On Wednesday, July 13, the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary Club was pleased to have th University of Iowa President Sally Mason as their guest speaker.  Sally Mason became the 20th President of The University of Iowa in 2007. She holds a full professorship with tenure in the Department of Biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She spoke to the club and visitors about the University's new strategic plan to enhance areas of strength.  The four areas included students success, improved knowledge and practice, new frontiers in the arts, and better life for Iowans.  This past fall the university had a record number of 4,500 enrolling Freshman and expect near that many this fall.  They also have over 500 veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq wars enrolled which is the largest in the country.  The University of Iowa has trained 80% of dentists and 50% of doctors practicing in the state of Iowa. There are 81,000 alumni currently living in Iowa. Mason also spoke about budgetary constraints and the benefit of partnering with community colleges.  Currently 13 of the 15 community colleges have agreements with the University of Iowa. Also attending the clubs meeting were 11 University of Iowa faculty members. Pictured is Iowa Great Lakes Rotary President Peter Van Der Linden with President Mason.