Iowa State alumnus George Washington Carver is not only receiving recognition from the U.S. Postal Service this month, but also from Government of the Student Body senators.

Yasmin Blackburn, vice-chairwoman of GSB senate, helped co-author a resolution that will honor Carver’s contributions to ISU through an endowed faculty chair position.

“He’s not just a scientist, but a well-renowned scholar,” Blackburn said. “He has done so much to the institution and it’s inappropriate not to give him a recognition.”

If passed, Blackburn said the faculty position will receive a fellowship to do research and teach in institutions.

The chair will probably belong to the College of Agriculture, as Carver’s field was in agriculture. Blackburn said it costs between $1.5 to $2 million to establish the endowed chair, and the position will be paid by the interest generated from the amount.

“We want the GSB to start as a fund drive to raise the money, so that other people can follow and donate,” he said.

The position may also bring some benefits to students at ISU.

According to Blackburn, the position would give minority students someone to look up to, show them they could reach their goals like Carver did and solve problems on campus.

Blackburn said she saw the importance of establishing the position because Carver was ISU’s first African-American graduate and professor.

“We should be the first institution to endow his name,” she said. “Only a few African-American scholars have their names endowed, and we want the proportion to be increased.”

An ad-hoc committee was formed to reach a compromise between Blackburn’s resolution and the one written by Chris Wisher, Towers Residence Association.

GSB does not allow two resolutions addressing the same issue because it has the potential to cause controversy, so a combined bill is the only way to solve the problem.

Blackburn said it will difficult combining her resolution with Wisher’s.

“His resolution tries to exclude the fact that Carver was black and I think it’s wrong,” she said. “His motive was not sincere.”

The GSB senate has read Blackburn’s resolution, and she said was pleased to receive support from more than 10 senators.

A vote was taken on her resolution Wednesday during the senate meeting.

Born of slave parents in Diamond Grove, Missouri, Carver completed both his bachelor’s degree in science and a master’s degree in agriculture at ISU in the 1890s.

He developed crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in soil and discovered hundreds of new uses for crops such as the peanut, which created new markets for farmers, especially in the South.

His birthplace was declared a national monument in 1953.

More information about Carver can be found at http://www.invent.org/book/book-text/23.html.