Caffeinated prep

May 08

Students helped themselves to flavored syrups in their cold brew coffee outside the Hub at midday Tuesday. ISU Dining employees (in red shirts l-r) Kristi Patel, Jed Vander Zanden (partially hidden) and Terrasa Mouw-Grewell served up free samples of the cold brew offered in campus cafes. The event was a prep-week student appreciation special coordinated between ISU Dining and its coffee vendor, Kansas City-based The Roasterie. The ISU Dining team served nine gallons of cold brew in less than two hours, roughly 400 cups of coffee.

Congratulations, university award recipients

May 08

More than 75 Iowa State faculty and staff -- 66 individuals and two teams -- are receiving a 2025 university award, the highest recognitions available to employees. They'll be honored at a community celebration this fall; details about the event will be shared later this summer. Following are the recipients and the honors or awards for which their colleagues nominated them and they've been selected.

 

Distinguished Professor

The title is Iowa State's highest academic honor. It recognizes a faculty member whose accomplishments in research or creative activities have had a significant impact on their discipline nationally or internationally and who has demonstrated outstanding performance in at least one other area of faculty responsibility (teaching/advising, extension/professional practice or institutional service). Nominees must hold the rank of professor and have served at least five years on the Iowa State faculty. The awardee retains the title for the remainder of their career at the university.

• Lynn Clark, professor, ecology, evolution and organismal biology
• William Gallus, professor, earth, atmosphere and climate
• John Levis, professor, English
• Lisa Schulte Moore, professor, natural resource ecology and management

 

University Professor

The title is awarded to a faculty member whose professional work has focused upon effecting positive, significant institutional change at the university and has demonstrated outstanding performance in at least one other area of faculty responsibility (research/creative activity, teaching/advising or extension/professional practice). Nominees must hold the rank of professor and have served at least 10 years on the Iowa State faculty. The awardee retains the title for the remainder of their career at the university.

• Gustavo Macintosh, professor, Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Professorship, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology

 

Morrill Professor

The title is conferred on a faculty member who has exhibited long-term and sustained excellence in undergraduate or graduate teaching or extension and outreach programs and has demonstrated outstanding performance in at least one other area of faculty responsibility (research/creative activities, professional practice or institutional service). Nominees must hold the rank of professor (tenure or term) and have served at least five years on the Iowa State faculty. The awardee retains the title for the remainder of their career at the university.

• Denise Crawford, professor, School of Education
• Sonja Giles, professor, music and theatre
• Anna Johnson, professor, animal science
• Suzanne Millman, professor, Scott and Nancy Armbrust Professorship in Veterinary Medicine, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine
• Frank Montabon, professor, Dean's Professorship in Supply Chain Management, supply chain management

 

Regents Award for Faculty Excellence

Presented by the Iowa Board of Regents to recognize faculty members who are outstanding university citizens with a sustained record of excellence across the spectrum of faculty responsibilities and have rendered significant service to the university or the state of Iowa.

• Peter Collins, professor, Stanley Chair in Interdisciplinary Engineering, materials science and engineering
• Patrick Gorden, professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine
• Scott Nelson, associate professor, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology
• Linda Shenk, professor, English
• Erin Wilgenbusch, teaching professor, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication

 

Regents Award for Staff Excellence

Presented by the Iowa Board of Regents to recognize professional and scientific or merit staff who are outstanding university citizens and have rendered significant service to the university or the state of Iowa.

• Lee Bendickson, laboratory technician, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology
• Karla Embleton, instructional technology specialist, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
• Teresa Kahler, record analyst, School of Education
• Cory Walker, business administrator, animal science
• Sarah Wilson, associate director, Ivy College of Business student services

 

University Champion Award

Recognizes faculty, professional and scientific staff and merit staff who have advanced the university's land grant mission in ways that significantly impact the environment for student, faculty or staff success at Iowa State. Their contributions may be inside or outside the classroom.

• Katherine Bruna, professor, Willie and Kathleen Robinson ISU 4U Promise Faculty Professorship, School of Education
• Scott Feinstein, assistant professor, political science

 

International Service Award

Recognizes a faculty member for outstanding international service in teaching, research or administration within the United States or abroad.

• Thomas Lübberstedt, professor, K.J. Frey Chair in Agronomy, agronomy

 

Award for Impact on Student Success

Recognizes outstanding achievement by professional staff and faculty who have had a sustained impact on undergraduate student success. This positive impact may be with individual students or a group of students, inside or outside the classroom.

• Sarah Bennett-George, teaching professor, apparel, events and hospitality management
• Adriana Gonzalez-Elliott, associate director, Academic Success Center
• Paula Herrera-Siklody, teaching professor, physics and astronomy
• Instructional Design Team, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching:
  • Amy Austin, instructional designer
  • Lesya Hassall, senior manager, instructional design
  • Catelyn Janda, instructional designer
  • Angi Karthik, manager instructional design
  • Melissa McCarthy, instructional designer
  • Jamie Niman, instructional designer
  • Todd Vens, instructional designer
  • Suhan Yao, instructional designer
  • Misty Zimmerman, instructional designer

 

Award for Achievement in Economic Development in Iowa

Recognizes individuals or teams of faculty or professional and scientific staff for outstanding university-based achievements in advancing the state of Iowa's economic development.

• Peter Hong, director; and Hannah Kirkendall, program specialist; ISU Startup Factory,
  Iowa Go-To-Market Accelerator
• John Roberts, business services specialist, Center for Industrial Research and Service

 

Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching

Recognizes a faculty member for outstanding teaching performance over an extended period.

• Christine Denison, associate professor, Roger P. Murphy Professor in Accounting, accounting
• Louis Thompson Distinguished Undergraduate Teacher designation: Kathy Burke, associate teaching professor, chemistry

 

Award for Early Achievement in Teaching

Recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding teaching performance unusually early in their professional career.

• Karl Kerns, assistant professor, animal science
• Scott Radke, clinical associate professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine

 

James Huntington Ellis Award
for Excellence in Undergraduate Introductory Teaching

Established by a 1928 Iowa State graduate, the award recognizes a member of the graduate faculty for outstanding performance in teaching entry-level courses in their discipline.

• Tyler Jensen, associate professor, finance
• Cassandra Rutherford, associate professor, Richard L. Handy Professorship, civil, construction and environmental engineering

 

Margaret Ellen White Graduate Faculty Award

Established by a longtime staff member of the Graduate College, the award recognizes a member of the graduate faculty who has demonstrated exceptional mentorship and measurable impact on graduate students, both during their time at Iowa State and beyond graduation. Recipients are selected by members of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate.

• Stephanie Hansen, professor, animal science
• Asheesh (Danny) Singh, professor, G.F. Sprague Chair in Agronomy, agronomy; and associate dean for research and discovery, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

 

Award for Departmental Leadership

Recognizes a department chair or school director who has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities in advancing the faculty, staff, students and programs in their department or school.

• David Wong, professor and chair, veterinary clinical sciences

 

Award for Early Achievement in Departmental Leadership

Recognizes a department chair or school director for exceptional impact on advancing the faculty, staff, students or programs in their department or school within the first three years of their leadership role.

• Alex Tuckness, professor and chair, political science

 

Award for Academic Advising Impact

Recognizes an academic advisor (faculty or professional staff) for continued outstanding performance in advising undergraduate students or Veterinary Medicine professional students throughout their career.

• Liz Harris, academic advisor, human development and family studies
• Kelly Pistilli, senior academic advisor, Ivy College of Business undergraduate programs

 

Award for Early Achievement in Academic Advising

Recognizes an academic advisor (faculty or professional staff) for outstanding performance in advising undergraduate students or Veterinary Medicine professional students early in their career.

• Zack Bonner, academic advisor (humanities, communication, social sciences), College of Liberal Arts and Sciences academic services 
• Kirsten Hauge, academic advisor, mechanical engineering

 

Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research

Recognizes a tenured faculty member who has a national or international reputation for outstanding career achievements in research or creative activity as evaluated by peers and experts in their field.

• David Cantor, professor and Ruan Chair in Supply Chain Management, supply chain management
• Wenzhen Li, professor, chemical and biological engineering
• Mark Lyte, professor, W. Eugene Lloyd Chair in Toxicology, veterinary microbiology and preventive medicine

 

Award for Mid-Career Achievement in Research

Recognizes a tenured or tenure-track faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in research or creative activity at the mid-career stage as evaluated by peers and experts in their field.

• Jodi McGill, associate professor, John G. Salsbury Endowed Chair, veterinary microbiology and preventive medicine; and associate dean of graduate studies and research training, College of Veterinary Medicine
• Zhaoyu Wang, professor, electrical and computer engineering

 

Award for Early Achievement in Research

Recognizes a tenured or tenure-track faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in research or creative activity unusually early in their professional career as evaluated by peers and experts in their field.

• Jacob Simon, associate professor, physics and astronomy
• Tichakorn (Nok) Wongpiromsarn, assistant professor, computer science

 

Award for Interdisciplinary Team Research

Recognizes an interdisciplinary team (two or more faculty researchers) with outstanding achievements that has made a significant contribution to the university's research and scholarship mission through successful interdisciplinary collaborations.

• Soynomics team
  • A.K. (Danny) Singh, professor, agronomy; G.F. Sprague Chair in Agronomy; associate dean for research and discovery, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
  • Aditya Balu, data analyst, Translational AI Center
  • Liang Dong, professor, electrical and computer engineering; Vikram L. Dalal Professorship
  • Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, professor, mechanical engineering; Joseph and Elizabeth Anderlik Professorship in Engineering
  • Adarsh Krishnamurthy, associate professor, mechanical engineering
  • Fernando Miguez, professor, agronomy
  • Daren Mueller, professor, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology
  • Matt O'Neal, professor, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology; Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture
  • Soumik Sarkar, professor, mechanical engineering
  • Arti Singh, associate professor, agronomy
  • Talukder Jubery, research scientist, Translational AI Center
  • Greg Tylka, Morrill professor, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology

• Dairy Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza team
  • Todd Bell, professor, veterinary pathology
  • Eric Burrough, professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Phillip Gauger, professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Luis Gimenez-Lirola, associate professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Pat Gorden, professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Phillip Jardon, clinical associate professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine
  • Ganwu Li, professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Drew Magstadt, clinical associate professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Rahul Nelli, research assistant professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Ariel Nenninger, assistant professor, veterinary pathology
  • Chris Siepker, clinical assistant professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • David Verhoeven, assistant professor, veterinary microbiology and preventive medicine
  • Jianqiang Zhang, Lora and Russ Talbot Endowed Professor in Veterinary Medicine; professor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

 

Award for Achievement in Intellectual Property

Recognizes individuals or teams of faculty and professional and scientific staff for outstanding university-based achievements in developing patentable discoveries.

• Ikenna Nlebedim, deputy division director, critical materials, Ames National Laboratory

 

Professional and Scientific Research Award

Recognizes a professional and scientific staff member employed at least three years at Iowa State for notable independent research accomplishments and impact as evaluated by supervisors and experts in the nominee's field.

• Makariy Tanatar, scientist, Ames National Laboratory

 

Carroll Ringgenberg Award

Named for a longtime staff member in purchasing and facilities, the award recognizes an extraordinary professional and scientific staff member who exhibits constant and contagious dedication to, and goodwill for, Iowa State.

• Garry Greenlee, associate director for facilities operations, recreation services

 

Professional and Scientific Excellence Award

Recognizes a professional and scientific staff member employed at least five years who has achieved excellence in their field, demonstrated by service/contributions within the university, career progression and positions held in professional organizations.

• David Bruene, senior manager, Beef Teaching Farm, animal science
• Garland Dahlke, research scientist, Iowa Beef Center, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension and Outreach
• Abbey Elder, librarian, university library
• Jie Li, technical project specialist, Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology

 

Professional and Scientific
Outstanding New Professional Award

Recognizes a professional and scientific staff member employed fewer than five years who has achieved excellence in their field, demonstrated by service within the university, innovative ways to complete job responsibilities, and commitment to professional progression.

• Alexa Groff, STEM education specialist, 4-H Youth Development Extension and Outreach
• Sean Kelly, research and development engineer, Nanovaccine Institute
• Susheel Nethi, research scientist, chemical and biological engineering
• Abbie Suntken, registrar specialist, office of the registrar
• Kristin Terrill, program specialist, Graduate College

 

Award for Distinguished Service in Extension and Outreach

The highest award bestowed in extension, this recognizes a faculty, campus staff or field staff member for demonstrated, sustained outstanding performance and educational contributions to Iowa State and its clientele through extension programs.

• David Brown, state specialist, behavioral health, Health and Human Sciences Extension and Outreach

 

R.K. Bliss Extension Award

Named for the director of Extension 1912-46, the award recognizes outstanding achievement of an extension staff member for developing and implementing or continuing an extension education program.

• Carol Ehlers, educator, family wellbeing, Health and Human Sciences Extension and Outreach

 

Award for Outstanding Achievement
in Extension or Professional Practice

Recognizes a faculty, campus staff or field staff member who has demonstrated outstanding performance in statewide leadership in extension or professional practice and achieved national recognition for their contributions to outreach activities.

• Russ Euken, beef and swine field specialist, Iowa Pork Industry Center, Iowa Beef Center, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension and Outreach
• Sarah Francis, professor, Jane Armstrong Chair in Food Science and Human Nutrition, food science and human nutrition, Health and Human Sciences Extension and Outreach

 

Award for Early Achievement
in Extension or Professional Practice

Recognizes a faculty, campus staff or field staff member who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in extension or professional practice unusually early in their career.

• Julia Baker, special projects coordinator, natural resource stewardship, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension and Outreach
• Roy Sturgill, assistant professor, civil, construction and environmental engineering

 

Editor's note: The fall ceremony will reflect faculty promotions that were announced this spring and take effect this summer.

 

Raj Agnihotri will lead the Ivy College of Business

By Rob Schweers, office of the senior vice president and provost
May 08

Raj Agnihotri has been named the next Raisbeck Endowed Dean of the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business. He will begin his service July 1.

Agnihotri (AG-knee-HOE-tree) currently serves in the college as Mary Warner Fellow, Morrill Professor of marketing and assistant dean for industry engagement. He will succeed David Spalding, who a year ago announced his intention to retire from the role this summer.

"Dr. Agnihotri is an accomplished researcher and student-centric leader. He has the experience and vision to advance business education and strengthen our entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem to benefit Iowa's economy," said President Wendy Wintersteen. "I am confident he will continue elevating the reputation of the Ivy College of Business, both nationally and globally, and build on the excellent momentum created by Dean David Spalding."

Agnihotri is the founding director of the Ivy Sales Forum and the college's inaugural assistant dean for industry engagement. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and research, and is a co-author of "ABCs of Relationship Selling through Service," a textbook used in sales classes around the world.

"It is a profound honor to be selected as the next Raisbeck Endowed Dean of the Ivy College," Agnihotri said. "I am committed to serving our students, providing an excellent education that prepares them for professional success, and to upholding the college's tradition of excellence in research. I look forward to collaborating with the faculty, staff, students, partners and alumni to reach new heights."

Agnihotri earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Pune in India, an MBA in management from Oklahoma City University, and a Ph.D. in marketing from Kent State University, Ohio. He has served at Iowa State since 2018 and in his current role as assistant dean since 2024. Prior positions include appointments at the University of Texas, Arlington, and Ohio University, Athens.

In making the announcement, senior vice president and provost Jason Keith expressed his thanks to the search committee, led by associate provost for academic programs Ann Marie VanDerZanden and College of Veterinary Medicine dean Dan Grooms, and to the Business college's faculty and staff for their thoughtful consideration of candidates.

Branching out: Campus collaboration builds handcrafted tables

By Jeff Budlong
May 08

Chris Saleh's childhood hobby helped him lead a group of innovative employees at the Digital Agriculture Innovation Lab to build two tables from fallen trees on the Iowa State campus. The effort involved more than a dozen individuals, including some from facilities planning and management (FPM) and the Student Innovation Center, to design, build and assemble an executive conference room table and counter-height "collaboration" table for the lab, which opened in December.

The tables serve as showpieces for visitors to the lab and as gathering places for employees.

"I started doing woodworking as a child because my father was a longtime cabinet maker in Wisconsin," said the electrical engineer whose work at the innovation lab focuses on digital signal processing and sensing algorithm development and evaluation. "We wanted to use university resources and have the work performed by members of our team with a passion for creativity, design and fabrication."

Saleh said the project began with a tip from Alison Doyle, ISU Research Park associate director, about a campus source for wood. That led to a visit with Rhonda Martin, FPM campus landscape architect, to a barn where fallen campus trees are stored and dried in the university's TreeCycle program. Martin said the initiative to find the best use for impressive but fallen Iowa State trees began after a tornado on Sept. 8, 2005, knocked down about 70 campus trees, including the state's largest scarlet oak. The trees selected for the program often are damaged by storms or insects or removed for new building projects. 

The group settled on cherry wood for the boardroom table and ash for the collaboration table. The cherry came from a tree removed at the College of Veterinary Medicine in 2014, while the ash was removed from the Buchanan Residence Hall site in 2015.

The boardroom table -- which is 18 feet long and 4.5 feet wide -- was cut into three pieces to fit through the lab doors. The two end pieces can stand on their own with the third piece serving as a connecting leaf. 

The collaboration table is 7.5 feet long and three feet wide. The two ash slabs that make up the tabletop are sister slabs -- sequentially cut from the same tree. The tabletop is supported on a custom base of four clear tubes containing grains -- corn, soybeans, wheat and rice -- the research group works with frequently. The footrest running across the table bottom is made of hexshaft, a component used in combines and other ag equipment.

"In a lot of ways this project was really refreshing," Saleh said. "These are my coworkers, and I work with them in a professional capacity, but it is neat to see a different side of them. To see how their brain works in this scenario versus the work they do in their everyday jobs was exciting."

Teamwork builds boardroom table 

Digital Ag Innovation Lab staff frequently fabricate using metal, but woodworking requires a different set of tools. Fortunately, the Student Innovation Center's Metal and Wood Makerspace proved a perfect fit for the group's needs. Saleh designed plans -- an instruction book -- for every part of the table. 

"Everyone that comes into the makerspace gets trained on how to use the equipment, and everyone in their group learned on all of the equipment they needed to get to the end result," said makerspace supervisor Steve Eaton. "We were here for any advice they needed, but really this was just a workspace for them."

The woodworking involved six employees putting in more than 100 hours over six months. The entire project took just less than a year to finish with lab staff working around their day jobs to make the tables. Saleh said the project wouldn't have been possible without the equipment the makerspace makes available to faculty, staff and students. 

"The lumber was rough sawn and as it dries it warps, so the first process was getting down to finished dimensions and cutting everything square," Saleh said.

Employees then split time in the makerspace between flattening the face of the wood on the jointer and ensuring 90-degree edges. Next, they used a planer to create two parallel flat faces for a tabletop. One rough edge remained and was finished with a table saw. Saleh said they used the same process for every board in both tables.

The boardroom table has four custom leg assemblies whose tops and bottoms are cherry wood and cross braces are walnut. Once the legs were assembled and glued together, two innovation lab employees designed and fabricated steel plates that fix on top of the leg assemblies and secure them to the tabletop.

"I like to incorporate contrasting wood species because it draws your eye to the different features in the wood," Saleh said.

One of a kind

The collaboration table is designed for engineers and researchers to work at if meeting space is in short supply. 

"The collaboration table required us to get creative," Saleh said. "It's made out of two slabs of ash joined in the middle, but the slabs were too big to run through the planer and get a flat face." 

The solution to that challenge was a 12-foot jointer sled, a flat plywood box the ash labs rested on so the boards would not wobble when pressed down flat in the planer. 

The ash tabletop features a unique look, courtesy of nature. Saleh said the team decided to dig out the Emerald Ash Borer tracks in the wood and fill them with clear epoxy to highlight the tunnels the insects make in a diseased tree.

"We have well-rounded people on this team," Saleh said. "This is a group of people who love to learn new things and expand their horizons."

Pressbooks expand open educational resources

By Jeff Budlong
May 08

Iowa State's commitment to open educational resources (OER) allows instructors to teach their  chosen material and keep costs down for students. Pressbooks -- a web-based authoring tool -- has played an integral part in growing the number of open books and textbooks developed as the tool used by the ISU Digital Press, a unit of the university library.

Since 2019, the digital press has published more than 40 OER for Iowa State courses including textbooks, lab books and case studies. Topics range from food prep to human anatomy to Chinese.

"We have a dozen more books in production right now," said Abbey Elder, open access and scholarly communication librarian. "A few are in their second or even working toward their third editions."

"Introduction to Soil Science," authored by agronomy associate teaching professor Amber Anderson, is a popular book developed with Pressbooks. Over the past two years, it has had more than 79,000 users, 160,000 views and more than 1,600 downloads across the world, including readers in the U.S., India, Nigeria and the Philippines.

Easier process

Faculty interested in developing their own book or textbook using Pressbooks with the ISU Digital Press complete a proposal form to begin the process. Faculty develop the content for their book, and digital press staff -- led by Harrison Inefuku, scholarly publishing services librarian, and Scott McCleary, open publishing editor -- handle formatting and production work in Pressbooks for the author.

"The press staff does all the importing and formatting, and faculty develop the content using tools they are familiar with," Elder said. "The only time faculty would need to work in Pressbooks is to work with some of the interactive elements."

Working with the digital press -- which is free to authors -- also ensures faculty receive help with cover design and peer review. 

OER use and adoption

Pressbooks integrates with Canvas so students can read directly from their modules without having to go to another website for class material. Instructors can get creative with their teaching by embedding podcasts, videos, interactive exercises and quizzes directly into a book. ISU instructors don't need to develop new materials to benefit from these open textbooks. They can adopt books published at other institutions.

Elder said there's been a consistent increase in use and the number of books developed through the digital press in recent years. Many instructors who receive Miller Open Education mini-grants publish their books or textbooks using Pressbooks. Instructors also use it to adapt OER from other universities to fit their needs.

"The tool allows us to import previously published works from other institutions," she said. "We have even had authors at other universities contact us to publish their book because they like the look of what we do. If it is in a discipline that we feel could be used here, we may work with them."

Examples of OER at other universities developed with Pressbooks:

• University of Wisconsin: Nursing Management and Professional Concepts, 2nd Edition
• Virginia Tech University: Aerodynamics and Aircraft Performance, 3rd edition

Interested in OER?

Other kinds of OER include online courses, lecture slides, videos and quizzes. Faculty who want to learn more or start looking for resources can contact a subject librarian. The university library offers support for faculty wanting to develop an OER or those looking to adopt an OER already in use. In addition to creating textbooks in Pressbooks, Elder said faculty can share slides, text banks and other materials as OER, allowing other instructors access to content instead of creating it from scratch.

"We also are in the process of making the books we publish connect to additional material," she said. "So along with the book that was published, we can attach the slides that go with it to make it a simpler process for instructors to adopt our books for their courses."

Restored historic painting is home in Stephens Auditorium

By Tammy Koolbeck, Stephens Auditorium
May 08

For decades, Stars Over VEISHEA (SOV) stage productions were a beloved hallmark of Iowa State's annual student-run celebration -- on par with the parade and cherry pies that marked the spring tradition. Among the many productions to grace the stage, the 1970 performance of "Oliver!" now holds a special place in university history, thanks to a long-lost painting by American artist Milton Wolsky (1916-81).

The restored "Oliver!" painting was unveiled May 6 in the main floor lobby of C.Y. Stephens Auditorium, where it now hangs. Alumna Kay Kretschmar Runge, who served on the Stars Over VEISHEA central committees in 1968 and 1969, generously supported the painting's restoration and framing through gifts to Stephens Auditorium.

In 1970, Omaha native Wolsky created a painting that captured a scene from the "Oliver!" production at Stephens, just a year after the facility opened. Wolsky had spent much of his career as a prominent illustrator during the "Golden Age" of American magazine art in the 1940s and 1950s. His work appeared in publications such as Time, Esquire and Collier's. By the late 1960s, he had returned to Omaha and was working with advertising powerhouse Bozell & Jacobs.

One of Bozell's clients, InterNorth (formerly Northern Natural Gas Co.), commissioned Wolsky to paint a series of 37 high-profile buildings across Nebraska and Iowa. These pieces, frequently gifted to the featured institutions, captured architectural landmarks with Wolsky's distinctive eye for line and color. The Stephens Auditorium interior joined this collection, immortalizing a scene from "Oliver!" under Wolsky's brush in black ink and watercolor. The painting, however, seemed to vanish -- until a surprising discovery decades later.

Stephens auditorium staff stumbled upon the artwork in backstage storage in November 2020. Some longtime employees recalled the painting hung in a former staff member's office until her departure in the late 1990s. But at that point, it had slipped quietly into obscurity.

When it resurfaced, the 22-by-22-inch painting had endured decades without protection, yet was in relatively good shape. In January 2021, then-collections conservator Sonya Barron, university library, assessed the painting and proposed a conservation treatment that took about three months for her to complete.

While Barron was working on conserving the painting, staff from the library, University Museums and Stephens Auditorium worked together to identify the artist and trace the photo's provenance. As she worked, Barron discovered an inscription on the back of the board that provided the first clue about the artist.

Additional library sleuthing led to Patrick Drickey, owner of Gallery 1516 in Omaha. Drickey provided valuable insight into Wolsky's career, his work for InterNorth and the provenance of the painting, confirming that completed works in the series typically were gifted to the institutions they depicted.

Now, more than 50 years after its creation, the painting stands not only as a tribute to Milton Wolsky's talent but also as a vibrant snapshot of Iowa State's cultural history.

More information about the discovery and conservation of the painting, including timelapse videos, is on the library's website.