Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

The Shivvers Memorial Lecture Series

What is the Shivvers Memorial Lecture Series?

Since 1969, the Shivvers Memorial Lecture Series has brought distinguished speakers to Iowa State University to speak about the ways agriculture can sustain rather than destroy natural resources, its responsibility to both the land and the farmer, and its interdependence in the web of life. The annual lecture series is sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, the ISU Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta Honorary Society for Agriculture, and the ISU Committee on Lectures (funded by the Government Student Body).

Whom does it honor?

L.C. (John) Shivvers was born in 1894 on Fair Acres Farm near Knoxville, Iowa, and became a pioneer of sustainable agriculture. Although he never attended ISU or even graduated from grade school, he became a leader and a role model in his community for his innovative farming practices. His experience in the Dust Bowl in the 1930s made him committed to soil conservation.

In 1924 John married Vera Hollowell, who joined him at the Shivvers family farm. They had three daughters, whose names now are Marietta Shivvers Carr, Martha Shivvers Skillman and Charlotte Shivvers. John Shivvers was elected to the Iowa Senate in 1962, but he passed away that December, before he could take office. In a special election Vera took his place for the next two years, becoming the third woman to serve in the Iowa Senate. In 1969 she coordinated with ISU to establish the Shivvers Lecture Series as a lasting memorial to her husband. The Shivvers family continues to farm in Iowa and oversee the lecture series today.

A speaker for the 2013 lecture has been selected - details here.

Series Speakers

Sandra Steingraber

March 4, 2012
"Environmental Pollution, Climate Change and Our Health"
Sandra Steingraber, Author and scholar-in-residence, Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Ithaca College
takle

February 6, 2011
"Will Climate Change Impact the Sustainability of Iowa's Farms?"
Gene Takle, Director of ISU's Climate Science Initiative

masumoto

February 28, 2010
"Wisdom of the Last Farmer, Why Memory Matters: Transformative Farming and Flavors"
David Mas Masumoto, farmer and author

levins

March 1, 2009
"Why Don't We Have Sustainable Agriculture Now?"
Richard Levins, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota

ikerd

February 24, 2008
"Family Farms in an Era of Global Uncertainty"
John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri-Columbia

berry

April 15, 2007
"A Conversation with Wendell Berry"
Wendell Berry, farmer, writer, philospher and conservationist

jackson

October 19, 2005
"The Farm as Natural Habitat"
Laura Jackson, professor in the Department of Biology, University of Northern Iowa