[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 38 (Thursday, March 6, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S1711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 475--CONGRATULATING IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE 
AND TECHNOLOGY ON ITS 150 YEARS OF LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE TO THE UNITED 
          STATES AND THE WORLD AS IOWA'S LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITY

  Mr. HARKIN (for himself and Mr. Grassley) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 475

       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 Nation 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 
     (Iowa State), received Iowa's land-grant charter on March 29, 
     1864, making it one of the first land-grant institutions in 
     the Nation;
       Whereas Iowa State was a pioneer in all 3 parts of the 
     land-grant mission, including--(1) access to all, regardless 
     of race, gender or social class, being the first land-grant 
     institution to be coeducational from its opening, with 16 
     women in its first class and later students including future 
     suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, an 1880 graduate, and George 
     Washington Carver, the first African American student, who 
     earned 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) practical research, establishing the 
     Nation's first Engineering Experiment Station and domestic 
     economy experimental kitchen, and one of the first 
     agriculture experiment stations; and (3) outreach, including 
     some of the earliest land-grant institution outreach 
     activities such as the establishment of the Farmers 
     Institutes in the winter of 1869-70 by Iowa State President 
     Adonijah Welch, and the organization of 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) the 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) the 
     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) the foundation for the modern plastics industry laid by 
     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 during World 
     War II; (6) development of modern livestock animal genetics 
     by Professor Jay Lush; and (7) the 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 
     Nation, and is acknowledged today as a national 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 Senate--
       (1) congratulates Iowa State University of Science and 
     Technology on its 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
       (2) 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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