The university is celebrating pioneer George Washington Carver with a day of recognition program Monday in the Great Hall.
“On George Washington Carver Day in Iowa, Carver’s life and legacy live on as a potent symbol of courage, perseverance and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge,” the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences website stated. “Carver’s story is one of extraordinary resiliency. Born into slavery in Missouri around 1864, he sought higher education in Iowa, at Simpson College and Iowa State University.”
Carver was Iowa State’s first Black student and later became the university’s first Black faculty member.
Today, Carver is known as an agricultural pioneer and “became world renowned for creating hundreds of products made from peanuts, sweet potatoes and other native Southern crops,” according to the website.
The day of recognition program kicks off at 5:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s Great Hall with a meet and greet, followed by a slideshow and a Carver virtual campus art tour.
At 5:30 p.m., a keynote address by Jewel Bronaugh, the president and CEO of the Universities Foundation, will be presented.
According to the foundation’s website, in 2021, Bronaugh was nominated by President Joe Biden to become the 14th U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. She was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year, becoming the first Black woman to serve in that role.
Dan Grooms, the dean of Iowa State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and Ruby Perry, dean of Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine, will honor the legacy of Frederick Douglass Patterson, who served as the president of the Tuskegee Institute for 20 years and is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
A presentation of the George Washington Carver Poster Challenge will follow. According to previous reporting from the Daily, “the goal of the ‘I Can’ poster challenge is to help students connect with and recognize the lasting impact of influential figures like Carver on their lives today.”
Kenneth M. Quinn, emeritus president of the World Food Prize Foundation, and Simon Estes, the F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Artist in Residence, will then deliver remarks on the legacy of Carver.
Opening and closing remarks will be given by Dan Robison, the dean’s chair at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
A full schedule of activities is available on the college’s website. The program will be livestreamed and available for viewing after the event has concluded on the available recording page.