Heidi Kaisand

Outstanding Young Alumna Award

By the Iowa State University Alumni Association

Established by the ISU Alumni Association in 1968 to recognize ISU alumni aged 40 who have excelled in their professions and provided service to their communities. A maximum of three awards are granted annually.

Heidi Kaisand
1990, Consumer Food Science/Food and Nutrition

One of the youngest editors at Meredith Corporation, Heidi Kaisand is credited with taking a small publication and quickly transforming it into a spectacular success. In six years, she and her small staff changed the brand new American Patchwork and Quilting magazine from a 32-page neophyte to a 100-page bi-monthly publication with a circulation of 225,000. In a tightly packed and highly competitive market, the magazine has sky-rocketed to the position of largest quilting publication in the country. “Because of her leadership,” attests Julie Keith, managing editor of the Better Homes and Gardens Craft Group, “American Patchwork and Quilting has the strongest reader following, the most devoted advertisers, and the most extensive group of ancillary products of any other magazine in our group.”

Kaisand is an ISU Alumni Ambassador and has served as Marshall County 4-H County Council Advisor. As a student, she was active in the Student Alumni Association.