Structure & Timelines

New Executives are elected in the March meeting, and take office on August 1st  unless the outgoing Executive is graduating in the spring (and then they take over following their graduation). If you are UNSURE who the current executive team is, please reach out to gpssexec@iastate.edu at any time.

This allows for a long transition/shadowing period for the incoming officers, as a measure to ensure institutional memory remains. 

 

Current Executive Council (AY2023-2024)

President

Christine Cain

Christine Cain (she/her) is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in Higher Education. She has her bachelor's degree in English, creative writing, and business administration from Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Christine also has a master's degree in higher and postsecondary education from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, NY. Her doctoral research is focused on rural college students, college access issues, and how place/space informs student career and educational decision-making. Christine has been a Senator in GPSS for the School of Education since 2020. Originally from Sheldon, Iowa, the Ph.D. brought Christine back to her home state. Christine is a major foodie and is always cooking for friends and family, eating, or exploring new restaurants. In her free time, she loves to socialize, travel, get outside, play boardgames, and will read any mystery, fantasy, and historical fiction she can get her hands on.

She can be reached at: gpsspresident@iastate.edu

Vice President

Edward Mahoney

Eddie Mahoney (he/him) is a second-year master’s student in computer science, with an emphasis on low level and high-performance development. He got his B.S. in computer science, with a minor in leadership studies, right here at Iowa State University in May of 2022, and continued right into his master’s program. This year he also serves a second term as a senator representing graduate students in Student Government, and last year served as Speaker of the Senate for Student Government, and an At-Large senator in GPSS. Outside of his involvement on campus, Eddie is an avid fan of any sort of games, video games to cards, as long as its with friends, and enjoys getting outside no matter the time of year to enjoy sports, snowmobiling, and boating in the sun and snow.

 

He can be reached at: gpssvicepres@iastate.edu

 

Treasurer

Kean Fallon 
Kean Fallon (he/him) is a 4th year PhD student in Mathematics, where he studies frame theory. Kean has a bachelors degree in Mathematics, minoring in Ethnic and Racial Studies, from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. Within the Mathematics department at Iowa State, Kean co-founded and currently co-organizes both the Graduate Student Seminar and MathGSO Student Research Symposium. At UWL, Kean has served as the president of the Mathematics and Statistics club and represented the Ethnic and Racial Studies department as an advisor to the dean. Kean is a nontraditional graduate student, having spent many years in the restaurant industry as a line cook, chef, and manager, before returning to higher education. He is an avid player of music, playing guitar and bass in several projects. Among his other hobbies you can find trying new food/eating out, playing fantasy football, traveling, playing games (anything from cribbage to tabletop games to video games to sports), and getting outside.

He can be reached at: gpsstreasurer@iastate.edu

 

 

 

Senate Information Officer

Garrison Gunter

Garrison Gunter (he/him) is a 5th-year Ph.D. student in Chemical and Biological Engineering and a research assistant for the Bioeconomy Institute. He graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry and Physics in 2019 from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, TN. Before joining the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, he served as first Vice President and then President of ISU’s Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Organization. He now currently serves as the GPSS Senate Information Officer. His research focuses on genetically engineering bacteria to consume alternative sugars to create value-added products. He deeply enjoys standup comedy, discovering new coffee shops, collecting vinyl records (especially alt-country, folk/Americana, and hip hop), playing video games, reading on a rainy day, and playing D&D with friends.

He can be reached at: gpsssio@iastate.edu

 

 

Senate Engagement Officer

Charity Njeshi

Charity Njeshi (she/her/hers) is a PhD student in the Interdepartmental Toxicology Program. Her home department is Biomedical Science in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Her research involves pharmacological characterization of ion channels as potential drug targets for parasitic infections. 

Charity holds a Bachelor’s and Master's degrees in Microbiology  from the University of Buea, Cameroon, where she took up some leadership roles. In her Bachelor’s she served as the Public Relations Officer of the University of Buea Microbiology Students Association; and during her Masters study, she served as the Vice President of the Faculty of Science Postgraduate Student Association of the University of Buea, in charge of Academics.

Since she enrolled at Iowa State University, she has served as the GPSS Senator for the Interdepartmental Toxicology program, and the Social Chair of the Toxicology Graduate Student Organization (TGSO). She currently serves as the Senate Engagement Officer of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate and the president of the TGSO.

She can be reached at: gpssseo@iastate.edu

 

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Officer

Veronica Kiuna 

Veronica Kiuna is a 2nd year Ph.D. student in Civil engineering with a geotechnical engineering specialization. Her doctoral research focuses on the cyclic behavior of fine-grained soils. She has a master's degree in geotechnical engineering from Erciyes University, Turkey, where she focused on ground improvement methods for organic soils. She also holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Kenyatta University, Kenya. Veronica has been serving as a senator in GPSS for the College of Engineering and is currently the Graduate Student Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) officer. During her free time, Veronica loves watching soccer, traveling, and trying out new recipes.

She can be reached at gpssidea@iastate.edu

 

 

Conference Chair

Ryan Everett

Ryan is a PhD student in Rhetoric and Professional Communication (RPC) within the English department. He is also a fifth year teaching assistant in the ISU Comm Foundations program. He was born and raised in Des Moines and holds a Secondary English Ed. degree from Wartburg College. He taught middle school and high school in the Des Moines metro area before migrating north to Ames to further his education and have some structured time to learn! 

Within RPC, he has two distinct field of study. His MA thesis researched public memory and the practice of how communities carry their marginalized stories/memories through space and time amidst suppression. He has also been piloting the early stages of a new grading system for ISU Comm Foundations with learning contracts, and has studied how this evaluative framework can create meaningful pedagogical practices. 

He can be reached at gpssconfchair@iastate.edu

 

 

 

Wellness Chair

Kimia Noroozi 

Kimia Noroozi (she/they) is a 4th year phD student in chemical and biological engineering. Kimia got her bachelor’s degree from University of Tehran, Iran in chemical engineering where she worked on production of valuable raw and value-added products like natural pigments and nutritional additives from algae before coming to the United Stated 3 years ago and her current research focuses on media and process optimization and nutrient sourcing for plastic upcycling using microorganisms. She also serves on Graduate Society of Women in Engineering and Iranian student and scholars association. She is a vocal advocate for mental health and wellbeing . For her hobbies, she loves to travel and immerse herself in new cultures, dance, eat and learn new recipes, read, binge watch shows and make snow angels when it snows.

She can be reached at gpsswellness@iastate.edu

 

GPSS Advisors

Dr. William R. Gravesgraves@iastate.edu
Dr. Heather Greenlee mheather@iastate.edu

The entire Executive Council can be reached at gpssexec@iastate.edu
The entire Senate can be reached at gpss23-24@iastate.edu

 

 

 

Memos from the Executive Council

Executive memos are statement/opinion/position pieces released from the Executive team of the GPSS. These memos reflect the views and ideas of the Executive members who sign the document, and do not pass through the Legislative branch (the Senate). 

 

(AY2020-2021, President E. Field)

Black Lives Matter Solidarity statement

Response to Student Government's Women's Week Controversy

In support of our Asian-American/Pacific Islander students