As part of a “Celebrate the Century” program, a stamp of George Washington Carver, famed scientist and one of the most renowned alumni of Iowa State, will be issued by the U.S. Postal Service today.

A first-day sale and cancellation ceremony for the George Washington Carver commemorative postage stamp will be held at 11 a.m. in the north lobby of the scientist’s namesake building, Carver Hall.

The ceremony is open to the public.

According to a press release, public sale of the CTC stamp sheet will follow the ceremony. Special Carver envelopes will be provided free, and first-day cancellation with a Carver souvenir pictorial postmark from “Carver Hall Station” will be available after the ceremony.

The CTC stamp sheet will be available for $4.80, and the stamps will be sold at Carver Hall until 3 p.m. The stamps also will be available at the Memorial Union’s Postal Station from 3 to 5:30 p.m.

The CTC commemorative stamp program is part of a celebration of some of the most distinguished and influential people, places and events of the last 100 years, said Dave Massarini, Ames postmaster. The subjects of the stamps for the first half of this century were selected by the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee.

The public will get the opportunity to vote on whom they think will best epitomize the last five decades. Each decade has 15 stamps, and for the decade 1910-1920, Carver was one of only five notable people to earn his own stamp.

“Without a doubt, [Carver] is one of ISU’s most famous alumni,” said John Anderson, associate director of university relations. “Everybody is proud to be associated with him. [This stamp] is another way of recognizing that connection.”

ISU President Martin Jischke stated in a press release that he was very pleased that Carver was chosen as part of the CTC program.

“ISU is extremely proud of the fact that [Carver] began his remarkable career as a plant scientist at this university,” Jischke said. “The fact that he had the opportunity to pursue a university education and the impact he had on our world as a result of this opportunity, show the importance of the land-grant movement on the development of our nation.”

According to ISU News Service, Carver was the university’s first African American student and faculty member.

He received a bachelor’s degree in 1894 and a master’s degree in 1896 from ISU before joining the school’s agriculture faculty.

Carver later was acclaimed for his development of hundreds of new products including peanuts, sweet potatoes and pecans before his death in 1943.

Other people representing the 1910-1920 decade include former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, actor and director Charlie Chaplin, and athletes Jim Thorpe and Jack Dempsey. Some of the events and places depicted on the stamps include the Panama Canal and World War I.

Massarini said the stamp already has received quite a bit of attention, and he believes the stamp will be very popular with a cross-section of the Ames community.

“I suspect they will be very popular,” Anderson agreed. He mentioned that he had heard from faculty members who were planning to buy several CTC sheets.

Massarini said since only five people earned the honor of representing that decade, ISU students and Ames residents can be proud that an alumnus was one of those individuals chosen.

“To be one of five people who were selected, that’s quite an honor,” Massarini, an ISU alum himself, said.

Anderson said the university is not surprised that Carver has been selected for CTC.

“We’ve long recognized how monumental [Carver’s] contributions were; we’re just happy others recognize it, too,” he said.

Massarini said he takes pride in the fact that a native of Ames has a chance to represent part of this century.

“It’s good to know that … this university provides the opportunity and the educational foundation to do what you want to do … look what [Carver] did,” Massarini said. “All students should look at that with pride and inspiration.”

Massarini noted that Carver “built quite a career, and accomplished many incredible things.”