The College of Agriculture and the Graduate College will be honoring William Weaver III, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve, as Iowa State’s first George Washington Carver Doctoral Fellow, with a reception at noon today.

Weaver, who graduated from South Carolina State in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and in 1995 from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a master’s degree in plant and soil sciences, began his studies in the agronomy department this semester. He was chosen over the summer out of a group of applicants.

Weaver said he is greatly honored to receive a fellowship named for George Washington Carver. While here, Weaver will be primarily studying soil science with a main focus on the mineralogy of dust.

“I chose to come to Iowa State because of its outstanding agronomy department, which is one of the oldest and largest in the country,” Weaver said.

The Carver Doctoral Fellow award is named for one of ISU’s most famous alumnus, who received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1894 and 1896, respectively. The award recognizes past academic excellence and potential for success in a doctoral program among ethnic minority students.

George Jackson, assistant dean of the Graduate College said that the College is very proud to be launching the program 100 years after George Washington Carver completed his graduate degree at ISU.

“We are especially grateful to the College of Agriculture and to Dean David Topel for being the first college to sponsor a Carver Fellow. We hope eventually to involve all colleges in this program,” Jackson said.

Dean of the College of Agriculture David Topel said he is very happy to have Weaver as a George Washington Carver Fellow.

“We are the only college that has a fellow this year. I think that George Jackson was very instrumental in helping establish this program and we thank him for his leadership and development of the concept of the fellowships for graduate students,” Topel said.

“We need to have more quality students that are involved with this type of activity and a fellowship is a way of stimulating more quality students. It’s not easy to get minority students in agriculture,” he said.

Topel said the low number of minority students in agriculture is related to cultural influences. “…Going way back into the 1800s agriculture was not necessarily looked at as a great future for minorities. It wasn’t looked at as a professional opportunity for a lifelong career. We still have to have special programs that will overturn some of those old traditions,” Topel said.

He said the department does have other programs for graduate students, but they do not compare to the George Washington Carver Fellow award. “They are not as good as this one as far as dollar support,” Topel said. Weaver’s award includes a cash stipend of $16,000 per year and tuition for three years.

The reception will be held at noon in the Regency Room of the Memorial Union and is open to the public.