Roger Bruene, retired director of Agriculture Career Placement, is considered by many in the college to be one of the most positive influences to agriculture students during the past 25 years.

“He built the ag career service into the best in the nation by linking the best companies with our students and running an amazingly well-coordinated program,” said Doug Kenealy, university professor of animal science and academic adviser.

“He was ‘the man’ in ag placement as far as most companies were concerned,” Kenealy said.

Bruene was the director of Agriculture Career Placement from 1975-1998.

During this time, he developed the Agriculture Career Day into the largest in the country. He also helped students find internships and jobs.

“When I first started in ag career placement, there were about 20 companies that would set up booths in Curtiss Hall,” Bruene said.

“I felt that this was a program that had some merit and something that I was very committed to,” he said. “When I retired, there were approximately 160 companies that came to career day.”

Bruene said he was motivated by working with young people. “I enjoyed assisting students at a very crucial time in their life,” he said.

Michael Gaul, current director of Agriculture Career Placement, said Bruene was dedicated to his students.

“The students were his No. 1 priority, and he worked hard for them. He is also highly respected in the agriculture industry,” he said.

Gaul said one thing that makes Bruene stand out is his “unbelievable memory.”

“He remembers hundreds and hundreds of people’s names and hometown addresses,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

And Gaul said Bruene rarely used his computer.

“He had boxes and boxes of papers piled in his office. When he moved out, he had so many boxes that he had to rent a storage shed since his wife wouldn’t let him bring it home,” he said.

Bruene graduated from Iowa State in 1956 in agronomy. He then worked for the Cooperative Extension Service in Waterloo for one and a half years.

After a brief time in the Army, he returned to ISU in 1958 to do graduate work in agricultural education and rural sociology. He never finished his doctoral work, but he began working in career services in 1975.

Some of Bruene’s achievements include the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award and the Alumni Association Faculty Citation.

Bruene currently resides in Ames with his wife, Barbara, who also attended ISU.