Iowa State University welcomes Rotary Club members from Cherkasy (12/11/05)

Iowa State University welcomes Rotary Club members from Cherkasy

by Mykola Sarazhynskyy

AMES, Iowa - In late October the Des Moines Rotary Club hosted 10 members from their sister club in Cherkasy. They had a long list of places to visit. Atop this list was a trip to the Iowa State University (ISU) campus in Ames, located about 40 miles north of Des Moines. Rotary Club officials contacted the President's Office at ISU to assist in organizing this trip.

Visitors had a broad spectrum of interests, namely dairy industry, college level administration, journalism, forestry, food science and human nutrition. On a request from the President's Office, the colleges of agriculture, business and engineering organized meetings with faculty to match these fields. Faculty responded with great interest and were able to fit meetings into their busy schedules. Organizers contacted Ukrainian Club members to assist with interpretation and hosting of the delegation.

On the day of the visit, the delegation arrived to the president's conference room. President Gregory Geoffroy stepped from his office to personally greet the visitors and welcome them to ISU. After a brief introduction, the visitors met their hosts and went to their respective departments. Each had an in-depth conversation with a leading specialist in their field.

Many of the faculty had visited Ukraine a number of times for various projects in recent years. They compared U.S. and Ukrainian experience, and achievements. These conversations are expected to continue via e-mail contacts and during visits in Ukraine or in the U.S.

The College of Agriculture hosted the visitors at lunch during which David Acker, an associate dean of the college, presented an overview of agriculture in Iowa and the history of ISU. He responded to numerous questions. After lunch, the visitors from Ukraine returned to various departments and had more meetings. At the end of their day at ISU they walked around the beautiful campus and toured Reiman Gardens, the university's treasure.

The visitors from Cherkasy left Ames inspired by information gained from interaction with professors and fellow Ukrainians. Among the myriad impressions of their U.S. trip will be the warmth and openness of the Iowa State community.

| Home Page |