Although his name may not be on the minds and tongues of all ISU agriculture students, his accomplishments are visible to everyone on campus.

David Topel has served agriculture students at Iowa State on and off since 1965, but it’s his last 12 years that have left the greatest mark on the school’s history.

Topel, 62, is stepping down today from his position as dean of the College of Agriculture in order to return to teaching animal science at Iowa State.

He was a professor of animal and food science from 1965 to 1980, returning as dean in 1988 after serving as head of the animal science department at Auburn for eight years.

Every College of Agriculture “Point of Pride” on the ISU Web page occurred under Topel’s reign, including:

* The 1997 Gourman Report ranked Iowa State’s undergraduate agriculture program third in the nation. Some individual programs were also ranked, placing agronomy at third, horticulture at third, food sciences at third, agricultural engineering at third, animal science at fourth and dairy sciences at fifth.

* A 1993 survey of agricultural deans by Farm Futures magazine named Iowa State’s undergraduate agricultural program one of the nation’s 10 best.

* Between 1991 and 1995, more people who earned doctorates in agriculture obtained their bachelor’s degrees at Iowa State than any other institution in the nation.

* In 1988, Iowa State was the first university in the nation to field-test a genetically engineered plant and in 1989, was the first university to field-test a genetically engineered tree.

Students also have excelled during Topel’s tenure, with three teams winning national titles in livestock, meat-judging and soil-judging contests.

And Topel said he believes the quality of students overall has increased during the last 12 years. Not only has the college’s enrollment gone up by about 1,000 students, but most of those were young women.

Although he is leaving his post as dean, Topel is not going far — just north a bit, to the Meat Science Lab of Kildee Hall, where his official label will be professor of animal science.

His actions no longer will directly affect the entire agriculture college, but the students who enroll in his class next fall will get to reap his wisdom of animal science and maybe some of his leadership skills.

Thanks for your service, Dean Topel. See you in the fall.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.