UNI kicks off national phase of 'Students First' Campaign

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa Foundation kicked off the national phase of its "Students First" Campaign with special events Oct. 25-26. The highlight of the kickoff was an announcement that the initial goal of $75 million has been reached; a new goal of $100 million has been set.

Bill Calhoun, vice president for University Advancement, said the campaign is expected to be completed by July 2005. More than $70 million of "Students First" funds will be used for scholarships and academic programs. Funds also will support facilities, including $18 million to build the McLeodUSA Center, a multi-purpose sports arena for basketball, volleyball and wrestling. Other capital projects include McElroy Hall, which houses the Freeburg Early Childhood Program in Waterloo; a human performance center to be attached to the UNI-Dome; renovation of Russell Hall; and equipment for McCollum Science Hall and Lang Hall.

"Our vision is to make UNI the nation's finest public comprehensive university," said Calhoun.

Joy Cole Corning and Rex Eno, long-time UNI supporters, are co-chairing the national campaign. A former lieutenant governor of Iowa, Corning is an alumna who serves on the boards of nearly one dozen organizations. In 2001, she established the Joy Cole Corning Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series at UNI. Eno is chairman of Aegon USA Life Investors in Cedar Rapids, and chair of the UNI Foundation Board of Trustees. He and his wife, a UNI alumna, established the Rex and Kathy Eno Scholarship Endowment Fund at the university.

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10/28/02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Steve O'Kane, associate professor of biology, (319) 273-2219

Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761

Note to editors/news directors: a 300 dpi JPEG image of Steve O'Kane is available at http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/O'kane.jpeg

UNI names 2002-2003 Prem Sahai Distinguished Professor

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Steve O'Kane, associate professor of biology at the University of Northern Iowa, has been named the Prem Sahai Distinguished Professor for the 2002-2003 academic year. O'Kane will receive a $25,000 award which may be used for summer salary, research support, graduate assistantships, professional travel and other appropriate expenditures. He will deliver a lecture in the spring as part of the award.

The Prem Sahai Distinguished Professorship in the UNI College of Natural Sciences is awarded annually, on a rotating basis, to a tenure or tenure-track faculty member from the departments of biology, chemistry or mathematics, who has shown excellence in teaching and research and who exemplifies distinction in the particular discipline. The professorship was established in honor of the late Prem Sahai, a UNI alumnus, by his family.

A member of the UNI faculty since 1996, O'Kane specializes in the types and diversity of plants. He has discovered and named several species new to science in the course of his research. He holds a Ph.D. in evolutionary and population biology from Washington University in St. Louis. O'Kane has done extensive fieldwork in the western United States, Alaska, Mexico, central and eastern Europe, Russia, Taiwan and Japan.

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