Regents History: September 1948

Board of Regents Membership

  • Henry Shull, President, Sioux City
  • Dorothy Houghton, Red Oak
  • Arneda Kyseth, Clarion
  • Halstead Carpenter, Monticello
  • Lester Gillette, Fostoria
  • W. Earl Hall, Mason City
  • Roy Louden, Fairfield
  • Richard H. Plock, Burlington
  • W.S. Rupe, Ames

Highlights

  • The Board permitted the installation of movable bleachers in the Men’s Gymnasium at the Iowa State Teacher’s College (Now UNI). The facility was renamed Gymnasium No. 1 in 1977 following the opening of the UNI-Dome. This name was poorly received by those on campus, and in 1979 the building was renamed the West Gym.
  • Preliminary sketches for a new library at the State University of Iowa were presented. The Board agreed that this portion of the new library building should “be a compact unit, nearly square” and permit future additions “with the least interruption to occupants of the building.” Construction of the Main Library began with a groundbreaking ceremony May 11, 1949, at which President Virgil Hancher declared, “Let the work begin!” The Main Library was dedicated in January 1952. 
  • The Board approved the appointment of W. Robert Parks as associate professor in the Department of History and Government, at a salary of $5,800 a year, beginning September 16, 1948. Parks would go on to become the 11th president of Iowa State, serving from 1965 until 1986. The library at ISU is named in his honor.
  • Final plans and specifications for the new Electrical Engineering building at Iowa State were approved. The EE building opened in 1950 and was named Coover Hall in 1969 in honor of Mervin S. Coover, the department’s 3rd chair. Coover Hall would undergo significant renovations in 1999 and 2008, doubling in size to reflect the growth of the department. 
     

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