Former governor of Iowa, presidential hopeful and Hamilton alumnus Tom Vilsack '72 has recently signed on to teach at Drake University's School of Law. The university announced that in May, Vilsack will teach an interim course on legal issues relating to renewable energy and rural development.
Vilsack, whose course will cover policies such as the 2007 farm bill and various state and federal rural development programs, will teach with Neil Hamilton, DU's Dwight D. Opperman distinguished professor of law. Renewable energy and rural development are two of the foundations of Vilsack's presidential platform. Vilsack has even called renewable energy a cause "with extraordinary opportunity to unite this country."
After graduating from Hamilton in 1972, Vilsack went on to earn a law degree from Albany Law School. He served as a lawyer, the mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, an Iowa state senator from 1992-1998, and finally as the two-term governor of Iowa, before becoming the first Democrat to announce his bid for the 2008 Presidential nomination on November 30, 2006.
-- by Mariam Ballout '10
