Dean Isaacson has chaired the statistics department for 18 years and was recently rewarded for his work as chairman and professor.

Isaacson was presented the Presidential Service Award at the President’s Convocation last week.

The award recognizes a member of the faculty or staff for exemplary service that benefits Iowa State.

“As a department chair, I tried to find out what faculty members like to do, what they do well, and assign them that task whenever possible,” Isaac-son said.

“They will work more hours and won’t see it as work. I tried to change everyone’s job description to match his or her interests and abilities.”

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy made the presentation to Isaacson.

“Iowa State has an extremely strong international reputation in statistics, and that reputation has been strengthened considerably by the exceptional leadership of Professor Isaacson in his 35 years on the faculty and 18 years as chair of the department,” Geoffroy said at the convocation.

Geoffroy said one of Isaacson’s colleagues wrote, “Dean is a respected scholar, a superb instructor, a dedicated and highly valued mentor to both faculty and students, a tireless promoter of diversity, and an excellent link to our alumni.”

Isaacson led the effort to obtain one of only two prestigious Vertical Integration of Graduate Research and Education awards in statistics to Iowa State, Geoffroy said.

Geoffroy also said Isaacson worked hard to bring in two National Science Foundation grants to expand graduate education in statistics, with a special focus on minority students.

The Vertical Integration of Graduate Research and Education grant encourages faculty, post-doctoral students, graduate students and undergraduate students to work together in hopes of encouraging more students to pursue a Ph.D. in statistics.

“Dean is a good university citizen,” said Frederick Lorenz, professor of statistics and sociology and chairman of the department of statistics’ honors and awards committee.

“Everyone respected Dean early on as a scholar and appreciated his work for the department. He was distinctive as a department chair because he was universally viewed as fair — he had no agenda, was very thoughtful and listened to faculty,” Lorenz said.

“He was also proactive; he always sought out ways to bring resources into the department.”

Lorenz said Isaacson was asked to serve on more than 20 university committees during his time as department chair because of his many qualities.

“The statistics department’s strength is our breadth,” Isaacson said.

“We interact with departments through the university by providing statistical consulting and collaborative research with faculty and graduate students in other departments.”