Leopold Celebration Brings a Minnesotan Home to Iowa — Dien Judge

By Robin Marty
Friday, July 13, 2007 at 9:58 am

This post about Mark Ritchie comes from our sister site, Iowa Independent

From Ames to San Francisco to Minneapolis, Mark Ritchie’s journey in life has been about much more than the places he has lived. But after spending most of his professional life in Minnesota, he still considers Iowa home.

Ritchie is now serving as secretary of state in Minnesota, the culmination of decades of work as an activist in politics and agriculture.

Ritchie is no stranger to Iowa State University and the sustainable agriculture movement, so he was a perfect choice to deliver the keynote address at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture’s 20th anniversary celebration Wednesday.

“This turned out to be a different kind of invitation,” said Ritchie, who graduated from ISU in 1971. “Because as I sat down a few weeks ago — kind of talking with my wife and thinking about what I was going to say — it began to come back how much this is, in fact, home for me. Tom Harkin was the first person I ever voted for. Iowa State was the first place I ever skipped classes. I grew up in Nevada, Iowa. I’m an Iowan.”

But, he admits, “It’s a little complicated to get elected in Minnesota if you’re an Iowan.”