Russ and Ann Gerdin Award
College of Business
Established during the College of Business’ 25th anniversary in 2009 to honor contributions from valuable corporate partners or successful individuals who are not College of Business graduates; named in honor of Russ and Ann Gerdin, non-alumni who in 1998 made a $10 million lead gift to build the Gerdin Business Building
William A. Goodwin
BS Industrial Engineering ’59
Des Moines, Iowa
William Goodwin is the inaugural recipient of the Gerdin Award. He is a longtime supporter of the College of Business, serving on the Dean’s Advisory Council and providing philanthropic support that has allowed the college to create two faculty fellowships in the management department that bear the name of Goodwin and his wife, Elizabeth. Both are impressive commitments for someone who graduated from a different college at Iowa State.
Goodwin is president of Cerro Gordo Land Co., in his hometown of Des Moines. In addition to his ISU degree, he earned an MBA from Stanford University in 1965. He also spent many years as a U.S. Naval officer, on active duty from 1959 to 1962, then retiring from reserve in 1982 as a captain. In that time he served in the Mercury Space program, recovering astronauts John Glenn, Jr., and Virgil Grissom after space missions.
He has served on the boards of the Iowa Methodist Health Foundation, US Bank, the Human Gene Therapy Institute, and the John Austin Cheley Foundation. The College of Business awarded him its John D. DeVries Service Award in 1997.
Goodwin is an emeritus member of the ISU Foundation Board of Governors, is a member of the Order of the Knoll and Cyclone Club, and is a lifetime member of the ISU Alumni Association.
