Former KBS director Kay Gross honored with Distinguished Alumni award

Dr. Katherine “Kay” Gross, Michigan State University distinguished professor emeritus of plant biology and a W.K. Kellogg Biological Station researcher for more than three decades, has been honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from Iowa State University.

Katherine Gross

After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Iowa State, Kay earned a Ph.D. in zoology at MSU. After working for several years at the Ohio State University, she returned to MSU and KBS, where she served on the faculty for 34 years.

Kay Gross, center, with Brian Wilsey and Lynn Clark of Iowa State University.

Kay became interim director, then director, of KBS starting in 2004. She served as KBS director for 14 years and retired from MSU in 2021.

Among the many lasting impacts at KBS from Kay’s tenure is the Dessert with Discussion series, a biannual, free event that connects the local community with scientists from KBS, MSU, and beyond. The Dessert with Discussion Endowment Fund was established in Kay’s honor to ensure those events can continue into the future.

About the award

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes outstanding alumni from the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State.

Congratulations, Dr. Gross!

Read the press release from Iowa State.