Following more than 40 years in the educational, industrial and administrative areas of the engineering field, James Melsa, dean of the College of Engineering, said Wednesday he will retire in June 2004.

When Melsa first came to Iowa State University in 1956 as an undergraduate student, he said he didn’t even know what engineers really did. Melsa said he simply enjoyed studying math, and was encouraged by a high school physics teacher to attend Iowa State.

Melsa initially came to the university as a physics major but a switch to electrical engineering “worked out great.”

“I started here as a still wet-behind-the-ears geek,” he said.

Melsa received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State in 1960 and went on to earn master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Arizona. Melsa became the engineering dean at Iowa State University in 1995. “I felt the climate in engineering education was facing a demanding change,” he said. “The people and leadership here felt like they wanted to make those changes.”

Ted Okiishi, associate dean for the College of Engineering, graduated the same year in the same graduation ceremony as Melsa, but said the two didn’t “cross paths” until Melsa became dean.

“He brought to the college a bold vision of excellence,” Okiishi said. “He brought a feeling of quality and a feeling that we can be among the top.”

When he first took over as dean, Melsa faced a “huge mountain of fundraising.” At the peak of the mountain was the $62.5 million Engineering Teaching and Research Complex. The two-building complex, made up of Howe and Hoover Halls, was completed and a dedication ceremony was held Oct. 4.

“I’ve grown to love [fundraising] because of the people I’ve gotten to meet — Gary and Donna Hoover, Stanley and Helen Howe — all the alums,” Melsa said.

Melsa also played a major role in introducing the college’s “Reach for the Top” initiative. By the year 2012, Iowa State’s College of Engineering hopes to have one of the top 20 graduate engineering programs in the country

“What can I say? He will be missed,” Okiishi said. “We owe this guy a lot. He has changed the college, the university, the Ames community and the entire state of Iowa.”

Lowell Greimann, professor and chair of civil, construction and environmental engineering, said he has learned much from working with Melsa.

“When he first came, he put an emphasis on learning engineering instead of teaching engineering,” Greimann said.

This perspective changed the way the college’s faculty looked at things, he said.

Melsa and his wife, Kathy, have also been involved with projects in the Ames community through the Melsa Foundation.

The Melsa Foundation recently donated a leadership gift of $50,000 to ACCESS, said Ann Greenfield, director of ACCESS.

Greenfield said the donation is helping ACCESS gain ownership of a new domestic violence shelter.

“[The Melsas] have a very huge heart. They truly are single-handedly making a huge impact for low-income families and families in danger in Story County,” she said. “They have made a true difference and not very many people can say that.”

Melsa and his wife intend to move to Naperville, Ill., where three of their six children and four of their grandchildren live.

The search for a new College of Engineering dean is expected to be completed by July 1, 2004, Greimann said.

“It will be really hard to find someone with the background he had,” Greimann said.

“The fundraising … and “Reach for the Top” are going to continue, but not without a strong leader.”