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Mr. Geology
Carl Vondra named honorary Iowa State alumnus.
- One slide after another flicked onto the screen in a rustic community center in the tiny town of Shell, Wyo.
The slides represented almost 40 years of attendees at the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences' field camp. Of course, no one but Carl Vondra, who served as the camp's director for those 40 years, would be making the presentation to the alumni assembled.
As the slides rolled across the screen, Vondra would identify the individual pictured. But more than that, he would tell the audience where the field camp alumnus was and what career path they took.
If you're counting that's over 1100 geology alumni. And Vondra says he's either in contact with, or sees, many of those alumni each year.
"It was a very unique experience I had at the camp," Vondra said. "We would spend six or eight weeks out there with the kids, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, spending all day in the field and back at the camp at night.
"You get to know people pretty well in that type of situation. And it was hard to forget them. No other faculty in our department, and maybe at the university, had that kind of opportunity."
Few professors have had as profound an influence on their students and former students as Vondra, a Distinguished Emeritus Professor. He has made a steadfast commitment to keeping alumni connected to the university and to the field station.
Even now, after retirement, he regularly travels to national meetings with his wife Georgia where he meets many of the field camp's alumni.
"Invariably when I see an alumnus, they will immediately talk about the field camp and their experiences out here," Vondra said. "They developed strong friendships in addition to learning geology and I think they feel good about their experiences they had there."
That continued commitment has led to Vondra receiving the highest honor given by Iowa State through the ISU Alumni Association to individuals who are not graduates of the institution. He has been named a recipient of the Honorary Alumni Award, the first faculty member so recognized for his "significant contributions to Iowa State's welfare, reputation, prestige and pursuit of excellence."
This is just the latest in a series of honors that Vondra has recently received. The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, named the field station he directed for so many years in his name and he was listed as one of the university's 150 "VISIONaries" in the sesquicentennial issue of the ISU Alumni Association's magazine, VISIONS.
But the honorary alumnus award came out of the blue. In fact the Vondras were in Turkey when Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy called to inform him that he was the recipient of the award.
President Geoffroy left a few messages on their answering machine, asking Vondra to give him a call.
"I wondered why President Geoffroy was calling and calling so many times," Vondra said. "I had no idea."
And after more than 40 years in Ames and at Iowa State, Vondra says this award, unlike any other, validates his years on campus.
"To me, this award means that the university thinks a great deal of my contribution and the contribution of the students that have attended and graduated from the geology department," he said.
"So many faculty members at this great university have invested a great deal of their lives and this means a great deal to me to be so appreciated."
Carl Vondra
Around LAS
March 31 to April 13, 2008
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