Long-time staffer recalls early days at the Center
When Ken Anderson joined the Leopold Center in July 1989, the organization's first employee, director Dennis Keeney, had been in Ames less than a year. Keeney and his new associate, Bruce Brown, had set up shop in two small offices on the third floor of ISU's Agronomy Hall.
The Leopold Center began as a grant-making agency funded with some of the revenue from a new state tax on the sale of fertilizers and pesticides. That charge required someone to negotiate the paper trail, set up spending accounts for research projects, prepare financial statements to satisfy reporting requirements and help keep track of the center's finances.
Not quite 14 years later, the Center has funded more than 250 competitive grants totaling more than $10 million as well as numerous other projects, educational events and interdisciplinary research teams. The organization has grown from a new idea to an entity that has been recognized nationally and internationally. Throughout those years of growth and change, Anderson has been the Center's account specialist. At the end of December he will leave to operate his own investment consulting firm in Ames.
"I've been interested in financial planning for a long time, since high school," said Anderson, who is 46. "I figured if I was ever going to do something like this, now would be the time."
Although the number of funded projects is down this year, the Leopold Center has had at least 40 to 50 competitive grant projects underway at any given time. Other work, including projects directed by as many as six interdisciplinary issue teams might involve up to 100 organizations or principal investigators, Anderson said.
"In the early years we probably had more national name recognition than statewide recognition," Anderson said. "It was such a new idea to fund this kind of work from a state tax."
Anderson said the Center's first director also had a difficult task to build support as well as help people understand the concept of sustainable agriculture.
"Dennis already was a well-recognized scientist in soil and water quality," Anderson said. "But he decided as soon as his feet hit the Iowa pavement that he didn't want the Leopold Center to be just another state agency. He worked to put the Leopold Center out front as its own entity even though we're very much linked to ISU."
"Ken has been a very important part of the Center from its earliest days and represents to me the soul of the Center," said Keeney. "He always ‘walked the talk' of sustainable agriculture and kept us from making some fiscal miscues. He thoughtfully supplied his insights into the decisions the Leopold Center had to make on a daily basis."
Anderson, who grew up in Ames, also has strong personal ties to Iowa agriculture. As a child, he recalls visiting his great-grandfather's farm, 80 acres along the Skunk River near Hickory Park restaurant on South Duff in Ames. Frequent Sunday dinners at his grandfather's farm provided the opportunity for a new generation to learn to appreciate the farming lifestyle. Members of his father's family, who immigrated from Norway in the 1800s, farmed near Nevada and established several farming communities throughout Iowa. An aunt operates a family farm north of Luther.
In his spare time, Anderson enjoys operating an amateur radio station. He holds an Extra Class license, callsign NØAS, and has made contact with operators in nearly 200 countries. He also is one of a team of Volunteer Examiners who regularly test individuals seeking to get or upgrade their current license.
The Leopold Center's finances will be managed under an agreement between the Center and the College of Agriculture budget and finance office under the direction of administrative specialist Amy Rogers.