Dr. Lee R. Kolmer

Dr. Lee Kolmer, 82, died Monday, January 18, 2010 at Kavanagh Hospice in Des Moines, IA from congestive heart failure. Dr. Kolmer was born January 4, 1928 in Waterloo, IL where he farmed with his father. His father said one farm that could support only one of them, and his father was there first. So Lee joined the United States Army after WWII and served much of his duty in Italy and Yugoslavia. Upon return from the Army, Lee enrolled at Southern Illinois University, where he completed a B.S. and an M.S. degree from Iowa State University in 1952. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Economics in 1954 from Iowa State University.

After completion of his Ph.D. he taught at Southern Illinois University from 1954-56. He joined the Iowa State Faculty in 1956 and became an administrator of the Cooperative Extension program in 1965. He was named Associate Dean of Agriculture and Director of Extension in 1971 at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. Two years later he was named Dean of Agriculture at Iowa State University.

Lee was recognized with many honors in his professional career, but the one he treasured the most was the Faculty Citation given to him by the Iowa State Alumni Association in 1997. He was acknowledged for expanding the horizons of all students and professionals in the College of Agriculture during his 14 year tenure as Dean. He was cited for compassionate, sincere and visionary leadership during the difficult farm crisis years of the 1980. He was instrumental in forming the nationally known Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and he encouraged faculty to seek out professional and scientific cooperation with colleagues nationally and internationally. Many of those alumni who graduated under his tutelage have become leaders in industry, science, education and government.

During his tenure as Dean, he expanded the international work done by the faculty of Iowa State University. His travels on behalf of the University included Peru, China, Belgium, France, England, Spain, Morocco, Ghana, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Russia, Kenya and many more.

As Dean he mobilized grass-roots support of state agricultural leaders in a well-orchestrated funding pursuit that resulted in the construction of six major building projects and the National Soil Tilth Laboratory. He was cited by the faculty as deserving the major credit for the new meat laboratory, horticultural building, a major addition to agronomy, facilities for seed science, food technology/food science, and an addition to animal science to house a linear accelerator for research in meat and vegetable crops.

He left the Dean’s job in 1987 when he and his wife, Jean, moved to Washington, D.C. for 2 years with the U.S.D.A. He then returned to ISU as professor of economics until his retirement in 1992. After 30 years out of the classroom he quickly became a favorite teacher, with student ratings for his course on national farm policy among the highest in the department.

Dr. Kolmer was preceded in death by his mother, Carmelita; father, Arthur; sisters, Shirley Ann and Mary; and two infant brothers, James and John. He is survived by his siblings, Dorothy Dussold of Union, MO, Joe Kolmer of Columbus, OH and Elizabeth Kolmer of St. Louis, MO; his wife of nearly 58 years, Jean Kolmer, formerly of East St. Louis, IL; and their children, Diane (Bill Blum) Kolmer of West Des Moines, Jim Kolmer of St. Paul, MN and John (Clarissa Baach) Kolmer of Peoria, IL; three grandchildren, Jefferson, Neil and Zhi Yu of Peoria, IL.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations in memory of Lee be given to Haitian relief efforts through the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, the American Red Cross or any suitable aid organization. Or to Iowa State University to the Dean Lee R. Kolmer Award for Excellence in Applied Research or the Lee R. Kolmer Scholarship Fund for AgBusiness.

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