A named professorship steeped in history, gifted by an alum with deep family ties to Iowa State, is advancing the work of two prominent engineering researchers.
The Vlasta Klima Balloun Professor of Engineering—actually two professorships—is a title now held by Balaji Narasimhan, associate dean for research in the College of Engineering and a professor of chemical and biological engineering, and Hans van Leeuwen, a professor in the department of civil, construction and environmental engineering.
Funding for the professorships was provided by longtime college supporter James Balloun, a 1960 graduate of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering. Balloun is a retired CEO of Acuity Brands, a company that specializes in providing chemical products in institutional, industrial, and retail markets.
“I’m incredibly honored and grateful,” Narasimhan said. “It’s especially important to acknowledge such generosity and supporting coming from an alum.”
Added van Leeuwen, “Of course it’s a great honor to get a professorship of this nature, and this one is of particular significance because it comes from Jim Balloun.”
Both researchers, having emigrated to the United States (Narasimhan from India, and van Leeuwen from the Netherlands, via South Africa, via Australia), hold a special appreciation for the namesake of their professorships.
Vlasta Klima Balloun was the child of Bohemian immigrants. With a grade school education, she was the only adult in her immediate family who could read, which she did for her husband, Van, and their children. The Ballouns, who farmed in Iowa, sent their two sons, Charles and Stanley, to Iowa State—making them the first two students ever to attend from Tama County.
Charles returned to Tama to become a successful farmer and eventually a senator in the Iowa legislature. Stanley taught in high school for 15 years, served as a superintendent of two USDA experiment stations in Alaska for 5 years, and eventually returned to Iowa State in 1949, at age 42, to earn a PhD in poultry nutrition. He joined the faculty and led the science of treating soy beans for turkey feed until he retired at age 70.
“Vlasta Klima Balloun is an example, I believe, of the ambition, hard work, and commitment to education shown by many Iowa farm families,” said James Balloun of his grandmother. “Their reflection can be seen today in the history and accomplishments of Iowa State.”
Narasimhan said the professorship will allow him to pursue more in-depth research on the topic of vaccines. His research group focuses on the use of polymers and biomaterials as delivery platforms for vaccines, which has profound implications for making vaccines more effective and more available to wider populations. His approach is needle-free and may eliminate the need for follow-up boosters – two critical aspects for those who live in remote areas or developing nations.
“We’re using plastics to trick the body into developing an immune system response,” he said. “It’s a very exciting field.”
Funding provided by the professorship will also open more options for Narasimhan to pursue publications and form collaborations with other groups. “Collaborations are especially important with this sort of research,” he said.
In a distinctly different line of research, van Leeuwen is also investigating ways to make fundamental improvements in daily life. His work with fungi addresses two primary needs: food and fuel.
“I believe that the possibility strongly exists to feed the hungry third world with fungi,” he said. The nutritious, protein rich fungal cells that van Leeuwen grows in his lab can be derived from the by-products of ethanol production.
But fungal species can also be grown to make oil, van Leeuwen said, and he plans to use some of the professorship funding to develop the methodology. He performed some preliminary studies in 2009 using concentrates from wastewater treatment. “We’re not going to solve the world’s oil crisis,” he said, “but it will help.”
Jonathan Wickert, dean of the College of Engineering, expressed his appreciation to Jim Balloun for establishing the professorships.
“The college is proud of the work being done by Balaji and Hans,” he said, “and we’re looking forward to the advancements in their field that will now be made possible by the professorships.”