It was unfortunate to read Ellen Walsh’s ill-informed and relentlessly negative opinion in the September 18 Daily toward the generosity of Monsanto, which has provided a gift toward meeting a goal of renovating space in Curtiss Hall.

Monsanto’s gift will enhance services for all students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including Ms. Walsh. The renovation will improve student services, career services and programs in entrepreneurship, study-abroad and marketing and recruitment.

Ms. Walsh isn’t the first and probably won’t be the last to identify an easy target on which to hang immensely complex societal problems. It’s human nature to do so, to paint with the broadest strokes possible and in black and white. This kind of approach remains profoundly unhelpful. Beginning 150 years ago, our college has been about partnerships among many people, businesses and communities. We work very hard to listen to their needs and concerns, and to do our best in responding through our land-grant mission of education, research and extension.

What Ms. Walsh failed to mention was Monsanto’s longtime support for ISU graduate student scholarships in seed science and genetics. The company has supported graduate students in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. Monsanto has supported research in agronomy, economics, entomology, horticulture and food science and human nutrition. Iowa State and Monsanto were members of an international research consortium working to combat vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the summer, the philanthropic arm of Monsanto awarded a $100,000 grant to support ISU faculty and students’ efforts in improving nutrition for families in rural Uganda.

I imagine Ms. Walsh would also have painted these extraordinary efforts with the same brush, which saddens me. Her opinion leaves out the students, faculty and alumni who’ve benefited from the support.

Many of our Iowa State graduates have gone on to highly successful, fulfilling careers with Monsanto. I personally know how deeply they care about the future of agriculture in Iowa, the nation and the world. Last month at the Farm Progress Show, I proudly stood among many of those alumni working for Monsanto and felt their excitement for contributing to making the lives and careers of our students better at their alma mater. They hold an abiding passion for Iowa State and the science-based education they received here. It’s reflected in their generous gift for Curtiss Hall that will benefit all students in agriculture and life sciences.

Wendy Wintersteen

Dean

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences