Iowa State University Alumni Association

Cyclone author Trent Preszler** ('98 interdisciplinary studies) thought he was living the life he always wanted -- when he was called back to the life he left behind. After years of estrangement, his cancer-stricken father had invited him to South Dakota for Thanksgiving. It would be the last time he saw his father alive. Preszler's "Little and Often" is an account of both healing and self-discove...

Iowa State alum and retired NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson (L)(MS '83) returns to Live from Cy's Lounge to talk about his new children's book "Letters from Space."

Mason Weh's journey to Iowa State was a long road. As a child, Weh ('21 liberal studies) helped his family by selling water along the roadside in his home country of Liberia. After moving to the U.S. at age 10, one of Mason's teachers introduced him to track and field and opened up a whole new opportunity. Now, Weh is set to compete for Iowa State in the Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championship t...

ISUAA President & CEO Jeff Johnson has a conversation with Reg Chhen Stewart (A), Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at Iowa State University.

Michael Czahor (PhD '19) is the lead quantitative analyst of the new Integrative Baseball Performance Department for the Major League Baseball team the Philadelphia Phillies. The Iowa State grad also recently founded a company that teaches students statistics and data-science through the use of sports-based examples. Learn more about Michael's work: https://linktr.ee/ezcz

Dr. Lauren Hughes (L)('02 zoology, spanish) is a practicing family physician, associate professor of family medicine, and the State Policy Director of the Farley Health Policy Center at the University of Colorado, where she leads initiatives to translate data for policymakers – helping to inform the design and implementation of evidence-based health policy. Her research has been focused on strengt...

Former three-time All-American Iowa State wrestler Kyven Gadson (‘14 child, adult, and family services) talks about training for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, his new initiative to promote healthy social and emotional learning patterns in youth, and a new ice cream he helped develop with the ISU creamery.

ISUAA President & CEO Jeff Johnson has a conversation with Paul Fuligni, the Associate Vice President for Facilities Planning and Management (FP&M) at Iowa State University. Fuligni discusses the work that went into preparing campus buildings to allow students to return to campus and faculty to return to the classroom during the pandemic, how FP&M responded to the damage sustained from the derecho...

Alan Johnson (A)('06 computer engineering) joins us "Live from Cy's Lounge" to talk about his recent experience competing on "Jeopardy!" and how his Iowa State education helped prepare him.

"Live from Cy's Lounge" with former Iowa State and professional basketball player Paul Shirley ('00 mechanical engineering), author of the newly-released novel "Ball Boy."

ISUAA President & CEO Jeff Johnson has a conversation with Pete Englin, assistant vice president for campus life and director of residence at Iowa State University. This is the first interview of a four-part special edition of our "Live from Cy's Lounge" series, where we showcase Iowa State graduates making their communities, Iowa, and the world a better place.

Michael McClenahan (A)(DVM '97) and Scott Weinman (DVM '96) are hosts of The Vets Unleashed, a podcast that tackles the most pressing, silly, and interesting topics in the animal kingdom. The two Iowa State alums met as students at the College of Veterinary Medicine, and now both live in California as practicing veterinarians.

Former Iowa State women's basketball player Lyndsey Fennelly ('07 health and human performance) joins us "Live from Cy's Lounge" for a conversation about becoming a mental health advocate, her work as a motivational speaker, and starting her own business.

Jason Walsmith ('96 anthropology), singer/songwriter of the Iowa-based band The Nadas joins us Live from Cy's Lounge for a concert and conversation. Jason started the band in 1993 as a student at Iowa State. Since then, the band has toured the country and performed with The Beach Boys, Bon Jovi, and Huey Lewis. They released their 12th studio album titled: “Duo Numero Uno” earlier this year and ha...

Patrice Bailey (MS '01 Agricultural Education and Studies) joins us Live from Cy's Lounge to talk about his role as Assistant Commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

Brent Blum (A)('07 journalism) joins us Live from Cy's Lounge to preview the upcoming Iowa State Men's and Women's Basketball seasons. As a broadcaster with the Cyclone Radio Network, Brent has also been up-close at every Cyclone football game and gives his insights on the season so far. Brent is also the Director of Development at the Ivy College of Business through the Iowa State University Foun...

Deborah Turner (L)('73 distributed studies), president of the League of Women Voters of the U.S., joins us Live from Cy's Lounge for a virtual Q&A to discuss the recent election, her career as a gynecological oncologist, and memories from being a student at Iowa State.

Greg Smith (L)('91 occupational safety, MPA '10)is the fire chief for the City of Cedar Rapids Fire Department and current ISUAA Board Member. He joins us Live from Cy's Lounge to talk about serving as incident commander for the city’s disaster response after the derecho storm in May, as well as the floods of 2008 and 2016.

Kristen Obbink (A)(DVM '11), Iowa State University’s COVID-19 public health coordinator, talks about her role leading the university’s comprehensive strategy to mitigate the risk of coronavirus spread on campus.

Buffy Peters ('12 child, adult and family services), director of Hamilton's Academy of Grief & Loss in Des Moines, talks about how she's using her Iowa State education to help people grieving the loss of a loved one during the pandemic.

Jeff Joniak ('84 journalism) is currently in his 24th season calling games on the radio for the Chicago Bears of the NFL. As a student at Iowa State, Joniak discovered sportscasting and got his start calling baseball, basketball, and football games for the student radio station. Tune in to find out how he went from doing radio in the basement of Friley Hall to announcing a Super Bowl game.

Hatched at Iowa State's Homecoming on Oct. 16, 1954, Cy celebrates his birthday during homecoming each year. We sat down with three Iowa State alums from different decades who used to be Cy, to talk about what it's like being the school's beloved mascot.

To kick off Iowa State Homecoming 2020: Cardinal & Bold, we are celebrating 40 years of the ISU Alumni Band! Hear from alums of all different decades about what it's like to march on the field at Jack Trice Stadium and why it's important to keep the band tradition alive each homecoming.

Casey Neubauer ('13 public relations), co-founder and executive director of Creating for Justice, joins us to talk about his non-profit that offers artistic and other professional services in exchange for donations to support anti-racist organizations.

Lisa Uhl (A)(DVM '18, '08 biology) is a four-time NCAA D-I track & field champion at Iowa State, ran in the 2012 Olympics, and is now a resident pathologist at the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine.