With tears of joy, Iowa State journalism alumnus Diane Greenlee said she never thought she would stand in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union and be called “distinguished.”

After an introduction from President Martin Jischke, Greenlee gave a speech for the Murray G. Bacon Center for Ethics in Business on Friday in the Great Hall.

“Ethics go hand in hand with good business practices,” Greenlee told a group of students, faculty and administrators from the colleges of business and liberal arts and sciences, as well as other dignitaries from the university.

In a joint effort with the Murray G. Bacon Center, this is the second year of the combined event for the colleges.

The center, dedicated on April 13, 1993, “aids business, government bodies and the general public in identifying and responding to ethical issues that inevitably arise in the course of their activities.”

Greenlee graduated from ISU in 1965. Ten years later, Diane and her husband, Bob, became partners in the ownership and management of a radio station in Boulder, Colo., called KADE-AM.

Two years later, they purchased KDCO-FM and within 14 years, KADE/KDCO became the number one radio station in the Denver metro market.

In 1989 Diane became owner and partner with her husband in Centennial Investment and Management and co-owner of the Rockies Brewery Company. She also became co-founder of Rock Bottom restaurants.

In addition to their accomplishments in business, the Greenlees have contributed over $250,000 for scholarships for ISU journalism students in the past.

“The Greenlees have meant a great deal to the overall direction of the journalism department,” said John Eighmey, DEO of the journalism department.

“I heard about a company that had a fire and everything was destroyed. In the next four months the employer gave employees a paycheck even though the company was not in operation. Instead of rebuilding another place and paying workers $2 elsewhere, the employer paid his employees through rebuilding time.

“When the company re-opened, the employees gave 120 percent and made a better product than was made before. He used this strategy instead of breaking the American dream,” Greenlee said.

“This university encompasses the American dream,” she said.