Bill Graves has walked across campus as a student, professor, associate dean and now dean of the Graduate College. With a horticulture background, he is ready to learn about other areas of expertise.

“In my role on the Graduate College, I’ve had to become very sensitive to the idea that not everybody on campus does things the way that I was used to doing back in my department,” Graves said. “All the different disciplines have different approaches they know work for them.”

Graves accepted the position of dean on July 17. Previously he served as the associate dean since 2010. 

“I was very excited and humbled and a bit overwhelmed with the work that would lie ahead,” Graves said.

However, he had to consider his current graduate students he was working with. Graves’ students are one of the accomplishments he is most proud of during his 25 years of work as ISU faculty.

“[I’m proud of] helping them with [students] education and their professional developments,” Graves said. “Before I accepted the position, I wanted to have a plan in place for making sure those students were taken care of and that they wouldn’t be abandoned without an advisor.”

Those concerns were quickly solved after Graves met with his students individually.

But, Graves wasn’t the only one excited. Jonathan Wickert, provost, was confident in the selection for dean.

“He is very experienced and heavy involved in new initiatives like starting up the communication center and improving the efficiency of the program study process for graduate students,” Wickert said. “It was a combination of his experience and track record and his vision for supporting graduate students.”

As soon as Graves accepted a position in 1992 to work in the horticulture department, he started on the graduate faculty as well. He has been the recipient of the Diversity Enhancement Award and the Margaret Ellen White Award for advising students.

He has also gained recognition for his research via the Norman J. Coleman Award. As associate dean of the Graduate College, he was able to spark plug the Center for Communication Excellence.

The Center from Communication Excellence acts as a course in which students perfect their professional writing to an audience of other scholars in their field.

Graves has loved sharing “tricks of the trade” with his students, especially in the Center of Communication Excellence program.

“One [of the most impactful moments] is helping students in this class related to writing, see the light bulb sort of come on how to prepare a manuscript that would be published in a scientific journal,” Graves said. “[I enjoy] seeing a student come to understand how writing for science differs from other types of writing.”

As Graves has stepped up into a new role as Dean, he has watched the behaviors of the various graduate disciplines and realized each department has their own classifications onto what they need.

“An important lesson I’ve learned has been how those disciplines differ in what they expect as competencies for their students and how they go about helping their students grow professionally and academically,” Graves said.

There comes a moment when Graves must say goodbye to his graduate students.

While it may be bittersweet, he enjoys seeing them leave Iowa State for a job that excites them or gaining admissions into an institution for another degree.

“Seeing that moment when they realize they can do this, that they understand what the expectations are, that’s very gratifying,” Graves said.