Elizabeth Cole Beck

BS History ’74
MA History '77
Ames, Iowa

It’s difficult to measure the impact of a leader like Liz Beck, not because it is difficult to see but because it has been so broad.

Beck retired after 30 years as director of the University Honors Program, but because of her devotion to the program and its students came back in 2006 after the position was vacated. Since 2004 she has been serving as the interim executive director of the National Collegiate Honors Council. She has served on the Special Olympics Iowa Summer Games Steering Committee since 1984. She has chaired the University Committee on Women and volunteered with the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support. Beck has been involved with the Memorial Union Board, the Iowa Chapter Arthritis Foundation, the ISU Alumni Association, Phi Kappa Pi, the Ames Planning and Zoning Commission, the Ames Tribune editorial board, the Story County Women’s Political Caucus, the YWCA, and Ames Noon Rotary.

With every contribution she has made, Beck has selflessly focused on improving the lives of others and inspiring students to achieve. She is a former recipient of such as awards as the Ames Tribune’s Unsung Hero Award, ISU’s Catt Equity Award and Catt Center Strong Minded Woman Award, the Memorial Union Service Medallion, and the Special Olympics Iowa Outstanding Volunteer Award.

Beck is a lifetime member of the ISU Alumni Association and a member of the National Cyclone Club and Order of the Knoll. She was married to the late Albert J. Rutledge, a former chair of ISU’s department of landscape architecture. She has two children, Christopher and Allan, and four stepchildren.