University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a university in Iowa City, Iowa. The university was founded in 1847 as the State University of Iowa, only 59 days after Iowa became a state. In spite of its original name, it is not to be confused with Iowa State University.

In 1855, Iowa became the first public university in the United States to admit men and women on an equal basis. The university offered its first doctoral degree in 1898. The school was also the first to use television in education (1932) and pioneered the field of standardized testing.

Bachelors, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the College of Business, the College of Dentistry, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the College of Public Health, the College of Education, the Henry B. Tippie College of Law, the College of Medicine, the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver Graduate College, the College of Nursing, and the College of Pharmacy. It is also the home of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Another project hosted by the University of Iowa is a virtual reality driving simulator, which they use to test vehicle and roadway technology, and the driver reactions to this technology.

Campus

The University of Iowa's main campus is located in Iowa City, 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. The Oakdale Campus, which is home to the university's research facilities and the driving simulator, is located north of Interstate 80 in Coralville.

One of the notable buildings that is part of the campus is the Old Capitol Building. This building served as the capitol building for the territory of Iowa when the capital of Iowa was based in Iowa City. Today the building houses the office of the school's President. In 2001 the building was damaged by fire. The capitol dome - which is the most notable feature of the building and part of the school logo - was destroyed in the fire. The school then proceeded to restore the dome so that it appeared exactly as the old dome did, and the restoration was completed by the summer of 2003.

Sports

The school's sports teams are called the Hawkeyes. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Big Ten Conference.

Iowa's football team plays Iowa State University annually for the Cy-Hawk Trophy, a traveling award. It 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 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.

Accomplished alumni

Marquis W. Childs, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator
John Cochran, broadcast journalist and correspondent
George Gallup, pollster
Harvey Ingham, co-owner and editor of the Des Moines Register
Wilbur L. Schramm, founder of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Institute of Communications Research at Stanford University
Wallace Stegner, author
Gene Wilder, actor
Tennessee Williams, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer
Al Jarreau, Grammy-Award-winning vocalist

External links

Official University of Iowa website (http://www.uiowa.edu/)
Official Iowa athletics site (http://www.hawkeyesports.com/)

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