It has of course been a very interesting, challenging and at times exciting year. I am greatly indebted to many fine people, but in particular to an extraordinary group of student leaders.

Most notably, outgoing GSB leaders Ben Golding and Lisa Dlouhy, incoming leaders Andy Tofilon and Charlie Johnson, Veishea co-chairs Brian Nash and Kathy Craig, and Daily academic-year editor Carrie Tett were sources of inspiration and great support.

I very much appreciated their understanding of the often difficult and complex issues we face, and their willingness to understand the necessity of the tuition increase to help us continue to improve the quality of education.

I equally appreciated working with the representatives of the Faculty Senate, including President David Hopper, and the P&S Council, including President Kerry Dixon.

We made some real progress this past year, despite the pain caused by the budget cuts. We have and will continue to meet our strong commitment to quality undergraduate education. There are new and renovated facilities for learning, and we are investing additional funds to reduce the pressure of large classes.

We are investing more money in learning communities. We are continuing with the next phase of the Department of Residence master plan, in part because of strong student support.

After renovating Maple Hall, we are finishing construction at Hawthorn Court and are now beginning the new suite-style living arrangements in the Union Drive area. Thanks to the success of our capital campaign and the support of the governor and legislature, within two years we will have a new building for the fast-growing College of Business, another Engineering building, an exciting new co-laboratory for plant science research, and of course, a new Honors Building.

As a research university, we offer special benefits to all students, particularly the opportunity to learn and work as part of a research team. We have excellent faculty members, and our initiatives in the Plant Sciences, in virtual reality, and in other areas are very exciting.

This past year we celebrated “Strengthening Families to Become the Best” with seven community visits, highlighting the great work of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and of ISU Extension in helping strengthen families and improve the lives of children.

For me, it was a great experience to meet ISU staff where they live and work, which is all across Iowa.

The Insight.com Bowl, with 22,000 proud Cyclone fans cheering our team to its first ever post-season bowl game victory, was great. This year’s Veishea celebration was a great success, and I hope you had a chance to see me run out of candy in the parade, see the Stars Over Veishea performance of “Oklahoma!” and get some Rice Krispie Treats.

Hilton Magic, for men’s and women’s basketball, for two of the largest campus job fairs in the United States this year, and for teaching 3,000 new freshmen the Iowa State fight song during new student days, is alive and well!

The celebration of the 25th anniversary of our Brunnier Museum climaxed with the presentation of Christian Petersen’s “Cornhusker” to the Smithsonian Museum in June. You can visit the original in the Brunnier.

Iowa State University is a great institution – a record number of students want to come here, great faculty and staff work here, we have modern facilities for learning and research, and we have a clear set of priorities that guide us and help us achieve our mission.

We look forward to celebrating this year’s theme – “Challenging Students to Become Their Best.”

Gregory Geoffroy will be a very successful president, and he will lead ISU to new levels of excellence. I believe part of the reason he will be successful is the great institution he will inherit on July 1. Thanks to all of you.

Richard Seagrave is the interim president. He is a distinguished professor of chemical engineering.