The Alpha Iowa Chapter of Tau Beta Pi has been selected to receive a Governor’s Volunteer Award for outstanding commitment and service to their community and across the state of Iowa.
Long history of excellence and service
Tau Beta Pi was established at Iowa State in 1907 and has initiated over 7,500 members. The mission of this organization is to recognize accomplishments among engineering students and professionals, celebrate exemplary people and their important engineering contributions to society, and champion engineering as a highly valued career.
The Iowa Alpha Chapter is one of the most celebrated chapters in the nation, and they have just added a Governor’s Volunteer Award to their honors. Their work with K-12 students in an annual roller coaster competition, their Building the Future event on campus, and a variety of other community-based activities allows them to make a difference in the lives of Ames residents. The Iowa Alpha Chapter’s dedication to volunteering on Adopt-a-Highway to meet essential needs across Iowa is recognized in this award.
Iowa Alpha has worked with Adopt-a-Highway since 1990, and in that time, their stretch of adopted highway has transformed from rural to becoming populated and commercial.
Leading next-gen Cyclone Engineers
LeVern Faidley has been the chief advisor for the Iowa Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi for 10 years, and he received the national 2017 TBP Outstanding Advisor award.
Iowa Alpha has maintained its level of excellence and dedication by “having active and engaged chapter officers and, particularly in recent years, relatively large numbers of new members joining Tau Beta Pi each semester,” said Faidley.
As well as active and engaged members, the chapter’s advisors are exceptional. Chapter advisors include world-renowned engineers who mentor and support Tau Beta Pi members. The Iowa Alpha chapter has had “four chapter advisors selected to receive the Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Advisor Award, which is awarded to one advisor each year from among the 250 Chapters and over 1,000 chapter advisors in the Tau Beta Pi Association,” said Faidley. All of the advisors that have received this award are still actively serving.
The Governor’s Volunteer Award is dedicated to people who volunteer their time, talent, and efforts to an organization to deliver on its mission. There are different awards for individuals, a pair or small group, and a group award. Tau Beta Pi has earned a group award, nominated by Shannon Anderson of the Iowa Department of Transportation.