News Service

Iowa State researchers developing more powerful solar cells

Iowa State researchers have made discoveries in materials science and plasma chemistry that they hope will boost the performance of thin, flexible solar cells manufactured by an Ames company.

News release.

Filmmaker to discuss fate of Katrina pets

A documentary about the fate of Katrina pets will be shown on campus Sept. 20 and the filmmaker will make an appearance Sept. 21 to discuss his project.

News release.

Book lover brings passion to Memorial Union Sept. 19

Author, speaker and winner of the 50th Women's National Book Association Award for her contribution to the world of books, Nancy Pearl will give her presentation "Book Lusting: The Pleasures and Perils of a Life of Reading" Sept. 19.

News release.

Food safety specialist provides E. coli advice

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an alert recently about a nationwide outbreak of E. coli traced to packaged spinach. Sam Beattie, a food safety extension specialist at Iowa State, offers consumers information and advice on what they can stay safe.

News release.

Purdue dean is finalist in provost search

Jeffrey S. Vitter, dean of the College of Science at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., will interview on campus Sept. 19-20 for the executive vice president and provost position.

More.

Somerville named ISU dean of students

Dione Somerville, director of enrollment services and registrar at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio, will be Iowa State University's dean of students. She begins her new post in January.

News release.

ISU, Pappajohn Center rank 24th nationally

Iowa State University and its Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship rank 24th nationally for students who want to be entrepreneurs, according to a survey of more than 700 colleges and universities by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

News release.

Ames Lab receives computing grant

The U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory is one of 30 recipients nationwide to receive a share of $60 million in Department of Energy award money for computational science projects over the next three to five years.

News release.

Provost forums set

Open forums for two finalists for the executive vice president and provost position are scheduled for Sept. 19 and Sept. 21. Each candidate will participate in a general forum and a forum to discuss diversity-related topics. All forums are in the Memorial Union Gallery. Biographical information for each finalist will be available a few days before each forum. Here's the forums schedule:

• Sept. 19. General: 1:45-2:50 p.m. Diversity: 3:50-4:40 p.m.
• Sept. 21. General: 1:45-2:50 p.m. Diversity, 3-3:50 p.m.

Political scientist sees little change in Bush administration foreign policy

James McCormick has been studying the Bush administration's foreign policy decisions for a related presentation during the U.S. Foreign Policy Conference at the University of Leicester in England next week. He found that in spite of mounting opposition, the administration continues to practice its unilateral and ideological foreign policy approach.

News release.

Keck Foundation donates $1.6 million for lab

A $1.6 million from the W. M. Keck Foundation will launch an experimental laboratory for engineering and analysis and engineering of new materials. The facility will be equipped with a highly advanced three-dimensional atom probe microscope, a unique tool that can only be found at two other U.S. universities.

News release.

Convocation video is online

Online video offers a look at the Sept. 11 convocation, during which President Gregory Geoffroy discussed the coming academic year and some 50 faculty and staff received awards.

Full convocation | President's address | Awards ceremony.

Wells Fargo's top regional banking officer to give Sept. 21 lecture

Scott Johnson -- Wells Fargo's new head of regional banking operations in Iowa and Western Illinois and an Iowa State alumnus -- is the fall 2006 speaker for the Robert Stafford Lecture Series on Banking in the university's College of Business.

News release.

Sophomore turns passion into profession

Kelly Norris is a horticulture major at ISU and operates a seven-acre flower business that boasts an inventory of more than 250,000 plants with more than 550 different cultivars for sale.

News release.

ISU offers economic development help to rural areas

Iowa State University's fourth annual Economic Development Open House will feature talk of new opportunities in agriculture, rural entrepreneurship, community vitality and opportunities for help from Iowa State and federal programs. The open house is Friday, Sept. 15, in Iowa State's Memorial Union.

News release.