Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Wells Fargo & Co. on concerns about the additional risk the company is taking on with its acquisition of Wachovia Corp.’s loan book, Reuters reported. Moody’s cut Wells Fargo’s senior debt rating by two notches to “Aa3” and its financial strength rating by three notches to “B,” changing the company’s baseline credit assessment to “Aa3” from “Aaa.” Wells Fargo has said it will write down $71.4 billion of Wachovia’s $482.4 billion loan portfolio, including $36 billion of option adjustable rate mortgages and $9.6 billion of commercial real estate loans. Moody’s meanwhile upgraded Wachovia’s ratings to match those of Wells Fargo.

Daniel Houston, president of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s retirement and investment services division, has joined the board of trustees for the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) in Washington, D.C. He replaces Larry Zimpleman, president and CEO of Principal. EBRI is a nonprofit organization focused on public policy research and education on economic security and employee benefits.

Iowa State University has named Sharron Quisenberry as vice president for research and economic development. Quisenberry is a professor of entomology and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. She will join Iowa State on April 1 and replaces John Brighton, who retired last spring.

Rajive Johri has announced his retirement as president of First National Bank of Omaha. He will be replaced by Daniel O’ Neill, who currently serves as president of parent company First National of Nebraska Inc. Johri joined First National Bank in September 2005 and has helped build the bank’s credit card division, start its online savings account FNBO Direct, and revitalized the branch banking experience. He also led First National Bank to expand into Iowa.

Gov. Chet Culver has reappointed four Iowans and named six new members to the Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corp. board of directors. The appointments were made after the Iowa Student Loan board changed its articles of incorporation to remove its connection to the Iowa College Student Aid Commission to avoid conflict of interest between the two organizations. The new appointments are Timothy Bottaro of Sioux City, Christine Hensley of Des Moines, Tahira Hira of Ames, Nicholas Spaeth of Des Moines, Frank Thomas of Grinnell and J. Marc Ward of Des Moines. The reappointments are Catherine Beyerink of Sioux City, Laurie Hempen of New London, Patricia Keir of Bettendorf and John O’Byrne of Cresco. Robert Sackett is serving as a public member of the board; his term expires on June 30.

The Iowa Utilities Board has launched an electronic filing system for proceedings initiated on or after Jan. 2. Electronic filing is mandatory for most docket entries, and files are available for viewing by the public. Consumer complaints and comments still should be contained in an e-mail to iubcustomer@iub.state.ia.us, submitted in an online form from the board’s Web site at www.state.ia.us/iub, or sent by mail. More information is available at efs.iowa.gov.

The federal government has released more than $11 million in emergency funds to help Iowa provide social services related to flood and tornado recovery. Sen. Chuck Grassley had pressed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to distribute the money that Congress approved last October. “These federal dollars will help Iowa pay for child welfare services, mental health services and services for the elderly, all related to the recovery efforts that are still going on after the natural disasters that hit our state last year,” Grassley said, in a release. “Release of these funds was overdue. It was time to get this money out the door and to the people who need it.”