Impact Award
The Iowa State University Alumni Association Board of Directors established this award in 2002 to recognize individuals, businesses, organizations, or units whose programs or accomplishments brought broad recognition to the university and increased the involvement of ISU constituents in the life of the university during the year prior to being nominated.

Elizabeth Cole Beck
BS 1974
History
MA 19777
History
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.

Elizabeth Beck

Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4111. Published by: University Relations, online@iastate.edu. Copyright © 1995-2004, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved.

Non-Discrimination Statement and Information Disclosures

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Ames, Iowa 50011-1302

General Information: (515) 294-7740

Academic Advising: (515) 294-4831

Email: las@iastate.edu

Michael Whiteford - Dean

Bret Larwick - Director of Technology

Dave Gieseke - Director of Communications