AMES, Iowa – The Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication announces an endowed gift of approximately $75,000 to the Anderson-Kruse Fund for Excellence in News-Editorial Writing.
The gift was made possible by the late John Burroughs Anderson (’49, agricultural journalism) and the Anderson-Kruse family. John Anderson’s daughter Liz Anderson and her husband, Loren Kruse, established the fund in 1998. Now an endowment, the fund will benefit Greenlee students for years to come through additional scholarships, internship support and other initiatives and improvements to promote excellence in writing, reporting and editing.
John Anderson, who died June 7, operated community newspapers in Iowa. He began his career as reporter and editor in Eagle Grove. He then owned and operated newspapers in Britt and Storm Lake and was a stockholder in newspapers in Dyersville and Waukon. He received the Master Editor-Publisher Award from the Iowa Newspaper Association in 1977.
For many years, he also served as president of the J.S. Anderson Farm Corp, overseeing the Century Farm in Webster County where he was born and that was purchased by his grandfather in 1884.
John Anderson and his late wife, JoAnn Anderson, who died in 2014, had three daughters, Liz Anderson, Krista Packard and Janet Fry, and the family has many ties to the Greenlee School. Liz Anderson graduated from Iowa State in 1981 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. Kate Warnock, Liz Anderson and Kruse’s daughter, is a 2016 Greenlee School graduate with a degree in journalism and mass communication.
“The Anderson-Kruse family has a long history in Iowa journalism. Generations of their family have studied journalism at Iowa State University and gone on to impact the field. With their endowment, the family will continue to impact the field with students benefitting from scholarships, program development and technology. We are just so grateful to Liz and Loren Kruse for setting up this fund specifically for students in the Greenlee School,” said Angela Powers, Greenlee School director.