Henry B. Tippie
Philanthropist Henry Tippie shares memories and philosophy as Kirkwood Foundation bestows Legacy Award
As part of an event honoring donors focused on the future, Kirkwood Community College recognized an Iowan who has delivered decades of support for the greater good.
On October 19, The Kirkwood Foundation honored Henry B. Tippie with the Samuel J. Kirkwood Society Legacy Award. The award is the highest honor given by the Foundation, recognizing Mr. Tippie’s long record of generous donations of endowed scholarships and capital improvement gifts aiding Kirkwood’s mission. The college also acknowledged his years of support to higher education and community betterment on a wider scale.
Tippie family donations have supported Kirkwood endowed scholarships for students from the Belle Plaine area for many years. Other gifts have made possible the Tippie-Mansfield Center, Kirkwood’s local presence in downtown Belle Plaine; the Tippie Beef Center on Kirkwood’s Cedar Rapids agricultural campus; and other student and college support projects.
Other Tippie gifts include major support of the Tippie School of Business at the University of Iowa, plus civic support of the Belle Plaine Public Library and his hometown municipal airport.
In comments preceding the presentation, Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich saluted Henry Tippie’s “many decades of industry, energy and service” to his home state.
“Since the 1950s he made his mark on a host of businesses, in areas as diverse as vehicle leasing, transportation, broadcasting, entertainment and cattle ranching. The one common thread through this wide spectrum of industry was Henry’s common-sense approach to solving problems and spotting opportunities,” Starcevich observed. “Our honoree has shown us that great things are possible when you greet the day with effort and recall each passing day with gratitude.”
Tippie received the annual Legacy Award amid a standing ovation from more than 200 Society members and invited guests. He was measured and thoughtful in his acceptance remarks for the honor, musing on an unlikely path from a Belle Plaine farm boyhood to heights of business success.
“I’m very grateful for this honor and to the people at Kirkwood for giving it to me. I am grateful for the opportunity the G.I. Bill gave me to attend the University of Iowa. That was a great thing, and I know others here tonight appreciated the G.I. Bill, too. That’s one reason I believe in the opportunities education gives to people. I’m also glad I grew up on an Iowa farm. That’s how I understand that in education, it’s just like farming. You have to put back into the farm, into the land. That’s why we’ve always tried to give back to this state and its people, to look out for the next generation coming along,” Tippie said.
The Samuel J. Kirkwood Society recognizes individuals who support Kirkwood Community College, the Older Iowans Fund or KCCK-FM. They have either endowed their gift or created a planned gift through a charitable trust, charitable gift annuity, life insurance policy, bequest, or retirement plan designation. The Kirkwood Foundation recognizes those individuals each year at an event hosted on the Kirkwood campus.
More information on the Samuel J. Kirkwood Society and other work of the Kirkwood Foundation is available online: www.kirkwood.edu/foundation.