Thank you all for coming today to this very important gathering that focuses on one of the most crucial areas for the advancement of our state and our society as a whole. We at the UI are proud to host this celebration of STEM featuring FIRST, and I welcome you to our university and the Iowa City community. I also give special thanks to Governor Branstad, Lieutenant Governor Reynolds, my Regents university colleagues Presidents Allen and Leath, J. P....
August 25, 2012
Henry B. Tippie Annex Dedication and Ribbon-Cutting
It is a great honor and a personal delight for me to join you today at this special celebration. I thank the museum and Henry Tippie for making this annex a reality and for giving Belle Plaine residents and everyone who visits here the opportunity to learn about the amazing legacy of this very important figure in Iowa history....
August 19, 2012
On Iowa! Opening Convocation
The beginning of a new academic year always brings us together as a united university community. That’s one of the reasons I love this ceremony so much—to see this large crowd of new students ready to embark on a new phase of life, coming here to the UI from many different places across the state, from across the country, and even from around the world. While we are a big place with many people from many places, we find common purpose in our dedication to each other and to our educational mission. We are all part of the Hawkeye family....
July 6, 2012
Shanghai Writers Association Visit
On behalf of the University of Iowa, I would like to welcome you to this very special gathering of remarkable talent. I would also like to thank all of you for the wonderful welcome and gracious hospitality that you have offered to us on our visit to your country and city. We very much appreciate the warmth with which you have greeted us. I would especially like to thank Wang Anyi, an alumnus of the International Writing Program and the president of the Shanghai Writers Association, as well as Wu Xinwei from the Chinese Writers Association, as our hosts for this special event....
July 4, 2012
UI Foundation/UI Alumni Association Presidential Reception
Thank you to the UI Foundation and the UI Alumni Association for everything they do to make the University of Iowa one of the world’s great institutions of higher education.I would also like to recognize a very special guest and thank him for honoring us with his presence this evening. Joining us is an outstanding University of Iowa alumnus, Chang Sheng-Ford, the previous Deputy Finance Minister of Taiwan, who earned a UI economics graduate degree around 1980. In early June, he stepped up to the minister position. Please welcome Minister Chang Sheng-Ford....
July 1, 2012
International MBA Commencement
Welcome to our honored guests, to my University of Iowa colleagues, to family and friends, and, most especially, to our graduates. It is my great pleasure to share with you this once-in-a-lifetime occasion, and it is my extraordinary privilege to speak with you here today in Hong Kong....
May 12, 2012
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Commencement
Good morning, and welcome to the graduates, to my faculty and staff colleagues, to other University of Iowa students, to family and friends, and to honored guests. It is my great pleasure to share with you this once-in-a-lifetime occasion. Many people have made this day possible. Out there in the audience are parents, grandparents, husbands, wives, partners, significant others, children, brothers, sisters, and many other relatives and friends of the graduates. We thank you, too—everyone here who has made this day possible!...
May 11, 2012
Carver College of Medicine Commencement "Greeting from the University"
I am delighted to join you today and to bring you “greetings from the University.” I offer my heartiest congratulations to all the graduates at this very special moment in your lives. But I also want to extend a special greeting - and thanks - to all the family and friends who are with us here today, and to those who couldn’t be here but have been an important part of your medical school journey. I know that, as medical students, you make enormous sacrifices, in many ways, to pursue your dreams....
May 1, 2012
5th Global University Summit Panel: “Establishing Successful International Collaborations”
We very much believe in international exchange and collaboration at the University of Iowa. I believe our experience demonstrates well how public universities in particular have developed their global consciousness and international presence over time. Our first degree conferred on an international student was in 1864, when John Rapier of Kingston, Jamaica, earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the UI. In 1890, Professor of Natural Science Charles Nutting began his international expeditions for the Museum of Natural History....
April 18, 2012
Dan Gable Statue Unveiling
It is a true pleasure to join you today at this very special celebration. The excitement and anticipation over the USA Olympic Wrestling Trials on our campus and in our community are electric. We are very proud to host this national event with international importance. And I am proud that our visitors will be greeted by this wonderful new recognition of a wrestling legend....