Ames, Iowa--Iowa State University President Gregory L. Geoffroy and his wife, Kathy, have made an additional $100,000 commitment to the Gregory L. and Kathleen C. Geoffroy Faculty Fellowship Fund. The Geoffroys have contributed a total of $250,000 to the fund that provides annual support for teaching and research at Iowa State. They established the fund in 2001.
"We have always believed that the difference between a good university and a truly great university are the people associated with the institution," said Geoffroy. "This investment in faculty support is the important way to help attract and retain top faculty and particularly to help beginning faculty get off to a good start."
The current holder of the fellowship, assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Malika Jeffries-EL, was appointed to the position in 2005 by Dean Michael Whiteford. The faculty fellowship provides Jeffries-EL with additional discretionary funds annually, which may be used in a number of ways including professional development, creative course enrichment and research.
"The Geoffroy Fellowship was definitely a factor in my decision to come to Iowa State," Jeffries-EL said. "The increased support is extremely important in my research. It also allows me the opportunity to collaborate with faculty members in different sectors of my field and that's a great advantage."
Geoffroy, whose background is in teaching and research in the field of chemistry, recently listed faculty support as a top fundraising priority for Iowa State. The Geoffroys hope eventually to increase support and create an endowed professorship, which is a higher level of recognition for faculty.
"The Geoffroys have always expressed their heartfelt belief in the mission of Iowa State and the importance of private support to the university," said ISU Foundation President Dan Saftig. "A gift of this magnitude speaks volumes to the hundreds and thousands of other benefactors to Iowa State University."
The Iowa State University Foundation is a private, non-profit corporation dedicated to securing and managing gifts and grants that benefit Iowa State University.
