Regents History: December 10-11, 1953
Board Membership
- Dwight Rider, President, Fort Dodge
- Estelle Archie, Shenandoah
- Laura Jean Brooks, Mount Vernon
- Carl Fredricksen, Sioux City
- Vincent Hamilton, Hampton (Absent)
- Harry Hagemann, Waverly
- Richard Plock, Burlington (Absent)
- Roy Stevens, Ottumwa
- Clifford Strawman, Anamosa
Highlights
University of Iowa President Virgil Hancher recommended a 10-year contract be awarded to head football coach Forest Evashevski, effective February 1, 1954. Hancher’s recommendation came in spite of Evashevski’s 7-10-1 combined record as head coach during the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Evashevski’s Hawkeyes would find success behind All-American Quarterback Ken Ploen and Tackle Alex Karras, with Rose Bowl victories in 1957 and 1959. In addition, Evashevski’s 1958 team would earn a National Championship nod from the Football Writers Association of America.
Board Secretary David Dancer reported that the Budget and Financial Control Committee had approved the construction of Iowa State’s forthcoming Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL). The VDL, founded in 1946, was housed in the basement of the ISU Quadrangle, now Lagomarcino Hall. This expansion, completed in 1956, would provide the VDL its first dedicated space on campus just north of the Quadrangle. The VDL’s rapid growth throughout the 1960s would require further expansion and an entirely new facility south of campus was completed in 1976. Further expansions occurred in 2008 with the opening of the Hixson-Lied Small Animal Hospital and the Large Animal Hospital, and in 2024 with the VDL Phase 1 expansion.
The Board accepted the trust of Eudora F. McGregor, which was turned over to the state for the purposes of providing scholarships to worthy blind children through the Iowa School for the Blind. The McGregor Scholarship was established in 1955 and continues operation through Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (IESBVI) to this day.
