Empowering Students to Honor Mentors

Leo Milleman was in his first year of veterinary school at Iowa State University when he made the gut-wrenching decision to transfer.

“It was the biggest decision of my life,” Milleman said. “I loved vet school, but I wanted to use my talents to fix people.”

He credits Iowa State University professor Ellis Hicks with helping him make the difficult decision to leave the university and studies he loved to pursue medical school instead. Even though he was not Milleman’s advisor or professor, Hicks took the time to guide Milleman and “connect the dots.”

Today, Milleman and his wife, Jane, are using their philanthropy and partnering with Iowa State students to recognize faculty and staff members who go above and beyond as mentors and teachers.

Iowa State Years: ‘I love this place.’

Milleman was a high school senior in Spencer, Iowa, excelling in science and helping his mother on the family farm when he decided to become a veterinarian. He applied to only one university, Iowa State, and was accepted.

“My brother and I were the first in our extended family to go to college and to leave the farm,” said Milleman, whose father died when he was four. A small scholarship and summer work helped him cover tuition.

He took as many credits as he could at Iowa State, worked hard, and eventually joined the marching band, student government, and Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. Milleman finished his pre-veterinary school studies in two years and was accepted into the College of Veterinary Medicine.

But an idea started percolating the summer before he headed to veterinary school.

Milleman was dating Jane, whose father was a doctor. Milleman respected him and had the opportunity to watch him work. In addition, others in his life started suggesting he look at medical school. Milleman headed back to Ames but decided to apply to the University of Iowa College of Medicine and was accepted.

He wasn’t done with Iowa State, however. “I love this place, and I wanted to get a degree from Iowa State,” Milleman said. While in medical school, he took classes during the summer in Ames and earned his bachelor’s in distributed studies from Iowa State in 1969.

Leo and Jane, who received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Iowa, were also married in 1969. Leo completed an externship at Oxford University before graduating from medical school and went on to an internship in Albany, New York. Later, he finished a five-year urology residency back in Iowa City and then the couple moved to Ames – which would become their adopted home. In 2014, Leo retired after a successful 37-year career as a urologist at McFarland Clinic.

A model for giving back

The Millemans understand the power of education and the difference a mentor or teacher can have on a student’s life. They also believe in empowering students to help them recognize outstanding educators.

When the couple moved to Ames, they established a teacher of the year award at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. The medical students in each class select a professor and a resident to be recognized.

The Millemans used a similar model to provide mini-grants to teachers in the Ames Community School District, where their three children attended. Teachers apply for the grants and the student government selects the recipients. The mini-grants were established with memorial funds provided in memory of their son, John, and his wife, Katie, who were killed in a car accident in the fall of 2006. The couple was driving back to Iowa from Texas, where John was in the urology residency program at Texas A&M University, and Katie was practicing law.

Years later, the Millemans wanted to apply this same model of empowering students to recognized educators and mentors at Iowa State.

They attended an event hosted by Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen, who was then dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The couple witnessed student presentations about their academics, activities, and opportunities. The Millemans were impressed by the presentations and Wintersteen’s rapport with the students. Although they were not affiliated with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the couple was inspired by what they saw.

With proceeds from an IRA, they established the Milleman Family Mentorship Award, which recognizes Iowa State faculty or staff who go above and beyond to help undergraduate students succeed in and out of the classroom. Nominations for the award are submitted to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council, which votes to select two recipients from the nominees.

Through their giving, the Millemans are not only celebrating great mentors and educators who have made a difference but are empowering the next generation to do the same.