AMES, Iowa – Seventy-three years after he completed his last class at Iowa State University, Raymond “Ray” Peter Carroll will posthumously be awarded his bachelor’s degree in agricultural business and rural administration during the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Convocation May 16 in Hilton Coliseum.
“It was very exciting to learn that after all these years, he will be receiving his degree. It’s been long overdue,” said Chris Carroll, Ray’s son.
Ray was born in 1926 and grew up on the family farm in New Haven. He graduated from Osage High School in 1943, and in September of that year, joined the Army Air Corps. He attended basic training before leaving for bomber gunner school at Kingman Army Airfield in Kingman, Arizona. Chris said his father was a great fit to be a bomber gunner, standing at just 5 feet, 5 ½ inches tall, the perfect size to get into tight spaces on planes.
After being honorably discharged from the Air Corps, Ray attended Iowa State on the GI Bill from 1945-1946, and again in 1952. He took classes related to agricultural engineering, farm operation, agricultural business and rural administration. It is unclear why he did not receive a degree given all the credits he earned.
Ray then worked alongside his father on the family’s farm and at some elevators and various agricultural businesses before purchasing a farm near Little Cedar in 1958. He died March 10, 1966, in Iowa City.
Chris, who was 5 years old when Ray died, has been on a mission since 1989 to determine why his father was never awarded a degree. After running into several dead ends, a chance encounter with Daniel Robison, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Alison Parker, executive assistant in the dean’s office, one day in Curtiss Hall on Iowa State’s campus led to the information Chris needed. With assistance along the way from former CALS Assistant Dean Howard Tyler, University Registrar Jennifer Suchan, and approval from Iowa State Provost Jason Keith, the process was put into motion for this recognition.
Chris and one of his sisters, Mary Jo Johnson, will attend CALS Convocation to receive the posthumous degree on their father’s behalf.
“It will be such a special honor to present this posthumous degree to Ray’s family. While we wish he were still here with us to receive it in person, it is important to recognize and celebrate his studies and accomplishments while here as a student more than 70 years ago, as an agriculturist and a great Iowan,” Robison said.
CALS Convocation will take place Friday, May 16, at 9 a.m. in Hilton Coliseum. Those who cannot make it in person can watch the CALS Convocation livestream.
Contact
Whitney Baxter, Agriculture and Life Sciences Communications, 515-294-2314, wjsager@iastate.edu