Engaged Alumni & Friends

The mission statement of the Iowa State University Alumni Association clearly articulates its commitment to engaging alumni and friends. That commitment is fulfilled in numerous events and services designed to connect individuals and groups to Iowa State. Specific initiatives include:

• Alumni and community reunions
• Spirit rallies and related events for Cyclone sports fans
• Award-winning alumni magazine
• Successful awards program
• Partnerships across the campus
• Targeted student programs
• Key volunteer opportunities

Supporting the University’s strategic priority to ensure that Iowa State is a great place to learn and work, the Alumni Association provides a variety of opportunities for students to lead, learn, network, and socialize. It also ensures a lifelong connection between Iowa State and its alumni and friends.

The Association was founded November 12, 1878, and in 1932 incorporated as an independent 501(c)3, self-governing association. Governance is provided by a 20-member elected Board of Directors, plus seven officers and four appointed directors, whose function is to establish policies regarding the finances, property, management, and activities of the Association, and to assist the staff and volunteers in carrying out the mission and strategic plan of the Association. The 20-person staff currently headed by Jeffery W. Johnson provides services to the Alumni Association’s more than over 50,000 members and to alumni, students, and friends of Iowa State.

In 2004, as the Alumni Association celebrated its 125th anniversary, its Board of Directors began plans for building a permanent home. The new alumni center, to be constructed on Beach Avenue south of Stephens Auditorium, will accommodate all the association’s staff and programs. It will include a visitors’ lounge, library, banquet hall, offices, meeting rooms, and a multipurpose office and activity space for the Student Alumni Leadership Council.