Fun facts about the past Iowa State presidents

Maria Pimentel Diaz
October 23, 2017

With tomorrow’s announcement of the next university president, here is a look back on past Iowa State Presidents:

  1. Adonijah S. Welch (1868-1883)

    • Iowa State University’s first president. Some consider his biggest legacy to be the design of Iowa State’s early campus.

  2. Seaman Knapp (1883-1884)

    • Iowa State’s first chair of agriculture and was responsible for developing the agriculture curriculum.

  3. Leigh Hunt (1885-1886)

    • After leaving Iowa State, Hunt became a newspaper publisher, real estate developer and president of bank while in Seattle. He also went to run a gold mine in Korea, grow cotton in Sudan and eventually settling down in Las Vegas to pursue more agricultural and landscaping jobs.

  4. William Chamberlain (1886-1890)

    • Before becoming President of Iowa State University, Chamberlain was elected State Secretary of Agriculture of Ohio and was a fundamental part of installing Farmer’s Institutes in every county of Ohio.

  5. William Beardshear (1891-1902)

    • Under his leadership Iowa State adopted its school colors of cardinal and gold and became known as the Cyclones.

  6. Albert Storms (1903-1910)

    • After leaving Iowa State, Storms returned to the ministry and became a pastor in Indianapolis, and in 1915 he was named superintendent of the Indianapolis District of the Methodist Church.

  7. Raymond Pearson (1912-1926)

    • 14 academic buildings were added to campus during his term as president, surpassing all other campus constructions prior to World War II.

  8. Raymond Hughes (1927-1936)

    • Started the development of placement and student counseling services.

  9. Charles Friley (1936-1953)

    • Was directly involved with the establishment of the nation’s first educationally-owned and operated television station at Iowa State.

  10. James Hilton (1953-1965)

    • The only Iowa State president to graduate from Iowa State.

  11. W. Robert Parks (1965-1986)

    • Iowa State’s longest serving president.

  12. Gordon Eaton (1986-1990)

    • In 1994, Eaton was appointed by President Clinton as the director of the U.S. Geological Survey.

  13. Martin Jischke (1991-2000)

    • Added the Molecular Biology Building, Administrative Services Buildingm Howe Hall, the Frederiksen Court Community, Remain Gardens, the Thielen Student Health Center, the National Swine Research and Information Center and the Jacobson Athletic Building to campus.

  14. Gregory Geoffroy (2001-2012)

    • Currently on the teaching staff in the Department of Chemistry at Iowa State.

  15. Steven Leath (2012-2017)

    • Currently the University of Auburn’s 19th president. During his term at ISU, the university reached an all time high in enrollment (36,660 students).