Chuck and Barbara Grassley establish endowed professorship at UNI
Last spring UNI received a gift through a provision in the estate of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and his wife, Barbara, which will be used to endow a professorship in political science.
“When I was at Iowa State Teachers College, now UNI, I received a world-class education from outstanding professors like Dr. Erma Plaehn, Dr. George Robinson and Dr. Leland Sage. Today, faculty members continue a tradition of excellence. Looking ahead, the recruitment of top-notch teachers is fundamental to UNI’s strength and the education of the next generation,” said Sen. Grassley.
“We received excellent educations and are both proud graduates of UNI. Now, as we look to the future of our alma mater, we want to be sure new students have the same kind of opportunities to learn from the best professors, whether the students are recently out of high school like Chuck was, or returning to the classroom after a long absence like me,” said Barbara Grassley.
Both Grassleys are UNI graduates. Sen. Grassley received a bachelor’s degree in political-science education in 1955, and a master’s degree in social-science education in 1956, from the Iowa State Teachers College. Today, he is an honorary trustee of the UNI Foundation, an honorary UNI athletics letter winner, and an honorary member of the UNI chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society. Barbara Grassley received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from UNI in 1983. She became a UNI student in 1954 but left for 26 years to raise their five children.
The professorship, housed in the Department of Political Science, will be called the Chuck and Barbara Grassley Endowed Professorship in Political Science.
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Theatre UNI students get five days of big city and bright lights
Robert O. Wise sends students to Broadway
 Travis Walker and Julie Baldwin experienced the lights on Broadway firsthand during a five-day theatre study tour to New  York City. They were the first UNI theatre students to benefit from the Robert O. Wise Broadway Tour Endowment.
In 1950 Robert Wise completed his degree at Iowa State Teachers College in communication/theatre education. He served 34 years on the administrative staff at Rochester Community College in Minnesota until he retired in 1991. When he passed away in 2005, a generous estate gift created an endowment to provide funds for two outstanding theatre students. The fund pays all travel expenses, lodging, meals and tickets for at least four Broadway productions.
Walker and Baldwin saw many of the Big Apple sights and spent time with other UNI theatre alumni. Jess White, ’04; Katie-Sue Nicklos, ’04; Shannon Patterson, ’00; Mike Giese, ’00; Matt Mullin, ’97; Janet Casson, ’00; and Sara Overgaard, ‘00 shared their experiences, gave advice and offered to be resources in the future.
For Baldwin, the visit to New York City was a dream come true.
“I believe this amazing experience did exactly what Robert Wise wanted,” she said. “We saw every aspect of the city, so it became a place where real people lived and worked and not just a giant tourist trap.”
The trip was a big confidence boost for Walker.
“Just being in the city, getting acclimated with modes of transportation and such made me much more comfortable with New York,” he said. “And meeting alumni from Theatre UNI and hearing their stories made it seem possible to make the move, instead of this huge death defying leap that I would one day have to take.”
UNI theatre department head and associate professor Eric Lange accompanied the students.
“As well as seeing some top-notch productions, it was exciting to see the students connect with Theatre UNI alumni who are active in a variety of theatrical pursuits. They were able to answer the students’ questions about how they found success in the city, and to offer insights about how to get and keep work in theatre,” he said. “The students who went on the trip came away with a much clearer picture of their own interests and their perspective of life after college.”
In addition to the Robert O. Wise Broadway Tour Endowment, UNI also will benefit from the Robert O. Wise Endowed Fund for Theatre Excellence to meet unrestricted needs in the Department of Theatre.
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