temporary medical leave of absence to address treatment plans in management of his recent Parkinson's disease diagnosis.
"Peggy and I are grateful to the association's board and staff, and President Wintersteen and Kurt, for supporting us during this time," Johnson said. "I'll miss interfacing with staff and constituents during this time, but I know the association is in good hands."
Tjaden retired in 2022 as President – International at Muscatine-based HNI Corp., where he led the company's international operations. He is a proud Cyclone who has stayed engaged with the university in many ways since earning his accounting degree in 1985. Tjaden was on the association's board of directors from 2016 to 2019, serving on its finance and governance committees and strategic plan task force. He is involved with the ISU Foundation's Board of Governors, serving on the board of directors and the audit committee and previously chairing the awards committee. He also serves on the Ivy College of Business Dean's Advisory Council and taught in the college as a professor of practice.
Kurt Tjaden
"It is an honor and a privilege to support ISU, the alumni association board, staff and members during Jeff's medical leave of absence," Tjaden said. "Cyclones everywhere look forward to Jeff's return and renewed health."
Tjaden and his wife, Kristyn, also a 1985 graduate in speech communications, are members of the foundation's Order of the Knoll and the Cyclone Club. They were recipients of the Order of the Knoll Emerging Philanthropist Award. They endowed the alumni association's Tjaden/Cassidy Senior Class Council Scholarship and scholarships in the Ivy College of Business and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
