H. Res. 924 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

March 11, 2008. 

Whereas Iowa State University of Science and Technology 

was established by the Iowa General Assembly on March 

22, 1858, as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model 

Farm in response to the State of Iowa’s desire to provide 

higher education opportunities to farm families and working classes in Iowa, predating the passage of the Federal 

Morrill Act by 4 years; 

Whereas on September 11, 1862, Iowa became the first State 

in the United States to accept the terms and conditions 

of the Morrill Act creating the land-grant system of colleges and universities; 

Whereas the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, 

known today as Iowa State University of Science and 

Technology, received Iowa’s land-grant charter on March 

29, 1864, making it one of the first land-grant institutions in the United States; 

Whereas Iowa State University was a pioneer in all 3 parts 

of the land-grant mission, including— 

(1) allowing access to all, regardless of race, gender, 

or social class; 

(2) practical research; and 

(3) outreach; 
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Whereas Iowa State University fulfilled the 3 parts of the 

land-grant mission by— 

(1) creating the first land-grant institution to be coeducational from its opening, with 16 women in its first 

class; future suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt was an 

1880 graduate; and George Washington Carver was the 

first African-American student, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1894 and a master’s degree in 1896, and was 

also the institution’s first African-American faculty member; 

(2) establishing the United States’ first Engineering 

Experiment Station and domestic economy experimental 

kitchen, and one of the first agriculture experiment stations; and 

(3) organizing the Farmers Institutes in the winter 

of 1869, by Iowa State President Adonijah Welch, and 

organizing the nation’s first county Extension Service in 

1903 in Sioux County in northwest Iowa by Professor 

Perry Holden; 

Whereas some of the most important technological advancements of the modern world were the result of research at 

Iowa State, including— 

(1) development of hybrid seed corn in the 1920s; 

(2) pioneering work on soybean oil extraction and 

producing ethanol from corn and other plant materials by 

Professor Orland Sweeney in the 1930s; 

(3) invention of the electronic digital computer in 

the late 1930s by Professor John Atanasoff and graduate 

student Clifford Berry, whose Atanasoff-Berry Computer 

was the first to incorporate the 7 basic principles of modern computing; 
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(4) laying the foundation for the modern plastics industry with polyethylene research by Professor Henry 

Gilman; 

(5) development of the process still used today to refine pure rare-earth materials, including reactor-grade 

uranium, by Professor Frank Spedding and Harley Wilhelm, as a result of Iowa State’s key role in the Manhattan Project in WWII; 

(6) development of modern livestock animal genetics 

by Professor Jay Lush; and 

(7) first field-testing of a genetically altered plant 

(tobacco) in 1987 and genetically altered tree (poplar) in 

1989 by Professor Robert Thornburg; 

Whereas Iowa State hired one of the first permanent campus 

artists-in-residence, with sculptor Christian Petersen 

holding that position from 1934 to 1955 and providing 

hundreds of sculptures and other art objects to the university, whose Art on Campus collection today includes 

more than 600 major public works of art; 

Whereas Iowa State has had a technology transfer office 

since 1935, longer than all but one other university in 

the United States, and is acknowledged today as a leader 

in putting technology to work, being cited as a ‘‘model 

of economic development’’ and ‘‘licensing powerhouse’’ in 

a 2007 study commissioned by the National Science 

Foundation; 

Whereas Iowa State University is today spearheading new advances in science and technology, including new materials, information sciences, green architecture, biological 

research, and the development of biorenewable fuels and 

other resources to support the bioeconomy and the Na-
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tion’s independence from nonrenewable petroleum resources; and 

Whereas more than 257,000 degrees have been awarded by 

Iowa State, and its graduates include heads of State, 

leaders of industry, great humanitarians, and gifted scientists, whose work has improved the quality of life for 

people worldwide: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives congratulates Iowa State University of Science and 

Technology for 150 years of outstanding service to the State 

of Iowa, the United States, and the world in fulfilling its mission as a land-grant university; and thanks the State of Iowa 

for its visionary leadership in the beginning of the land-grant 

movement in the United States of America. 

Attest: 

Clerk.