Category: DU in the News

Drake Law alumna and Des Moines attorney Melinda Ellwanger is charting new territory in the Greater Des Moines legal community by setting off on her own as a freelance attorney for hire.

A public ceremony is scheduled for Friday to mark the retirement of Drake Law alumna and Iowa Court of Appeals Chief Judge Rosemary Sackett. She is the longest serving judge in the history of the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Drake MPA alumnus Ken Lopez, a veteran local government official, has been hired as full-time village administrator for Pingree Grove, Illinois.

Jerry Foxhoven, executive director of theDrake Legal Clinic, wrote a column about the Law School's new partnership with the court system. Judge Novak will be a judge in residence at the Drake Legal Clinic where he has an office and chambers in the Neal and Bea Smith Legal Clinic. The new arrangement is a service to the courts and provides new opportunities for students.

Drake alumnus Roger Williams, the pianist whose lush versions of familiar tunes like "Autumn Leaves" and "Born Free" became hit recordings in the 1950s and '60s, died on Saturday at his home in Los Angeles.

Drake University was one of 32 institutions nationwide that were part of the Apple University Consortium in the 1980s and early 1990s. Later, the university put Macintosh SE computers in every dorm room.

President David Maxwell has agreed to a multiyear contract extension. Under his tenure, the University has recorded seven straight years of budget surpluses and had a record 6,100 applications for fall 2011 undergraduate enrollment, a roughly 100 percent increase over a five-year period.

Drake University announced that it is halfway to its distinctlyDrake campaign fund-raising goal, with more than $100 million in hand. The campaign's goal is to have Drake University recognized among the best universities in the nation. Nearly 70 percent of distinctlyDrake gifts came through cash or other short-term commitments.

But for about 10 years in the early 20th century, most of the country's growers would have called the green acorn squash a "Des Moines squash." This bit of history will be highlighted next week at the annual Buy Fresh/Buy Local Harvest Party at Drake University.

Michael Renner, professor of biology and psychology, is blogging about his experience learning about opportunities for students within the Gishwati Area Conservation Program.