Iowa State University

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Iowa State University

Established 1856
Type Public
Endowment $496 million[1]
President Gregory L. Geoffroy
Faculty 1,750
Students 26,700
Undergraduates 22,000
Location Ames, IA, USA
Campus Urban, 1,984 acres (8 km²)
Athletics Cyclones
Website www.iastate.edu

Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is a public land-grant and space-grant university located in Ames, Iowa. Until 1959 it was known as Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. The university is one of 60 elected members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

In 1856, The Iowa General Assembly enacted legislation to establish the State Agricultural College and Model Farm. Story County was chosen as the location on June 21, 1859, from proposals by Johnson, Kossuth, Marshall, Polk, and Story counties. When Iowa accepted the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862, Iowa State became the first institution designated as a land-grant college.

Iowa State University is the operating agency for the Ames Laboratory, a United States Department of Energy national laboratory.

Contents

[edit] History

The institution was coeducational from the earliest year (1858). The Iowa Experiment Station was one of its prominent features. Practical courses of instruction were taught, including one designed to give a general training for the career of a farmer. Courses in mechanical, civil, electrical, and mining engineering were taught.

Fountain of Four Seasons by Christian Petersen with the Campanile in the background
Fountain of Four Seasons by Christian Petersen with the Campanile in the background

The domain occupied about 1175 acres (476 hectares), of which 120 acres (49 hectares) formed the campus. In 1914, tuition was free to residents of Iowa. Students from other States paid an annual fee of $50. There were 217 members on the faculty in 1914 when 3,458 students attended the school. In 1923, 7,766 students were taught by a faculty which numbered 567 members. In the period from 1914 to 1923, the following buildings were erected: four women's dormitories, plant propagation building and greenhouse, science building, hospital, armory, animal husbandry laboratory, agricultural engineering building, poultry laboratory, dairy judging pavilion, and sheep, horse, hog, and dairy barns. A library of 250,000 volumes' capacity, a home economics building, and a dormitory for women were under construction in 1924. The president was Raymond Allen Pearson.

[edit] Academics

ISU is best known for its degree programs in science, engineering, and agriculture. ISU is also home of the world's first electronic digital computing device, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer.

It consists of the following colleges:

In addition to these seven colleges, the Graduate College oversees graduate study in all fields.

[edit] Athletics

Iowa State Cyclones official logo.
Iowa State Cyclones official logo.
Main article: Iowa State Cyclones

The "Cyclones" name dates back to 1895. That year, Iowa suffered an unusually high number of devastating cyclones (as tornadoes were called at the time). In September, the Iowa State football team, then known as the Cardinals, traveled to Northwestern University and defeated its highly-regarded team by a score of 36-0. The next day, the Chicago Tribune's headline read "Struck by a Cyclone: It Comes from Iowa and Devastates Evanston Town."[2] The article reported that "Northwestern might as well have tried to play football with an Iowa cyclone as with the Iowa team it met yesterday." The nickname stuck and the Iowa State team had made a name for itself.

The school colors are cardinal red and gold. The mascot is Cy, a cardinal, introduced in 1954. Since a cyclone was determined to be difficult to depict in costume, the cardinal was chosen in reference to the school's previous athletic nickname as well as the school colors. A contest was held to select a name for the mascot, with the name Cy being chosen as the winner.

The Iowa State Cyclones play in the NCAA's Division I-A as part of the Big 12 Conference.

[edit] Landmarks

View looking east towards Roberts Hall.
View looking east towards Roberts Hall.
Main article: Buildings of Iowa State University

Iowa State's campus contains over 160 buildings. Several buildings, as well as the Marston Water Tower, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3] Central campus is a 20-acre lawn and was listed as a "medallion site" by the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1999.

[edit] VEISHEA celebration

Main article: VEISHEA

Iowa State is also known for VEISHEA, an education and entertainment festival held on campus every spring. Its organizers claim it to be among the largest student-organized events in the world. The 2007 VEISHEA festivities will mark the start of Iowa State's year-long sesquicentennial celebration.

[edit] Notable people

George Washington Carver was a student and faculty member at Iowa State.
George Washington Carver was a student and faculty member at Iowa State.
Main article: List of Iowa State University people

As with any major public university, many Iowa State University alumni have achieved fame or notoriety after graduating. These people include athletes, film and television actors, and technological innovators.

[edit] Iowa State chronology

Events occurring in the same year did not necessarily happen in the order presented here.

Year Event
1856 Iowa General Assembly enacted legislation for creation of the State Agricultural College and Model Farm
1859 Story County was the chosen county for the State Agricultural College and Model Farm
1860 Construction starts on the first building on campus, Farm House
1862 Morrill Act of 1862 was passed; college to be named Iowa State Agricultural College
1895 Football team nicknamed Cyclones for their performance against Northwestern University
1898 Renamed the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts
1922 VEISHEA was established
1939 The Atanasoff-Berry Computer is first demonstrated
1959 Renamed the Iowa State University of Science and Technology
1988 First VEISHEA riot
1992 Second VEISHEA riot
1999 Central Campus is listed as a "medallion site" by the American Society of Landscape Architects
2004 VEISHEA riot; resulted in VEISHEA for 2005 being canceled for the first time in ISU's history
2006 VEISHEA returns after being canceled for 2005; is deemed a huge success
2008 Sesquicentennial of Iowa State

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "2006 NACUBO Endowment Study". National Association of College and University Business Officers.
  2. ^ Iowa State University Time Line, 1875-1899. Iowa State University website.
  3. ^ It's a Fact: Iowa State University. Iowa State University website.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


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This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.

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