Opened in 1951, the building is part of the Ames Laboratory of the Department of Energy. It is named for Frank H. Spedding, the first director of the Ames Laboratory. One of America’s leading atomic scientists, Spedding was a world authority on rare‑earth elements. Under his supervision, scientists at Iowa State contributed more uranium than any other source to the world’s first nuclear reaction. (Frank Spedding was initiated into Tau Beta Pi by Michigan Gamma at the University of Michigan in 1957 as a member of the class of 1925.)
Tau Beta Pi: Iowa Alpha Chapter
Iowa State University