One of Iowa State’s most famous alumnus is being honored at the Iowa State Fair to kick off ISU’s yearlong celebration, “The legacy of George Washington Carver: Inspiring students to become their best.”

Carole Custer, director of university marketing, helped display ISU’s “Working to Become the Best” exhibit in the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines on Sunday.

“This exhibit gives Iowa State the opportunity to communicate with the public of Iowa,” Custer said. She said ISU’s goal is to show prospective students, parents and alumni what is happening at the university.

While the Carver celebration is the focus of the exhibit, there are several other attractions. Computers at the exhibit allow people to peruse College View, an interactive CD-ROM that gives a visual tour of campus and provides information about student life.

“People love the [non-permanent] Cy tattoos,” Custer said. “We also have football posters, and we’re having drawings for tickets to Iowa State Center events, T-shirts and autographed footballs.”

Custer said ISU has a long-term relationship with the fair, in part because of the university’s strength in agriculture.

“[The fair] is a place where ISU needs to be,” Custer said. “More than 100,000 people go past this booth every year, and the numbers are increasing.”

Custer said 145 faculty and staff volunteers are running the exhibit during the fair.

Susan Thompson, communications specialist for ISU Agriculture Information Service, was working at the College of Agriculture’s display on Sunday.

“We’re celebrating the legacy of George Washington Carver this year, and the College of Agriculture is in the spotlight,” Thompson said. She said the exhibit shows how current work going on at ISU ties in with Carver’s legacy.

“We’re working with value-added issues, and that’s what he did with peanuts,” Thompson said.

Several “fun” items also are on hand at the exhibit, including etchings of George Washington Carver, crossword puzzles, free peanuts with planting instructions and a demonstration of how peanuts are grown.

“Gary Cornelious, who teaches in the journalism department, grows peanuts on his farm near Boone, and he let us pull a plant up to display here,” Thompson said.

Along with the faculty and staff, ISU students also are working and exhibiting at the fair. Jennifer Smith, junior in agricultural business, showed the reserve champion market hog.

“[The Varied Industries Building] exhibit is just one opportunity to see ISU at the fair,” Custer said. She said ISU Extension is all over the fair, with 4-H displays, presentations and animal and horticulture exhibits.

“Extension has an exhibit in the 4-H Building, and WOI is over at the grandstands,” Custer said.

The U.S. Department of Energy Ames Laboratory also has an exhibit in the Varied Industries Building, where fair-goers can learn about an environmentally friendly alloy process discovered by Ames Lab scientists.