ISU Alumni Association History

The Iowa State University Alumni Association was founded Nov. 12, 1878, with Edgar W. Stanton ('72) as president. It has functioned continuously from that time, although for a number of years its meetings were biennial. In 1905, the Association began publication of the periodical Iowa State Alumnus, which continued publication for 69 years. In 1914, the Association employed a professional staff and established an office in Alumni Hall. The office was moved to the Memorial Union in 1928.

In 1932, the Alumni Association incorporated as an independent 501(c)3, self-governing association to facilitate patent trustees to supervise the patenting and licensing of Iowa State research discoveries. To protect the Alumni Association from legal entanglements, all patent and license interests were transferred in 1938 to the Iowa State Research Foundation. By World War II, gifts to Iowa State through the Alumni Association totaled $100,000. From 1951 to 1980, alumni gifts were solicited annually by the affiliate organization, the Alumni Achievement Fund, to finance a wide variety of projects and activities that would not be supported by state appropriations alone.

As the Alumni Association moved into the 1980s, the emphasis on service increased. Ongoing fundraising activities were assumed by the newly incorporated Iowa State University Achievement Foundation, now known as the Iowa State University Foundation. The number of alumni had doubled during the decade of the '70s, and services to the group expanded rapidly during the '80s. Memberships in the organization soared, allowing new programs and services to be developed, including VISIONS, a full-color quarterly magazine.

Programs and services for alumni in the 1990s were enhanced by an emphasis on research and planning. Since 1990, the board of directors has commissioned market research, conducted a self-studies and external reviews, and developed three strategic plans designed to focus resources on increasing memberships, visibility, and services to alumni and the university.

The recommendations from the 1996 self-study and external review and the 1997-2000 Strategic Plan guided the budget and programming decisions for the Alumni Association to better serve Iowa State and its present and future alumni and friends.

The Association's 2001-2006 Strategic Plan focused on strengthening membership, engaging constituents, developing strategic alliances, and enhancing the health of the organization.

In 2003 the board voted to begin plans for building a permanent home and planned for the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Alumni Association. A proposal for an alumni center was approved by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, in FY04. Due to the impending renovation of the Memorial Union, the Alumni Association took up temporary residence in Fisher-Nickell Hall.

The Alumni Association celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2003-2004 and reached its goal of topping 50,000 members by the end of 2005.

A new strategic plan for 2006-2009 was adopted in May 2006, with an emphasis on connecting alumni and friends to ISU and each other, engaging students for a lifetime connection to Iowa State, and positioning the ISUAA to advance Iowa State University.

Construction of the new Alumni Center on Beach Avenue at the Iowa State Center began in August 2006. Completion is scheduled for spring 2008.