In addition to being president of Iowa State, Martin Jischke has recently taken on a new duty.

On Nov. 17 Jischke was selected chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) at the association’s annual meeting. He will serve as chair until November 1998.

“I am pleased to be selected as chair and represent the higher education institutions in the United States,” Jischke said. “I am looking forward to working with the collegiates.”

Jischke said the association is the oldest education organization in the United States and is responsible for two-thirds of all bachelor degrees in the nation.

The association also represents 70 percent of all organizations in engineering and agriculture.

“As the president of Iowa State, the new title gives recognition to the institution as a land-grant college, which I believe can provide opportunities for Iowa State to affect national agenda on higher education,” Jischke said.

C. Peter Magrath, president of NASULGC, said the association is delighted to have Jischke’s leadership. “I am personally delighted that my valued friend will be working closely with me on national higher education issues,” he said.

Roz Hiebert, NASULGC director of public affairs, said Jischke was elected by the board of directors, in which all members are the representatives of councils and commissions within the association.

“My job as a chair is mainly to have meetings with the board of directors, organize activities in the association’s Kellogg Commission and invite international visitors to attend the meetings,” Jischke said. “Since the association’s headquarters is in Washington D.C., I expect six to 10 trips to there in the coming year.”

Prior to his new position, Jischke has been entitled in a number of leadership roles in NASULGC, including chair of the association’s council of presidents and chair-elect of the association.

He is also a member of the association’s Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant University, where he is the head of the subcommittee on engaged institutions.

The Kellogg Commission will be releasing a report in 1998.

“He plays a key role in the report, and he really makes a lot of recreation changes to the Commission,” Hiebert said. “He is a very active member of the association.”

The report from Jischke’s group, entitled “The Report on Engaged Institutions,” will be the third in a series of five commission reports expected to be completed over the next two years.

Established last year with a $1.2 million grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Kellogg Commission is to refocus public higher education for the 21st Century.

“Not only has Dr. Jischke served with great distinction in a number of key leadership positions, but his contributions to the work of the Kellogg Commission are of enormous value,” Magrath said. “And his position as president of Iowa State, he is playing a leading role in moving his institution into the top ranks of the nation’s land-grant universities.”

In 1993, ISU was designated a “Research I” university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. “Research I” is the top designation for a research and graduate education university in the nation.

Founded in 1887, NASULGC is the nation’s oldest higher education association.

It is a voluntary association of public research universities, land-grant institutions and many state university systems.

It represents 195 institutions located in all 50 states, the U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.

“Our main concern is to provide more access for students to obtain financial funds for education,” Hiebert said. “We also monitor the scientific and urban policies in the nation to see if they affect the public universities.”