The University of Iowa (also
known as U of I, UI, or just
Iowa) is a public
state-funded research university located in Iowa City, Iowa
. The university is organized into eleven
colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional
degrees. The university is a member of the
American Association of
Universities, the
Big Ten
Conference,
Committee on
Institutional Cooperation, and the
Universities Research
Association. Additionally, the university is also considered a
Public Ivy.
History

University seal mosaic, ca. 1908, Iowa
Hall.
The University of Iowa was originally named The
State
University of Iowa, and this remains the institution's
legal name.
The State University of Iowa was founded
February 25, 1847 as Iowa's first public institution of higher
learning, only 59 days after Iowa
became a
state. Despite its legal
name, it is not to be confused with Iowa State
University
.
The first faculty offered instruction at the university in March
1855 to students in the Old Mechanics Building, situated where
Seashore Hall is now. In September 1855, there were 124 students,
of whom forty-one were women. The 1856–57 catalogue listed nine
departments offering
Ancient
Language, Modern
Language, Intellectual
Philosophy,
Moral Philosophy,
History,
Natural
History,
Mathematics,
Natural Philosophy, and
Chemistry. The first President was
Leigh S. J.
Hunt.
The
original campus was composed of the Iowa Old Capitol
Building
and the of land on which it stood. Following
the placing of the cornerstone July 4, 1840, the building housed
the Fifth Legislative Assembly of the
Territory of Iowa (December 5, 1842) and
then became the first capitol of the State of Iowa (December 28,
1846). Until that date it had been the third capitol of the
Territory of Iowa.
When the capitol of Iowa was moved to
Des
Moines
in 1857, Old Capitol became the first permanent
"home" of the University.

Old Capitol Building in February
2005
In 1855, Iowa became the first public university in the United
States to
admit men and women on an equal basis. Additionally, the
university was the world's first university to accept creative work
in theater, writing, music, and art on an equal basis with academic
research.
The university was one of the first institutions in America to
grant a law degree to a woman (
Mary B. Hickey Wilkinson, 1873), to grant a
law degree to an African American (
G. Alexander Clark, 1879), and to put an
African American on a varsity athletic squad (
Frank Holbrook, 1895)
[33137]. The university offered its first
doctoral degree in 1898.
Iowa established the first law school west of the
Iowa River, and was also the first to use
television in education (1932) and
pioneered the field of
standardized
testing. Additionally, Iowa was the first Big Ten institution
to promote an African American to an administrative vice
president’s position (Dr.
Phillip
Hubbard, promoted in 1966).
Significant events
On November 1, 1991, five employees of the university were killed
and one student was critically injured when
Gang
Lu, a former physics graduate student, went on a shooting
rampage before committing suicide. Officials received letters
written by Lu that discussed his grievances and plans; apparently
Lu was set off because he felt that his dissertation should have
been received more eagerly.
On April
13, 2006, a tornado struck the university
and adjacent Iowa
City
, causing extensive damage throughout the campus and
town. The tornado was the most intense and
destructive of 5 tornadoes that touched down in Johnson County,
Iowa
that evening; it was given the rank of F2 on the
Fujita Scale. “Damage on the
campus was limited to a parking garage for university vehicles and
some downed trees.” Several Iowa City homes and businesses received
extensive damage. Despite the wreckage, injuries were relatively
light in the area, although one person in a neighboring county was
killed.
On June 8, 2008, the Army Corps of Engineers warned that flooding
on the Iowa River and overflow from the Coralville Reservoir would
cause major and potentially record flooding. Such an event could
have serious implications and bring widespread damage to campus
buildings. After flood waters breached the reservoir spillway more
than 20 major campus buildings were damaged. Several weeks after
the flood waters receded university officials placed a preliminary
estimate on flood damage at $231.75 million. Later, the UI Vice
President estimated that damages would cost about $743
million.
In
November 2008, responding to a proposal from the UI Writing
University committee, UNESCO
designated
Iowa City the world's third City of
Literature, making it part of the UNESCO Creative Cities
Network.
Colleges
- College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
- Tippie College of Business
- College of Engineering
- College of Pharmacy
- College of Education
- College of Nursing
- Graduate College
- College of Law
- Carver College of Medicine
- College of Dentistry
- College of Public Health
Academics and distinctions

View from T.
Anne Cleary Walkway with the Old Capitol in the
background
Iowa is one of 60 elected members to the
Association of American
Universities. Additionally, Iowa is also a
Public Ivy.
The university is currently home to
ISCABBS,
an aging public
bulletin board
system that was the largest
Internet
community in the world prior to the commercialization of the
world wide web.
The University of Iowa is also the home to the
National Advanced Driving Simulator (a
virtual reality driving simulator.)
University of Iowa in rankings
Overview:
- The best university in the state of Iowa - U.S.
News & World Report, 2008 edition
- 21 graduate programs ranked among the top 10 such programs in
the country — U.S. News & World Report, 2008
edition
- One of the top 50 public universities in the country when it
comes to offering academic excellence at an affordable price —
Kiplinger's Personal
Finance, 2006
- "A picturesque campus, a thriving social scene, and the
excitement of Big Ten athletic teams" — Insider’s Guide to the
Colleges, 2007
- University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics ranked as one of
“America’s Best Hospitals” for the 20th year in a row (since
rankings began in 1990 - U.S. News & World
Report, 2009.
- Iowa's campus sits in one of the nation’s most livable cities
and in the third-most-educated metropolitan area in America —
Market Guide’s 2006 Better Living Index, USA Today.
- The University of Iowa Law Library is ranked #1 in the nation
by the National
Jurist.
- The College of Nursing ranks in the top fifteen for all six
categories used to rank nursing schools by U.S. News
& World Report. Iowa places first in the nation in both
nursing service administration and gerontological/geriatric nursing
graduate programs. Iowa is ranked better than 12th in all other
categories.
- The Tippie College of Business was named by Business Week as one of the top fifty
business schools in the nation.
- University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine has been ranked
#7 in the country for primary care and #31 in the country for
research by U.S. News & World Report.
- University of Iowa's College of Law has been ranked #26 in the
country by U.S. News & World Report (2010
Edition), and has attained an average USNWR ranking of #21 in the
last 20 years.
- University of Iowa's College of Pharmacy has been ranked #16 in
the country by U.S. News & World Report (2008
Edition).
Iowa Writers' Workshop
Main
page: Iowa
Writers' Workshop
The Writers' Workshop was founded in 1936. Since 1947 it has
produced thirteen
Pulitzer Prize
winners. In total, twenty-five people affiliated with the Writers'
Workshop have won a Pulitzer Prize.
Notable workshop students and faculty include
Robert Penn Warren, author of
All the King's Men,
former student
Michael
Cunningham, author of
The
Hours, student
Tennessee
Williams, author of
A Streetcar Named
Desire, and former faculty member
Kurt Vonnegut, author of books such as
Cat's Cradle,
Breakfast of Champions, and
Slaughterhouse-Five.
Campus
The University of Iowa's main campus is located in Iowa City,
originally designed by architect D. Elwood Cook, with the campus
bordered by Park Road to the north and Dubuque and Gilbert Streets
roughly to the east.
U.S. Highway 6 traverses the university campus.
The
Iowa River flows through the campus
dividing it into west and east sides.
Of
architectural note is the Pentacrest
at the center of The University of Iowa
campus. The Pentacrest is the location of five major
campus buildings: Old Capitol
, Schaeffer Hall, MacLean Hall, Macbride Hall, and
Jessup Hall. The Old Capitol was once the primary government
building for the state of Iowa, but it is now a museum of Iowa
history.
Also on the eastern side of campus includes five residence halls
(Burge, Daum, Stanley, Currier, and Mayflower), the Iowa Memorial
Union, the Pappajohn Business Building, the Seamans Center for the
engineering arts and sciences, the Lindquist Center (home of the
College of Education), Phillips Hall (home of foreign languages)
and Van Allen Hall (home to physics and astronomy)as well as the
buildings for biology, chemistry, geology & environmental
sciences, psychology, communications, journalism and the
English-Philosophy Building.
The
Colleges of Law, Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and
Public Health are on the western bank
of the Iowa River, along with the University of Iowa Hospitals and
Clinics
, the Theatre Building and Voxman Music Building. Additionally, five
residence halls (Hillcrest, Slater, Reinow, Quadrangle, and
Parklawn), Kinnick
Stadium
, and Carver-Hawkeye Arena
are located on the west campus.
The
Oakdale Campus, which is home to some of the university's research
facilities and the driving simulator, is located north of Interstate 80 in adjacent Coralville
.
The Pentacrest
The Pentacrest is sometimes referred to as the center of academic
life at the University, especially for Liberal Arts students. It is
composed of five buildings; the Old Capitol and four lecture halls,
Schaeffer, Macbride, MacLean, and Jessup. A variety of classes are
held in these four buildings, mostly relating to the Liberal Arts.
Macbride Hall and the Old Capitol also contain museums of natural
history and Iowa state history, respectively.
Campus museums
- Museum of Art
- Museum of Natural History

- Old Capitol Museum
- Medical Museum
- Athletic Hall of Fame and Museum
- Project Art (University Hospitals and Clinics)
Sustainability
The University of Iowa is one of the EPA's Green Power Partners,
burning oat hulls instead of coal and reducing coal consumption by
20%. In May 2004 the university joined the Chicago Climate
Exchange, and in April 2009 a student garden was opened.
Student life
Much of the student night-life in Iowa City is centered around the
pedestrian mall, the "ped mall" which contains numerous
restaurants, local shops/boutiques, and over thirty bars of
different styles for every personality . Another popular university
event that draws both students and also a vast number of residents
from the community is home football games. Students of the
university cheer and support their team while dressed in black and
gold, the university's school colors. A common activity that many
students engage in is tailgating, which many students begin
promptly as the sun rises . In addition, there are hundreds of
student organizations, including groups focused on politics,
sports, games, lifestyles, dance, song, and theater, and a variety
of other activities. The University also tries to sponsor events
that give students an alternative to the typical drinking scene.
In 2004
the University established an annual $25,000 contact with the newly
reopened Iowa City Englert Theatre
to host concerts and performances for as many as 40
nights a year.
Students also participate in a variety of student media
organizations. Students put together the Daily Iowan (often called
the DI), which is printed every Monday through Friday while classes
are in session. Daily Iowan TV, KRUI radio, Student Video
Productions, Off Deadline magazine and Earthwords magazine are
other examples of student-run media.
Athletics

University of Iowa mascot,
Herky.

Iowa Hawkeyes logo.
The school's sports teams, the
Hawkeyes, participate in the
NCAA's Division I-A
and in the
Big Ten
Conference.
Football
Iowa's football team plays its home
games at Kinnick
Stadium
, named after former Iowa football player Nile Kinnick who won the Heisman Trophy in 1939. Kinnick
Stadium hosts 70,585 fans. The stadium unveiled a new look in 2006
with the completion of a $90 million renovation. The renovation
included new stands in the south endzone, a new press box, and a
statue of Kinnick. In recent years, the football team has enjoyed
much success, earning six national bowl appearances since 2001
including shared
Big Ten titles
in 2002 and 2004. However, the program produced disappointing and
mediocre records in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, after starting out 5–1,
the team lost five of its last six games, including losses to
perennially poor Indiana and Northwestern teams. Iowa lost to Texas
in the Alamo Bowl. Iowa won it's bowl game in 2008. Iowa recently
defeated BCS ranked #3 Penn State in the 2008 season. In the
current 2009 season, Iowa is off to one of its best starts in
school history, with a 10-2 record.
Iowa
battles Iowa State
University
annually for the Cy-Hawk
Trophy, a traveling award. Although the Hawkeyes have
dominated the overall series with the Cyclones (Iowa holds a 37–19
advantage). Iowa restored the Cy-Hawk Trophy in 2008 beating Iowa
State 17–5 in Iowa City on 13 Sept 2008. Iowa also has a
traditional rivalry with
Minnesota. The two
schools' football teams meet yearly to battle for
Floyd of Rosedale, a traveling trophy in
the shape of a bronzed pig.
On November 22, 2008 the Hawkeyes routed a
7-4 Minnesota team 55-0 during the Golden Gopher's last game in the
Metrodome
. In 2004, Iowa and Wisconsin
unveiled the Heartland
Trophy, a bronze bull, to be played for in their annual
rivalry.
Wrestling
Iowa is famous for its extremely successful
collegiate wrestling program. Through
2009, the Hawkeyes wrestling team has won 22 national titles and 33
Big Ten titles. Coach
Dan Gable's Gang won
nine straight
NCAA team
championships (1978 to 1986) and twice won three in a row (1991
to 1993 and 1995 to 1997). Iowa's 48 NCAA Champions have won a
total of 74 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13
two-time champions. Furthermore, Iowa's 130 all-Americans have
earned
all-America status 261 times,
including 16 four-time, 27 three-time and 30 two-time honorees.
Sports Illustrated named
the Iowa program one of the top sports dynasties of the 20th
century.
[33138] The program again made the news on
March 29, 2006 when it was announced that wrestling coach Jim
Zalesky's contract will not be renewed. About a month later, Iowa
hired former 4 time All-American and Olympic champion
Tom Brands as the new head coach of the Iowa
Hawkeyes. The University of Iowa wrestling program has consistently
held an edge over in-state rival Iowa State. Iowa Wrestling won the
NCAA National Team Titles in 2008 and 2009.
Men's basketball
The
Iowa Hawkeyes men's
basketball team currently plays in 15,500-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena
, along with the school's women's basketball,
wrestling, and volleyball
teams.
Throughout history, the Hawkeyes have enjoyed the successes of
eight Big Ten regular season conference championships, the last
coming in 1979. More recently, Iowa has won the Big Ten
tournament
twice, in 2001 and 2006.
Iowa also has 22 NCAA Men's Division
I Basketball Tournament appearances, including three Final
Fours, reaching the semifinals in 1955 and 1980 and playing in
the championship game against the University
San Francisco
in 1956.
The team experienced success in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s under
head coaches Lute
Olson and
Tom Davis.
Under Olson, the Hawkeyes won their last Big Ten
regular
season championship (1979) and went to their last Final Four to
date (1980).
Other sports
The Iowa Hawkeye women's basketball team experienced great success
in the 1980s and early 1990s under coach
C. Vivian
Stringer. In 1985, the Hawkeyes became the first women's
basketball team in history to sellout in advance.
[33139] During Stringer's tenure, the Hawkeyes
appeared in 10 Women's NCAA Tournaments, including 9 consecutive
berths from 1985-86 through 1993–94. Additionally, the Hawkeyes
appeared in the 1993 Women's Final Four, losing to the Ohio State
Buckeyes in the semifinals. Stringer's successor at Iowa, Angie
Lee, took Iowa to an additional 3 NCAA tournaments, including a
Sweet Sixteen appearance during the 1995-96 season. Current coach
Lisa Bluder has taken the Hawkeyes to five NCAA tournaments and two
WNIT berths, including an appearance in the
WNIT semifinals during the 2004–2005 season. Most recently, the
women were Big 10 Champions (tying with Ohio State) in 2008.
The
trampoline was invented by university
members George Nissen and Larry Griswold around 1935. Griswold, was
the assistant gymnastics coach and Nissen was a tumbler on the
gymnastics team.
On June
23, 2006 it was announced that former University
of Wyoming
athletic director Gary
Barta had been named the new athletic director of the
University. Barta replaced Bob
Bowlsby, who left the University on July 9th to
become the new athletic director of Stanford University
.
The women's soccer team defeate Iowa State in the 2009
season.
The University of Iowa has many club teams that compete in water
polo, baseball, rugby, lacrosse, volleyball, crew, soccer, ice
hockey, and other sports. There is also a women's flag football
team.
People
Many University of Iowa alumni have achieved fame and reputation
after graduating. These people include athletes, actors,
entrepreneurs, scientists, to technological innovators.
From its
Iowa
Writers' Workshop
, the University boasts a number of Pulitzer Prizes
winners (most recently Writer's Workshop faculty member Marilynne Robinson for her novel
Gilead in 2005), as well as numerous
National Book Awards and other major literary honors.
National Football League
- Jonathan Babineaux, tackle
for the Atlanta Falcons
- Jason Baker, punter for the Carolina Panthers
- Ladell Betts, running back for the
Washington Redskins
- Scott Chandler, tight end for the
Dallas Cowboys
- Dallas Clark, tight end for the
Indianapolis Colts
- Colin Cole,
tackle for the Seattle
Seahawks
- Sean Considine, safety for the
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Jared DeVries, defensive end for
the Detroit Lions
- Bradley Fletcher, cornerback
for the St. Louis Rams
- Robert Gallery, guard for the
Oakland Raiders
- Charles
Godfrey, safety for the Carolina
Panthers
- Mike Goff, guard
for the Kansas City Chiefs
- Shonn Greene, running back for the
New York Jets
- Chad Greenway, linebacker for the
Minnesota Vikings
- Joshua Hernandez, long snapper
for the Chicago Bears*Abdul Hodge, linebacker for the Cinncinati Bengals
- Kenny Iwebema, defensive end for
the Arizona Cardinals
- C.J. Jones,
wide receiver for the Denver
Broncos
- Mike Jones, guard
for the Minnesota Vikings
- Nate Kaeding, place kicker for the
San Diego Chargers
- Aaron Kampman, defensive end for
the Green Bay Packers
- Kevin Kasper, wide receiver for the
Cleveland Browns
- Mitch King, defensive end for the
Tennessee Titans
- Matt Kroul, defensive end for the
New York Jets
- Bryan Mattison, defensive end for
the Baltimore Ravens
- Brandon Myers, tight end for the
Oakland Raiders
- Seth Olsen, offensive guard for the
Denver Broncos
- Derreck Robinson, defensive end
for the Dallas Cowboys
- Matt Roth, linebacker for the Miami Dolphins
- Bob Sanders, safety for the Indianapolis Colts
- Eric Steinbach, guard for the
Cleveland Browns
- Casey Wiegmann, center for the
Denver Broncos
- Marshal Yanda, guard for the
Baltimore Ravens
- Albert Young,
running back for the Minnesota
Vikings
National Basketball Association
Major League Baseball
Film
- Tom Arnold, actor
- Diablo Cody, screenwriter, winner of
Academy Award
for Best Original Screenplay (Juno)
- Debra Fox, actress
from The 10 Million
Dollar Getaway, and anchor for WTAE-TV
in Pittsburgh
- Ashton Kutcher, actor
- Richard W. Maibaum, screenwriter and producer
- Brandon Routh, actor (Superman Returns, Zack and Miri Make a
Porno)
- Gene Wilder, actor
Others
- James E. Cartwright, General USMC, 8th and
current Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Tom Brokaw, former NBC News anchor; political analyst
- Bruce Braley, U.S. Congressman from
Iowa's First District
- James Van Allen, space
scientist
- George Gallup, founder, Gallup
Public Opinion Poll
- Mauricio Lasansky, artist and
print maker; former University of Iowa art professor
- William B. Morgan, naval architect
- Curtis Sittenfeld,
novelist
- Ward B. Strang, President and CEO of FedEx SmartPost
- Dennis Van Roekel, president
of the National Education
Association
- Tennesee Williams, Pulitzer Prize winning writer
- Grant Wood, artist, American Gothic; former University of
Iowa art professor
- Ray H. French, 20th century artist, former DePauw
University
faculty member
Iowa's
1,700+ faculty members includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, five former clerks to
U.S.
Supreme Court
justices, and numerous members of the nation’s most
prestigious scholarly academies:
Past university presidents
- Amos Dean (1855-1859)
- Silas Totten (1859-1862)
- Oliver Spencer (1862-1867)
- James Black (1868-1870)
- George Thacher (1871-1877)
- Josiah Pickard (1878-1887)
- Charles Schaeffer (1887-1898)
- George MacLean (1899-1911)
- John Bowman (1911-1914)
- Thomas Macbride (1914-1916)
- Walter Jessup (1916-1934)
- Eugene Allen Gilmore
(1934-1940)
- Virgil Hancher (1940-1964)
- Howard Bowen (1964-1969)
- Willard Boyd (1969-1981)
- James O. Freedman (1982-1987)
- Hunter R. Rawlings III (1988-1995)
- Mary Sue Coleman
(1995-2002)
- David Skorton (2003-2006)
- Sally Mason (2007-Present)
Iowa's
most recent presidents have left to become presidents at several of
the most prestigious colleges and universities of the United
States: Dartmouth
College
(James O.
Freedman in 1987), The University
of Michigan
(Mary Sue Coleman
in 2002), and Cornell
University
(Hunter
R. Rawlings III in
1995 and
David Skorton in 2006).
See also
References
http://www.uiowa.edu/homepage/about-UI/index.html
External links