University of Iowa

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The University of Iowa, also commonly called Iowa or UI, is a major research university located on a campus in Iowa City, Iowa, US, on the banks of the Iowa River. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. The University is a member of the Big Ten Conference, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, and is considered a "Public Ivy."

History

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, the student body numbered 124, of which, 41 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 original campus was composed of the Iowa Old Capitol Building and the 10 acres 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.

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 (Carleton “Kinney” Holbrook, 1895) The university offered its first doctoral degree in 1898.

Iowa established the first law school west of the Mississippi 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).

On November 1, 1991, five employees of the University were killed and one student was critically injured when Gang Lu, a physics graduate student, went on a shooting rampage before committing suicide. It was rumored that the gunman was upset because he was denied an academic award.

On April 13, 2006, a tornado struck the University and adjacent Iowa City, causing moderate damage throughout the campus and town. Despite the damage, injuries were relatively light in the area, although one person in a neighboring county was killed.

In June of 2007, the school conducted interviews with four candidates for the office of President. On June 20, 2007 television station KCRG reported that Sally Mason had been selected as the next President at Iowa. The Board of Regents later confirmed that Mason had been selected as the next President of Iowa.

Colleges

Academics and distinctions

Iowa is one of 60 elected members to the prestigious Association of American Universities.

According to The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities (2001) by Howard and Matthew Greene, The University of Iowa is one of America's "Public Ivy" institutions of higher education, defined by the authors as a public institution that "provides an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price."

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:

24th best public university in the nation — U.S. News & World Report, 2008 edition

64th best university in the nation, tied with University of Connecticut, Purdue University - U.S. News & World Report, 2008 edition

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 only two public universities in the Midwest listed as "best buys" — Fiske Guide to Colleges, 2008

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 Magazine 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 18th year in a row (since rankings began in 1990 - U.S. News & World Report, 2007.

Iowa's 1,700-acre 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. Iowa places first in the nation in both nursing service administration and gerontological/geriatric nursing graduate programs. In the other categories, Iowa is ranked better than 12th in all of them.

The Tippie College of Business was named by Business Week as one of the top fifty business schools in the nation.

U.S. News & World Report has rated University of Iowa programs as some of the top in the country. The ratings listed below reflect the most current comparisons of programs nationwide in both public and private institutions.

#1 Creative Writing - Postgraduate

#1 Nursing Service Administration — Masters

#1 Physicians Assistant Program — Masters

#1 Speech-Language Pathology — Masters

#2 Audiology — Masters, Ph.D.

#2 Nurse Practitioner — Gerontological/Geriatrics

#2 Otolaryngology (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics)

#2 Printmaking

#3 Social Psychology (Department of Sociology)

#4 Rehabilitation Counseling — Master's and Ph.D. (College of Education)

#4 Rural Medicine (Carver College of Medicine)

#5 Physical Therapy — Master's and Ph.D. (Carver College of Medicine)

#6 Nursing—Anesthesia Master's Program (College of Nursing)

#6 Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics)

#8 Paleontology — Ph.D. (Department of Geology)

#8 Plasma Physics (Department of Physics and Astronomy)

#10 Art and Design — MFA Programs

#12 College of Nursing — Master's Program

#12 Counseling/Personnel Services (College of Education)

#13 Nurse Practitioner/Pediatrics

#15 Clinical Psychology — Ph.D. program

#15 Family Medicine (Carver College of Medicine)

#16 Environmental Engineering (College of Engineering)

#16 Nurse Practioner: Family (College of Nursing)

#16 Orthopaedic Surgery (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics)

#17 Healthcare Management (College of Public Health)

#17 Pharmacy — Pharm.D. Program

#18 Higher Education Administration (College of Education)

#18 College of Public Health

#18 Neurology and Neurosurgery (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics)

#18 Painting and Drawing

#18 Primary Care (Carver College of Medicine)

#19 Educational Psychology (College of Education)

#22 Urology (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics)

#24 College of Law

#24 Internal Medicine (Carver College of Medicine)

#25 Political Science (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)

#26 Accounting (Tippie College of Business)

#26 Kidney Disease (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics)

#28 College of Education

#28 English — Ph.D. program

#30 Carver College of Medicine — Research

#32 Gynecology (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics)

#32 History — Ph.D. program

#33 Library and Information Studies — Ph.D. program (Graduate College)

#33 Tippie College of Business

#34 Biomedical/Bioengineering (College of Engineering)

#34 Economics — Ph.D. program

#34 Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering

#34 Sociology — Ph.D. program

#36 Psycholology—Research Ph.D. (Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, College of Education)

#40 Digestive Disorders (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics)

#41 Civil Engineering

#46 Social Work—Master's Program

#47 Psychology—Ph.D. (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)

#48 Biological Sciences (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)

#50 Mechanical Engineering

#67 Computer Science

Iowa Writers' Workshop

The Writer's 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 for writing.

Notable Workshop students and faculty include Robert Penn Warren, author of All the King's Men, former student Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours, 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, and the buildings for biology, chemistry, engineering, psychology, and physics.

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 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, Schaffer, 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

Student life

Given the size of the university, it is difficult to generalize what student life is like at the University of Iowa. There are hundreds of student organizations, including groups focused on politics, sports, games, lifestyles, dance, song, and theater, among other things.

With so many students, it is not difficult to find things to do other than drinking, including movies, plays, restaurants, bowling, and a variety of other activities. The University also tries to sponsor events that give students an alternative to the typical drinking scene.

Athletics

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 dollar renovation. The renovation included new stands in the south endzone, a new press box, and a statue of Nile 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 suffered a rough year in 2006. After starting out 5-1, the team went 1-5 over it's final six games including losses to perennially poor Indiana and Northwestern teams. Iowa lost to Texas in the Alamo Bowl.

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 (holding a 36-19 advantage), Iowa State has won 7 of the last 10 games following a 15-13 win in 2007. Iowa also has a Big Ten 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. In 2004, Iowa and Wisconsin unveiled the Heartland Trophy, a bronze bull, to be played for in their annual rivalry. The Hawkeye football team has won eleven Big Ten football titles.

Wrestling

Iowa is famous for its extremely successful collegiate wrestling program. Through 2006, the Hawkeyes wrestlers have won 20 national titles and 31 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.

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.

Other sports

Carver-Hawkeye Arena seats 15,500 for Iowa basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and wrestling.

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 9^th to become the new athletic director of Stanford University.

The University of Iowa also has several club sports teams that compete in Baseball, Rugby, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Soccer, Ice Hockey, and several other sports.

School Songs

On Iowa

On Iowa proudly at the fore
On Iowa on for evermore
Ev'ry loyal son will give
A Rousing toast to you
Ev'ry loyal daughter loves you true
On Iowa with your wealth untold
A heritage to us you did unfold
Love of family, love of friend
Love of country too
Makes us proud for what you stand
Our Dear Old Gold.

Iowa! Iowa!
Iowa! Iowa!
I-O-W-A!

Fight, Iowa, never, never yield
Fight, Iowa, fight right down the field
Get in the game and watch the ball
Be a fighting Man
Hit 'er hard, give Iowa all you can.
Fight, Iowa, you'll be sure to hold
We're with you with the pep
And love of old.
Fight for family, Fight for friend
Fight for country too
But fight hard today and win
For Dear old Gold.

Iowa Fight Song

The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,
Let every loyal Iowan sing;
The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,"
Until the walls and rafters ring (Go Hawks!)
Come on and cheer, cheer, cheer, for IOWA
Come on and cheer until you hear the final gun.
The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,"
Until the game is won.

Alma Mater

Come all alums of Iowa,
And blend your voices true;
Sing praises to our Alma Mater,
As good Hawkeyes do.

Let's keep within our hearts a fire
To magnify her fame;
Bring credit to these noble halls,
Where glory and honor reign.

The day is near when comrades here
Will bid farewell and part;
But each Hawkeye carries on
Thy spirit in his heart.

Oh, Iowa, Iowa, we drink a toast to you;
We pledge our everlasting love
For dear old Iowa U
Alma Mater, Iowa
''

Roll Along Iowa

Roll along Iowa, Roll down the field,
On to victory!
Roll along Iowa, Don't ever yield,
Always a winner be!
Get that ball, Give your all, For dear Old Gold,
Raise her banner high!
With firm endeavor, Roll on forever,
U of I.

The original last line of Roll Along Iowa was With firm endeavor, Roll on forever, S.U.I. in reference to The University of Iowa's legal name as "The State University of Iowa". It was changed to the current line in the late 1970's.

Notable people

As with any major public university, many University of Iowa alumni have achieved fame or notoriety after graduating. These people include athletes, film and television actors, and 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. Some of the notable alumni include NFL tight end Dallas Clark,NFl safery Bob Sanders, NFL tackle Robert Gallery, NFL linebacker Chad Greenway, NFL guard Mike Goff, NBA guard Ricky Davis, actor Tom Arnold, and Pulitzer Prize winning writer Tennessee Williams.

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:

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (4)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (11)
Institute of Medicine (16)

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 Gilmore (1934-1940)
Virgil Hancher (1940-1964)
Howard Bowen (1964-1969)
Willard Boyd (1969-1981)
James O. Freedman (1982-1987)
John Garang
Hunter R. Rawlings III (1988-1995)
Mary Sue Coleman (1995-2002)
David Skorton (2003-2006)
Sally Mason (2007-)

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).

References

External links

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Last updated on Thursday March 06, 2008 at 00:06:31 PST (GMT -0800)
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