Commencement Speakers

Graduate Ceremony: Kevin Schalinske

Dr. Schalinske is currently a Morrill Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University.  A Morrill Professor recognizes faculty for outstanding success in teaching and learning, which is reflected by a national or international reputation. Dr. Schalinske is currently the Vice President for the American Society for Nutrition, a professional organization consisting of over 8,000 members. He will begin his term as President on August 1, 2023 and lead the American Society for Nutrition Board of Directors for the following year. Dr. Schalinske is also an Associate Editor for The Journal of Nutrition, the flagship peer-reviewed research publication for the society. 

Dr. Schalinske has been an active member of the graduate faculty at Iowa State University since 1999, including serving as the inaugural Director of Graduate Education for the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences. He received the Margaret Ellen White Graduate Faculty Award in 2019 for his mentoring of graduate students. Dr. Schalinske received the American Society for Nutrition ELR Stokstad Award for outstanding research contributions in the field of nutritional sciences. His professional service includes serving as a regular 4-year member of a National Institutes of Health Study Section and as the Panel Manager for a USDA Graduate Education Fellowship program for 4 years.  Dr. Schalinske’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the USDA National Research Initiative, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the American Institute for Cancer Research, the Cancer Prevention and Research Foundation, the American Egg Board, the National Dairy Council, and the Soy Health Research Program. He has served as a reviewer for over 100 different peer-reviewed journals and over 50 different funding agencies globally. 

In addition to research and graduate education, Dr. Schalinske has received numerous teaching awards at Iowa State University and was the recipient of a USDA Food and Agricultural Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, as well as the Board on Human Sciences Undergraduate Research Mentor Award and the Iowa State University Rossmann Manatt Faculty Development Award to support research for women in a STEM field. Dr. Schalinske was recognized by the Office of Multicultural Affairs as a faculty member that helps students to feel welcomed,  encouraged, and supported. He was also recognized by the Board of Regents with the Regents Award for Faculty Excellence for his institutional service, which includes serving as Faculty Senate President. 

Dr. Schalinske received his B.S. in Molecular Biology in 1983, his M.S. in Nutritional Sciences in 1988, and his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences in 1992, all from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. 

Undergraduate Ceremony #1: Temple Grandin

Honorary Degree Recipient (Doctor of Science)

Temple Grandin is a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed for handling livestock are used by many companies around the world. She has also been instrumental in implementing animal welfare auditing programs that are used by McDonalds, Wendy’s, Whole Foods, and other corporations.

Temple has appeared on numerous TV shows such as 20/20 and Prime Time. Her books include: Thinking in Pictures, Livestock Handling and Transport and The Autistic Brain. Her books Animals in Translation and Visual Thinking have been on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Temple was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in September 2017 and in 2022 was named a Colorado State University Distinguished Professor.

An HBO movie that won five Emmy’s was made about Temple’s life. Dr. Grandin had no speech until age four and she is autistic. Her mother encouraged her ability in art and she had many good teachers and mentors. Mr. Carlock, her high school science teacher, got her motivated to study hard so she could become a scientist. 

Temple started her livestock career in Arizona and she became the livestock editor for the state’s farm magazine. When she started her design work on cattle handling facilities, Temple used a portfolio of drawings and photographs of completed projects to sell her work. Showing a portfolio of work is one of the best ways for a socially awkward autistic person to get employment. 

Temple received her Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois and she is now teaching classes on livestock handling and doing research at Colorado State University. She has used money earned from both books and speaking engagements to pay for scholarships for over 20 graduate students in Animal Science. Her students have conducted research in a variety of subjects ranging from cattle temperament and weight gain, to visual perception of horses, and stress in shelter dogs.

Undergraduate Ceremony #2: Jahmy Hindman

Jahmy Hindman is Chief Technology Officer of Deere & Company, a position he has held since July 2020. In this role, Jahmy is responsible for building Deere's “tech stack,” the company’s intuitive end-to-end equipment solution made up of hardware and devices, embedded software, connectivity, data platforms, and applications. He will lead the company’s Intelligent Solutions Group, the global network of technology/innovations centers, and the shared engineering function.

Working in both the Agricultural & Turf and Construction & Forestry divisions, Jahmy brings more than 20 years of advance technology, artificial intelligence, product engineering, and manufacturing experience to the role. Most recently, Jahmy led the engineering team for Deere’s flagship product line.

Jahmy's previous leadership assignments include Global Manager, Architectures, Systems and Modules; platform architect for the tractor product lines; Manager, Large Tractor Chassis; general manager and engineering manager at Deere’s construction-equipment factory in Tianjin, China; product marketing manager and engineering supervisor for four-wheel-drive construction loaders. He joined John Deere 1996 as a test engineer working on backhoes and crawlers.

Jahmy holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University as well as master's and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Saskatchewan. His doctorate focused on the application of artificial neural networks in heavyequipment applications. Jahmy currently sits on the Industrial Advisory Council for Iowa State University’s College of Engineering and the Executive Advisory Board, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST). He also is the lead for the Technology Leadership and Strategy Initiative for the US Council for Competitiveness.

Undergraduate Ceremony #3: Trudy Huskamp Peterson

Honorary Degree Recipient (Doctor of Humane Letters)

Born in Iowa, Trudy Huskamp Peterson is an archival consultant and certified archivist. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Iowa. She spent twenty-four years with the U.S. National Archives, including more than two years as Acting Archivist of the United States. She was the founding Executive Director of the Open Society Archives in Budapest, Hungary, and then the director of Archives and Records Management for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

She is a past president of the International Conference of the Round Table on Archives (1993-1995) and the Society of American Archivists (1990-1991) and chaired the International Council on Archives’ Human Rights Working Group (2009-2016) and the working group on a standard for access to archives. She consulted with truth commissions in South Africa and Honduras, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Nuclear Claims Tribunal of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the police archives in Guatemala.

Among her many publications are Final Acts:  A Guide to Preserving the Records of Truth Commissions; Temporary Courts, Permanent Records covering five temporary international criminal courts; and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: an archival commentary; she writes a monthly newsletter on archives and human rights. She received the Emmett Leahy Award in 2018 and was named a fellow by the International Council on Archives in 2022.