[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 924 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 924
Congratulating Iowa State University of Science and Technology for 150
years of leadership and service to the United States and the world as
Iowa's land-grant university.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 16, 2008
Mr. Braley of Iowa (for himself, Mr. Latham, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Loebsack,
and Mr. King of Iowa) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Congratulating Iowa State University of Science and Technology for 150
years of leadership and service to the United States and the world as
Iowa's land-grant university.
Whereas Iowa State University of Science and Technology was established by the
Iowa General Assembly on March 22, 1858, as the Iowa Agricultural
College and Model Farm in response to the State of Iowa's desire to
provide higher education opportunities to farm families and working
classes in Iowa, predating the passage of the Federal Morrill Act by 4
years;
Whereas on September 3, 1862, Iowa became the first State in the United States
to accept the terms and conditions of the Morrill Act creating the land-
grant system of colleges and universities;
Whereas the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, known today as Iowa State
University of Science and Technology, received Iowa's land-grant charter
on March 29, 1864, making it one of the first land-grant institutions in
the United States;
Whereas Iowa State University was a pioneer in all 3 parts of the land-grant
mission, including--
(1) allowing access to all, regardless of race, gender, or social
class;
(2) practical research; and
(3) outreach;
Whereas Iowa State University fulfilled the 3 parts of the land-grant mission
by--
(1) creating the first land-grant institution to be coeducational from
its opening, with 16 women in its first class; future suffragist Carrie
Chapman Catt was an 1880 graduate; and George Washington Carver was the
first African-American student, earning a bachelor's degree in 1894 and a
master's degree in 1896, and was also the institution's first African-
American faculty member;
(2) establishing the United States' first Engineering Experiment
Station and domestic economy experimental kitchen, and one of the first
agriculture experiment stations; and
(3) organizing the Farmers Institutes in the winter of 1869, by Iowa
State President Adonijah Welch, and organizing the nation's first county
Extension Service in 1903 in Sioux County in northwest Iowa by Professor
Perry Holden;
Whereas some of the most important technological advancements of the modern
world were the result of research at Iowa State, including--
(1) development of hybrid seed corn in the 1920s;
(2) pioneering work on soybean oil extraction and producing ethanol
from corn and other plant materials by Professor Orland Sweeney in the
1930s;
(3) invention of the electronic digital computer in the late 1930s by
Professor John Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry, whose
Atanasoff-Berry Computer was the first to incorporate the 7 basic
principles of modern computing;
(4) laying the foundation for the modern plastics industry with
polyethylene research by Professor Henry Gilman;
(5) development of the process still used today to refine pure rare-
earth materials, including reactor-grade uranium, by Professor Frank
Spedding and Harley Wilhelm, as a result of Iowa State's key role in the
Manhattan Project in WWII;
(6) development of modern livestock animal genetics by Professor Jay
Lush; and
(7) first field-testing of a genetically altered plant (tobacco) in
1987 and genetically altered tree (poplar) in 1989 by Professor Robert
Thornburg;
Whereas Iowa State hired one of the first permanent campus artists-in-residence,
with sculptor Christian Petersen holding that position from 1934 to 1955
and providing hundreds of sculptures and other art objects to the
university, whose Art on Campus collection today includes more than 600
major public works of art;
Whereas Iowa State has had a technology transfer office since 1935, longer than
all but one other university in the United States, and is acknowledged
today as a leader in putting technology to work, being cited as a
``model of economic development'' and ``licensing powerhouse'' in a 2007
study commissioned by the National Science Foundation;
Whereas Iowa State University is today spearheading new advances in science and
technology, including new materials, information sciences, green
architecture, biological research, and the development of biorenewable
fuels and other resources to support the bioeconomy and the Nation's
independence from nonrenewable petroleum resources; and
Whereas more than 257,000 degrees have been awarded by Iowa State, and its
graduates include heads of State, leaders of industry, great
humanitarians, and gifted scientists, whose work has improved the
quality of life for people worldwide: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives
congratulates Iowa State University of Science and Technology for 150
years of outstanding service to the State of Iowa, the United States,
and the world in fulfilling its mission as a land-grant university; and
thanks the State of Iowa for its visionary leadership in the beginning
of the land-grant movement in the United States of America.
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