Favorite Memories:

He ordered 16,000 tulip bulbs last fall for some reason. He kept half and gave half away to faculty, security guards, and friends. - Jill Van Wyke

When we first started to roll out pcs, Bob was somewhat reluctant to get involved but plunged ahead as one of the first adopters. And then... then he got the new technology and took it to the next level. - Michael R. Cheney; Professor, Dean, Associate Provost 1981 - 2001

He never tells you what to do. He knows students know what they want to do and he lets them figure it out.- Jill Van Wyke

My favorite Bob Woodward story involves the race for the presidency in 1988. In the summer of 1987, Prof. Woodward had just purchased a new red pickup truck, replacing a yellow one that he had had for too many years. This new truck had all the options - AM radio, no air conditioning, and stick shift.

The first real venture for the truck was a campaign stop at the Eric Tabor Farm in northeast Iowa. All of the presidential candidates were slated to be there and make speeches. For those of us wanting to see all of the candidates at once, this was a perfect venue. So, Bob and I drove to the Tabor farm and set up right in front of the T.V. cameras looking directly at the podium.

At some point, Richard Gephardt took the podium and began his normal campaign speech. Woodward and I were watching attentively when we noticed right over Gephardt's shoulder a farmer and his wife getting in their family car and backing up to leave the event. As we watched, the farmer kept backing up and eventually stopped - after colliding his rear bumper with Prof. Woodward's driver side door. The farmer put it into drive and away he sped. Save for a video tape where you can barely see the farmer's car, you could always count on a great retelling whenever you asked Bob about that dent on the side of his red pickup truck.

For this story, and lots of other fun times, you deserve a great retirement Bob Woodward. You have enriched all of our lives and I will be forever grateful. - Michael R. Cheney; Professor, Dean, Associate Provost 1981 - 2001