The Veishea Opening Ceremony will be headlined by a very distinguished – and very pregnant – keynote speaker.

Ann Bryant Borders, alumna and former Veishea general co-chairwoman, will be speaking at the ceremony at noon Friday. Her opening remarks will be called “Veishea: Learning to Make a Difference.”

“I’m 38 weeks pregnant,” Bryant Borders said. “[Part of] what I’m talking about is why Iowa State and Veishea is important enough to me to make that trip back.”

Bryant Borders made a substantial impact on faculty and staff during her time at Iowa State.

“Ann Bryant [Borders] is an outstanding alumna,” said Liz Beck, interim administrative director of the Honors Program. “There’s a no question about it. She’s just a shining example of an Iowa State student.”

Beck worked closely with Bryant Borders in the Honors Program when Bryant Borders was an undergraduate. Beck said she was multitalented and “incredibly involved” both inside and outside the classroom at Iowa State.

“She entered, like many honors students, with the ability to go in a number of different directions,” Beck said. “For a while there, it wasn’t clear whether she was going to go into pre-law, pre-med or what.”

Bryant Borders participated in many projects when at Iowa State. She was homecoming queen and heavily involved at her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, in addition to the Honors Program and Veishea.

“When I was at Iowa State, I had an exceptional education, but not just in the classroom, but outside as well,” Bryant Borders said. “Iowa State is exceptional because of all the leadership opportunities provided here.”

Fred Borgen, emeritus professor of psychology, was impressed with her from a young age.

“She was the first person to teach me how passionate a 10-year-old can really be about life,” Borgen said. “They’re full of becoming Tiger Woods or whoever – never think the brains of 10-year-olds are blank.”

After graduating from Iowa State in 1994, Bryant Borders went to Harvard Medical School. She graduated from Harvard in 1999, where she represented her first-year class in the 50th anniversary of Harvard admitting women into medical school. She then completed her residency in Boston, while periodically working at a clinic in Nairobi, Kenya. She is currently an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Beck said despite all her success, Bryant Borders still remembers her roots.

“When she first went out to Boston, one of the things that grounded her was she came back every spring to see the foals on her parents’ farm,” Beck said. “She’s an Iowa product . and she’s gone out and done great things.”