News

Associate Dean David Acker honored for Mpirigiti Rural Training Center

An the annual spring banquet on April 22, 2018, students and faculty honored Dr. David Acker, Associate Dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, for his leadership in the building of the Mpirigiti Training Center in Kamuli, Uganda.  Dr. Acker was a key member of a team that created the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, Iowa State University-Uganda Program and Uganda Service-Learning, School Garden Program.  As the programs have grown and engaged more members of  the Kamuli community, the need for staff offices, demonstration plots and student housing increased.  Dr. Acker committed hours of his professional and personal time to facilitating the completion of this center that will fundamentally transform the programs in Kamuli.

Over 230 Iowa State (Ames, IA) and Makerere University (Kampala Uganda) undergraduate students have participated in the Uganda Service Learning Program and with the new center, the numbers of students who can participate will continue to grow.  Honoring Dr. Acker at the banquet was small token of appreciation for a thankfulness students cannot truly express in words.  Students presented a video, a student-created watercolor painting of the Mpirigiti tree, and a basket of thank-you notes to Dr. Acker.