ISU proposes department name

Pending approval by the Iowa Board of Regents, Iowa State Universitys Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology will be named in honor of the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, in recognition of gifts and commitments to the department totaling more than $12.3 million.

This support includes a $7.5 million commitment announced Thursday to support strategic research initiatives in biomolecular structure.

Also known as structural biology, this scientific field seeks to better understand basic biomolecular function, which can hold the key to unlocking important new discoveries in wide-ranging areas important to human, plant and animal life.

With the regents approval, the new name will be the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.

ISU grads give scholarships

Benches, plaques, art, fountains these are typical class gifts. Tangible things you can sit on, gaze upon, drink from.

Cognizant of the growing financial pressures on college students, ISUs class of 2012 opted to leave something different to the alma mater. The class set up an endowment that will fund scholarships for upperclassmen.

Thus far, more than 600 recent graduates have pledged $45,400 to the scholarship fund.

Thats an average of $74 per graduate, said Sarah Johnson, a program manager in the ISU Foundation. And we expect the endowment to grow in the next couple of weeks as student fundraisers finish making contacts with the graduating seniors.

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Around Iowa State University: June 3