18 students chosen for Vermeer International Leadership Program

CATEGORIES: May 2015, Voices

Eighteen Iowa State University students were chosen in April to participate in the 2015-2016 inaugural year of the Vermeer International Leadership
Program.

Students selected are: Madison Abel, supply chain management; Dequan Burnside, software engineering; Olivia Carrasco, mechanical engineering; Alexander
DeGaetano, pre-business; James Hartley, agricultural engineering; Francis Kelly, mechanical engineering; Carter Kemmet, statistics; Cassie Krebill, animal
science; Adamarie Marquez-Acevedo, animal science; Dakota Olson, global resource systems; Christina Paulson, accounting; Nurul Ahmad Ridzuan, geology; Reed
Rognes, accounting; Arlette Rufer, industrial engineering; Elijah Sents, agricultural systems technology; Madelyn Sislow, animal ecology; Erika Suessmith,
animal science; and Minhao Wang, mechanical engineering.

The Vermeer International Leadership Program is a year-long, in-depth leadership experience, in which students will learn how companies operate on an
international scale. The program is sponsored by Vermeer Corp., a global industrial and agricultural equipment company, and coordinated through Iowa
State’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, which facilitates the university’s leadership studies program.

This new leadership program will take Iowa State students beyond the classroom to better understand global challenges – such as clean drinking water,
poverty and food insecurity – and the impact for international corporations.

The 18 students selected will identify and research a global challenge as part of their leadership courses, address those challenges through local service
projects and travel to Vermeer’s headquarters in Pella, Iowa, to interview employees and participate in case studies. They will also spend a week at a
Vermeer facility in Europe, Asia or South America over winter break.

“Students will experience an intense year of leadership development,” said Clint Stephens, lecturer in leadership studies, who will coordinate the program.
“It will positively change the lives of participants as they build their skillset for leading in our global community.”

The leadership program will launch this summer, and a new cohort of 18 students will participate every year over the first four years of the program. All
full-time Iowa State students are eligible to apply. Students are selected through an application and interview process, with priority given to students
who have an interest in engineering, business or agriculture.

“Congratulations to the students selected. This program is an exciting new way for us to contribute to the development of future leaders in the state of
Iowa and beyond,” said Mary Andringa, CEO and chair of the board at Vermeer Corp. “We look forward to engaging with these students both on campus and
during their trip abroad at our international facilities.”

Vermeer’s financial support for the program will provide each student with a travel stipend and a $2,000 scholarship.