Sophia Magill, senior advisor to the president and director of federal relations at Iowa State University, has been selected by the Iowa State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the 2025 Carrie Chapman Catt Public Engagement Award for her work in public engagement and service in both her professional and community service positions.
The award recognizes an alumnus or friend of LAS who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in working with public entities at the local, state, national or international levels. The award will be presented during the Iowa State Alumni Association’s honors and awards ceremony at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24 at Stephens Auditorium.
Magill was nominated by Dianne Bystrom, director emerita of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, who first met Magill after she switched her major from business to political science as an undergraduate student at Iowa State University in the early 2000s.
“Sophia and I have stayed connected since she graduated from Iowa State through her various government and university leadership positions,” Bystrom said. “She is truly deserving of the Carrie Chapman Catt Public Engagement Award as a strong woman leader who works to engage the public in civic life.”
Magill graduated from Iowa State in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. While at Iowa State, she served as president of Iowa State’s Government of the Student Body (now called Student Government) during her senior year. Magill also earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2010.
Her early professional experience includes serving as executive director of the Iowa Cultural Coalition, senior admissions counselor and group visits coordinator for the Office of Admissions at Iowa State, program coordinator and associate director in the Department of Campus Programs at the University of Illinois Chicago, White House intern in the Office of Presidential Personnel, and staff member at the federal Bureau of Management.
In March 2013, Magill returned to Iowa State as assistant director of federal relations, and she was named director of federal relations in 2016, leading the university’s communications and engagement with Iowa’s congressional delegation and federal agencies. Since September 2022, she has also served as senior advisor to Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen to lead the implementation of the university’s strategic initiatives.
Magill currently serves on the board of the ISU Alumni Association and recently concluded a term on the board of Youth and Shelter Services in Ames. She is a volunteer coach for the Ames Soccer Club and previously served as the volunteer music director for a church children’s choir.
Magill has been engaged with the Catt Center throughout her career. A participant in the center’s Ready to Run campaign school in 2007 and 2011, she has also shared her leadership experiences with students in the center’s Legacy of Heroines scholarship program and undergraduate internship program.
“Sophia really connects with students,” said Sue Cloud, communications specialist at the center. “By her own example and through conversations and activities with the students, she shows them how they can effectively engage in their own communities.”