AIB Announces Lineup for Second Colston Speaker Series

A news release:

AIB College of Business has announced its second season of events honoring the late Des Moines civic leader Monroe Colston, who along with his wife, Frances, was a longtime Urbandale resident.

On Oct. 23, Brian O. Brown, associate athletic director at Drake University and director of Drake Relays, will be the first featured presenter at the Monroe Colston Speaker Series.

The three free speaker events – which address the relationship between success and good character, for which Colston was well-known – are open to the public and begin at 11:45 a.m. at the AIB Activities Center, 2500 Fleur Drive. Complimentary light lunches from INtheBAG will be served while quantities last.

Future speakers include: 

·                 Jan. 29, 2014 – Suku Radia, CEO and president of Bankers Trust

·                 April, 23, 2014 – Michelle Gowdy, director, Community and Academic Relations at Pioneer/Dupont

Seating is limited, and guests are asked to register for the first event by Oct. 18. Call 515-246-5101 or visit www.aib.edu to register.

Colston was a former real estate commissioner for the state of Iowa and consultant to the Greater Des Moines Foundation, serving as its president in the 1990s. Known as a nonconfrontational civil rights leader, he was inducted into the Iowa African-American Hall of Fame in 2007 and served on many business boards and councils. A week before his death at age 77 in August 2011, he was named by dsm magazine as one of Des Moines’ “Sages over 70,” a group selected for leaving a lasting impact on the community.

Earlier this year, organizers were well-pleased by the response to the first season of events associated with Colston, said AIB Vice President for Advancement Dawn Roberts.

“More than 1,000 students and community members benefitted from the first Speaker Series presentations,” Roberts said. “And a capacity crowd of community leaders and friends of Monroe gathered at the May dinner to honor his legacy. That event raised more than $91,000 for AIB scholarships.”

Roberts said the dinner’s success is a testament to the respect people have for Colston.

The second-annual Monroe Colston Scholarship Dinner is scheduled for May 1, 2014, at Wakonda Club – where Monroe and Frances Colston were the first African-American members. It again will be a fund-raiser for AIB’s Monroe Colston Diversity Scholarship fund.

Cosponsors of the events are Dupont Pioneer, Prairie Meadows and Bill and Susan Knapp. For more information, contact Roberts at 515-246-5357.