With interest in sustainable agriculture growing, a new position at Iowa State was created to spur progress in the field.

A new chair in the ISU College of Agriculture was recently developed. Known officially as the Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, the first person to hold the position is Lorna Michael Butler.

Because she just took over office in February, Butler said she is still in the exploratory phase of her new role.

“My main goal is to bring together a lot of interest in sustainable agriculture and sustainable communication,” Butler said. “Iowa State is becoming a magnet for sustainable agriculture and its initiatives and is attracting faculty in all fields, like organic horticulture, sustainable food systems and biosystem engineering.”

Butler sees her role as a facilitator, to give the public a broader vision of the future of agriculture.

“I think my goal is to put more of a human face on complex issues with agriculture and broaden the outlook on ag, so we can better see the role it plays in our lives,” she said.

To accomplish this goal, Butler said her first objective is to get to know people of different communities across the state.

“Communities can access knowledge and skills through the university, which is very community-based,” Butler said. “But until local communities see the [university] as critical, nothing much is going to happen.”

Butler is also in the process of setting up a graduate program in sustainable agriculture. She hopes it will be completed and approved by the fall.

“The program won’t be headquartered in any one department. It will be headquartered in my office,” Butler said. “There is an enormous need for people in different backgrounds and fields, covering everything including social, ecological and international [fields].”

The chair honors Henry A. Wallace because of his accomplishments in sustainable agriculture. ISU alumnus Wallace served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and as vice president for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“[Wallace] was an influential person, not only in Iowa, but also nationally and even internationally,” Butler said. “People are looking back on all he did and realize he was probably one of the most visionary leaders, with a strong connection to global agricultural systems.”

The chair was created through an endowment of $500,000 from Wallace Genetic Foundation and a $1 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Additional support is provided through the ISU College of Agriculture and the Leopold Center.

Butler said she was in the right place at the right time when the Wallace chair was advertised. Originally from Canada, her background is in agricultural anthropology and rural sociology.

David Topel, head of the search committee and former College of Agriculture dean, said Butler emerged as the strongest candidate in an international search.

“She has many great attributes, including a lot of international experience, particularly in Africa,” said Topel, professor in animal science. “From our perspective, her background is an added bonus because it will add a new dimension to our department.”