The Innovation Program at Iowa State will host President Wendy Wintersteen and Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University and Iowa State alumnus, for a virtual discussion from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday.

The conversation with Crow, in which the overall theme is “Innovation Beyond Conventional Institutional Boundaries,” is a professional practices forum, which is considered one of four kinds of “Innovation Circuits” the Innovation Program at Iowa State offers. Karen Kerns, director of Innovation Programs and entrepreneur in residence, said professional practices forums are primarily for Iowa State staff, alumni and graduate students to interact with leaders of institutions and learn from their experiences in fostering innovation.

“As Iowa State is in the midst of growing innovation within our own culture […] we are eager to learn from and with our peer institutions and also make transparent models for culture with our faculty, staff and graduate students,” Kerns said.

Wintersteen wrote in an email the Iowa State Innovation Program is part of an initiative to encourage students, faculty and alumni to engage in innovation and entrepreneurship.

“The conversation with Dr. Crow is just one of many recent opportunities and programs that fall under the Innovate at Iowa State initiative,” Wintersteen wrote. “Innovate at Iowa State is a broad, campuswide effort that welcomes all students, faculty and staff to get involved in creativity, problem-solving, innovation and entrepreneurship — and provides them pathways to do just that.”

Kerns said 89 senior executives in a variety of industries have delivered programs for the Innovation Initiative so far, in which over 8,000 people have registered and engaged in since September 2020.

“The whole point of [the Innovation Program] is to create an atmosphere that will accelerate students’ technical readiness and behavioral readiness for jobs… and differentiate them from their peers so they’re more competitive,” Kerns said. 

Wintersteen also wrote in an email that she hopes the audience of the event will learn from Crow’s life story and his accomplishments in innovation.

“I am hopeful that viewers take away the lessons learned from the remarkable career of President Crow, whose roots in innovation took hold while he was at Iowa State,” she wrote. “I also hope that they might gain new insights into how Dr. Crow has led another public university to greater heights by taking risks and encouraging creativity in all disciplines to make a difference in our world.”

To register for the event, click here.