Newly installed President Wendy Wintersteen presented “Working My Way Up the Ranks” at the Ames Public Library on Thursday.

As the first female president of Iowa State Wintersteen focused her story telling on the opportunities she seized and her intentions moving forward as Iowa State’s president.

“You get to have a lot of fun in the field when you are one of the only women working in agriculture,” Wintersteen said.

Wintersteen stressed how fortunate she was to have the experiences that she did, as well as the importance of finding new opportunities and taking initiative. She credits her colleagues, her mentors and the farm families that she worked with for helping her find opportunities that allowed her to boost up in the world.

“That’s what I tell our students,” Wintersteen said. “When the door opens, when somebody asks you to come forward and to take on a new opportunity that you don’t believe that you are prepared for, walk through the door. Work hard and show them that you bring a set of talents and skills.”

Wintersteen emphasized how honored she is, not only to serve as the president of Iowa State, but also to be an inspiration to young girls and Iowa State Alumni from all over the world.

“It’s been an incredible experience, such an honor to represent Iowa State University,” Wintersteen said. “It doesn’t matter where I go now, I can be standing in the Detroit Airport, I can be in D.C. National airport, I can be almost anywhere, and I will have a woman come up to me, and they will tell me that they are an ISU alumni and that they are proud. I get to hear that, I get to hear the good news about Iowa State University.”

Wintersteen said she takes her responsibility as a role model very seriously and works to show every new person and student that she meets there is a purpose for them. She sees Iowa State as a place where every person can come and find what they are meant to do.

“We are built on the foundation of inclusivity,” Wintersteen said. “That is what we have always been about, and it is what we will always be in the future. That is what we are going to do. When other colleges, other land grant universities decide that you can only come if you have an ‘A’ as your grade point average, if you had this score on your ACT, we are going to welcome you if perform and you are willing to work hard.”

Despite Iowa State’s strides to maintain the diversity and openness that Wintersteen is proud of, she says that there is still room to improve.

Wintersteen said Iowa State has work to do as a university to improve its climate. While she said this is something all universities, businesses and organizations need to improve, it is something she hopes can imporve so everyone at Iowa State can feel involved.

As a part of improving the campus climate, President Wintersteen held some listening meetings, where she sat down to listen to the stories of students, especially the international students.

“Just the unending stories about how we were not doing a very good job of welcoming all of our students, but first you begin by listening,” Wintersteen said.

President Wintersteen concluded her presentation, assuring the audience that her plan for her presidency was to work to make all students welcome and make Iowa State as accessible as possible.