Luther College will present U.S. Senator Tom Harkin with an honorary degree

U.S. Senator Tom Harkin

Luther College will present U.S. Senator Tom Harkin an honorary degrees at Luther's Commencement ceremony Sunday, May 25th.  The college has also announced plans to give an honorary degree to Iowa State University professor of atmospheric science and agricultural meteorology Eugene Takle, director of the Climate Science Program at ISU

Senator Harkin will also serve as the Commencement speaker at the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. in Carlson Stadium. Tickets are required for admission.

Harkin has represented Iowa in Congress for nearly 40 years. First winning election to the U.S. House in 1974, he represented Iowa's Fifth Congressional District for 10 years. In 1984, Harkin challenged an incumbent senator and won. Iowans returned him to the Senate in 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008.  Harkin's signature legislative achievement, the Americans with Disabilities Act, legislated changes to provide workplace accommodations for people with disabilities and changed the landscape of America by requiring buildings and transportation to be wheelchair accessible.
           
Takle holds a 1966 bachelor's degree from Luther College and a doctoral degree from Iowa State University. He joined the ISU faculty in 1971 in the geological and atmospheric sciences, and agronomy departments and currently directs the ISU Climate Science Program.  Takle has published research on climate change for more than 20 years, primarily in the area of regional climate change and impacts of climate on the Midwest. Over the past four years, his research team has expanded its focus to include wind farm efficiency and the interactions of wind turbines with agricultural crops.

ISU Professor of Atmospheric Science Eugene Takle