Academic Programs

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture supports academic programs at Iowa State University in a variety of ways. 

Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture

The Sustainable Agriculture (SUSAG) program at Iowa State University equips students to have a positive global impact by training them to think across disciplines to tackle real-world challenges in food security, environmental quality, and community development. The graduate program is intended to integrate knowledge and problem-solving skills from the agricultural sciences with those from ecology, the social sciences, and ethics. The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has provided financial support to students in the program since its inception in 2003. 

Sustainable Agriculture Graduate Program

Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture

The Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture is an endowed faculty position within the Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The Leopold Center has obligated $20,000 annually to support the activities of the Wallace Chair since its inception. The Chair was established in 1997 with gifts from the Wallace Genetic Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Wallace was the founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred, a U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1933-1940), a U.S. Vice-President (1941-1945), and a U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1945-1946). He was an Iowan, an ardent conservationist, a fervent supporter of rural communities, and a progressive leader in the fight to alleviate global hunger and poverty. The Wallace Chair was established as a faculty position at Iowa State University to ensure his ideas would be shared with future generations. Holders of the Wallace Chair are expected to:

• Provide leadership for the development and implementation of major educational and research programs concerning the sustainability of current and future agricultural practices;
• Explore new structures and relationships among the environmental community, consumers, agricultural producers, universities, and industry and governmental bodies;
• Enhance Iowa State University’s ability to influence, support, and lead toward timely and appropriate changes for rural society, and better position the university to serve tomorrow’s agriculture; and
• Develop educational materials and programs and report research findings to the scientific community, the citizens of Iowa, and the nation.

In addition to the representatives of the Wallace Genetic Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, signatories to the memorandum of understanding creating the Wallace Chair included Iowa State University’s President, the President of the ISU Foundation, the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The Iowa State chairs are part of a network of sustainability fellows around the country who hold Kellogg-sponsored positions.