Lifelong Learner Hall of Fame announces inductees

BELLE PLAINE — Two legendary Iowans and a life-changing Iowa organization will enter the Lifelong Learner Hall of Fame this year.

All have given Iowa and Iowans decades of service and decades of promoting lifelong learning.

The Lifelong Learner Hall of Fame was established in 2017 to celebrate Iowans who have made Iowa a stronghold of lifelong learning, and to help promote lifelong learning through recognizing, documenting and sharing their accomplishments.

The program is sponsored by the Wallace and Beverly Winkie Foundation.

Jim Leach, Robert D. Ray, and Brucemore, Inc. have opened doors, creating opportunities for educators, artists, researchers, historians, and anyone wishing to learn. They have long been celebrated for inspiring learners and for caring for and about Iowans of all ages.

Jim Leach spent 30 years representing Iowa and Iowans in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was co-founder of Congressional Humanities Caucus, established to ensure the vitality of the humanities in American life.

Leach later chaired the National Endowment for the Humanities, a position he held for four years. He held academic positions at Princeton, Harvard and the University of Iowa and held fourteen honorary degrees.

Robert D. Ray served as Iowa’s 38th governor from 1969 to 1983. He championed equitable education through the school foundation plan, supported children's development by establishing the Iowa Council for Children and advanced gender equality by establishing the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women.

In the 1990s, Ray helped form the Institute for Character Development at Drake University now known as The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake.

Brucemore, Inc. was founded in 1981 to preserve the historic Brucemore estate, inspire community interaction and champion the arts. Under their innovative leadership, the nonprofit has created a state and national center for lifelong learning opportunities.

Over the years it has hosted both live and online performances, presentations, tours and workshops. Brucemore established an artisan studio to provide artists with access to mentors, technology, audiences and community.

Past honorees for the Hall of Fame include Elaine Estes; Betty Andrews; Tim Charles; Rowena Crosbie; Jacquie Easley McGee; Iowa State Rep. Ruth Ann Gaines; Kathy Good; Terry Hernandez; Iowa State Senator Izaah Knox; Dr. Cindy Waters; Kirkwood Community College; Amb. Mary Kramer, ret.; Jacquie McTaggart; Martha Quint; Iowa Public Television (now Iowa PBS); and Nancylee Siebemann.

More information about the program can be found on their website (parkitvirtualmuseum.com).