News : Lifelong Learner Hall of Fame 2025 Inductees Announced

Two beloved, legendary Iowans and a life-changing Iowa organization will enter the Lifelong Learner Hall of Fame as Class of 2025. All have given Iowa and Iowans decades of service and decades of promoting lifelong learning. 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 thirty years representing Iowa and Iowans in the US House of Representatives. There he was co-founder of Congressional Humanities Caucus, established to ensure the vitality of the humanities in American life.  He later chaired the National Endowment for the Humanities, a position he held for four years. He also 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, he 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. They established an artisan studio to provide artists with access to mentors, technology, audiences, and community.

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. 

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.

The program is sponsored by the Wallace and Beverly Winkie Foundation. More information about the program can be found on their website (parkitvirtualmuseum.com).