The year is 1960. Elvis Presley sings to sold-out crowds, the American people elect John F. Kennedy to be president, and at Iowa State a group of professors form the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.

The department marks 2010 as the 50th anniversary of their establishment. To commemorate, the department had a celebration July 23-25.

“[The event] is about connecting the past with the present — which is something you don’t have a lot of opportunities to accomplish — and this is that opportunity,” said Desiree Gunning, the department’s undergraduate program coordinator.

“It’s about connecting with the people who were once so much a part of the department who moved on and are now coming back,” Gunning said. “It’s that sense of being a part of a family.”

During the past 50 years, 1,400 students have graduated from the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology. Today, the department hopes to stay connected with all of its alumni.

“The 50th anniversary is for anybody [or] anything. It’s a big event,” Gunning said. “We are really excited about the alumni that are returning.”