Iowa State University

11-17-97

Contacts:
John McCarroll, University Relations, (515) 294-6136
Roz Hiebert, NASULGC, (202)778-0813

JISCHKE ELECTED CHAIR OF NATION'S OLDEST HIGHER EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

Washington D.C. -- Iowa State University President Martin C. Jischke was selected chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) at the association's annual meeting in Washington D.C. this week. Jischke will serve as NASULGC chair until November 1998.

Jischke has served in a number of leadership roles at NASULGC, including chair of association's Council of Presidents and chair- elect of the association. He also is a member of NASULGC's Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities, where he heads its Subcommittee on Engaged Institutions, which will produce a report in late 1998. The Kellogg Commission was established last year by NASULGC with a $1.2 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to refocus public higher education for the 21st century. The commission published its first report, "Returning to Our Roots: The Student Experience," in 1997. The report from Jischke's group will be the third in a series of five commission reports expected to be completed over the next two years.

"Not only has Dr. Jischke served with great distinction in a number of key NASULGC leadership positions, but his contributions to the work of the Kellogg Commission are of enormous value," says NASULGC President C. Peter Magrath. "And in his position as president of Iowa State University, he is playing a leading role in moving his institution into the top ranks of the nation's land- grant universities. NASULGC is delighted to have Martin Jischke's leadership, and I am personally delighted that my valued friend will be working closely with me on national higher education issues."

Under his leadership as ISU president, the university has made significant progress in improving its undergraduate programs, expanding its research programs, particularly in agriculture, engineering, science and technology, and serving the needs of the people of the state through outreach, continuing education, technology transfer and economic development programs.

In 1993, the university was designated a "Research I" university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the top designation for a research and graduate education university in the nation. In 1996, Iowa State's freshman class enrolled a record 154 National Merit Scholars, more than all but three other public universities in the nation. The university has also set new records in enrolling minority and international students, in obtaining external funding for research and education programs, and in private fund-raising.

Jischke has also served nationally in higher education leadership positions. He was first president of the Council of the Big 12 Conference Chief Executive Officers and is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education. He also is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and in 1993 received the Centennial Medallion from the American Society of Engineering Education.

Jischke, 56, came to ISU from the University of Missouri, Rolla, where he had served as chancellor for five years. He spent 17 years as a faculty member and administrator at the University of Oklahoma, serving as director of the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, dean of the College of Engineering, and in 1985 as interim president.

A native of Chicago, he earned his B.S. in physics in 1963 from the Illinois Institute of Technology, an M.S. in 1964 and his Ph.D. in 1968 in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has received research fellowships and several grants from National Aeronautics Science Administration, the National Science Foundation, and National Institutes of Health, and other federal agencies.

Founded in 1887, NASULGC is the nation's oldest higher education association. A voluntary association of public research universities, land-grant institutions and many state university systems, NASULGC represents 195 institutions located in all 50 states, the U. S. territories and the District of Columbia. Its member campuses enroll more than three million students and claim upwards of 20 million alumni.

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Revised 11/17/97