Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the nation's first designated land-grant institutions when the Iowa Legislature accepted the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act on September 11, 1862. On July 4, 1959, the college was officially renamed Iowa State University of Science and Technology.
Iowa State is the second largest university in Iowa by total enrollment. The university's academic offerings are administered through eight colleges, including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Engineering, the Graduate College, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the College of Design, Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business, and the College of Health and Human Sciences. They offer more than 100 bachelor's degree programs, 120 master's degree programs, and 80 doctoral degree programs, plus a professional degree program in Veterinary Medicine.
Iowa State is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." The university is affiliated with the Ames National Laboratory, the Biorenewables Research Laboratory, the Plant Sciences Institute, and various other research institutes. Iowa State University's athletic teams, the Cyclones, compete in Division I of the NCAA and are a founding member of the Big 12.
History
In 1856, the Iowa General Assembly enacted legislation to establish the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm. This institution was officially established on March 22, 1858, by the General Assembly. Story County was chosen as the location on June 21, 1859, beating proposals from Johnson, Kossuth, Marshall and Polk counties. The original farm of was purchased at a cost of $5,379.Iowa was the first state in the nation to accept the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862. The state subsequently designated Iowa State as the land-grant college on March 29, 1864. Iowa State University is one of four universities that claims to be the first land-grant institution in the United States, the others being Kansas State University, Michigan State University, and the Pennsylvania State University.
From the start, Iowa Agricultural College focused on the ideals that higher education should be accessible to all and that the university should teach liberal and practical subjects. These ideals are integral to the land-grant university.
The institution has been coeducational since the first class admitted in 1868. Formal admissions began the following year, and the first graduating class of 1872 consisted of 24 men and two women.
The Farm House, the first building on the Iowa State campus, was completed in 1861 before the campus was occupied by students or classrooms. It became the home of the superintendent of the Model Farm and in later years, the deans of Agriculture, including Seaman Knapp and James "Tama Jim" Wilson. Iowa State's first president, Adonijah Welch, briefly stayed at the Farm House and penned his inaugural speech in a second floor bedroom.
The Iowa Experiment Station was one of the university's 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 also part of the curriculum.
In 1870, President Welch and I. P. Roberts, professor of agriculture, held three-day farmers' institutes at Cedar Falls, Council Bluffs, Washington, and Muscatine. These became the earliest institutes held off-campus by a land grant institution and were the forerunners of 20th century extension.
In 1872, the first courses were given in domestic economy and were taught by Mary B. Welch, the president's wife. Iowa State became the first land grant university to offer training in domestic economy for college credit.
In 1879, the School of Veterinary Science was organized, becoming the first state veterinary college in the United States. This was originally a two-year course leading to a diploma. The veterinary course of study contained classes in zoology, botany, anatomy of domestic animals, veterinary obstetrics, and sanitary science.
William Miller Beardshear was appointed President of Iowa State in 1891. During his tenure, Iowa Agricultural College truly came of age. Beardshear developed new agricultural programs and was instrumental in hiring premier faculty members such as Anson Marston, Louis B. Spinney, J. B. Weems, Perry G. Holden, and Maria Roberts. He also expanded the university administration, and added Morrill Hall, the Campanile, Old Botany , and Margaret Hall to the campus, all of which stand today except for Margaret Hall, which was destroyed by a fire in 1938. In his honor, Iowa State named its central administrative building after Beardshear in 1925. In 1898, reflecting the school's growth during his tenure, it was renamed Iowa State College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts, or Iowa State for short.
Today, Beardshear Hall holds the offices of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Provost, and student financial aid. Catt Hall is named after alumna and famed suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt, and is the home of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
In 1912, Iowa State had its first Homecoming celebration. The idea was first proposed by Professor Samuel Beyer, the college's "patron saint of athletics", who suggested that Iowa State inaugurate a celebration for alumni during the annual football game against rival University of Iowa. Iowa State's new president, Raymond A. Pearson, liked the idea and issued a special invitation to alumni two weeks prior to the event: "We need you, we must have you. Come and see what a school you have made in Iowa State College. Find a way." In October 2012 Iowa State marked its 100th Homecoming with a "CYtennial" Celebration.
Iowa State celebrated its first VEISHEA on May 11–13, 1922. Wallace McKee served as the first chairman of the Central Committee and Frank D. Paine chose the name, based on the first letters of Iowa State's colleges: Veterinary Medicine, Engineering, Industrial Science, Home Economics, and Agriculture. VEISHEA grew to become the largest student-run festival in the nation.
The Statistical Laboratory was established in 1933, with George W. Snedecor, professor of mathematics, as the first director. It was and is the first research and consulting institute of its kind in the country.
While attempting to develop a faster method of computation, mathematics and physics professor John Vincent Atanasoff conceptualized the basic tenets of what would become the world's first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff–Berry Computer, during a drive to Illinois in 1937. These included the use of a binary system of arithmetic, the separation of computer and memory functions, and regenerative drum memory, among others. The 1939 prototype was constructed with graduate student Clifford Berry in the basement of the Physics Building.
During World War II, Iowa State was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
On July 4, 1959, the college was officially renamed Iowa State University of Science and Technology. However, as a practical matter, the institution's name is simply Iowa State University. By longstanding convention, the "Science and Technology" portion is omitted even in official documents, such as diplomas. Official names given to the university's divisions were the College of Agriculture, College of Engineering, College of Home Economics, College of Sciences and Humanities, and College of Veterinary Medicine.
Iowa State's eight colleges today offer more than 100 undergraduate majors and 200 fields of study leading to graduate and professional degrees. The academic program at ISU includes a liberal arts education and research in the biological and physical sciences. The focus on technology has led directly to many research patents and inventions including the first binary computer, the ABC, Maytag blue cheese, and the round hay baler.
Located on a campus, the university has grown considerably from its roots as an agricultural college and model farm and is recognized internationally today for its comprehensive research programs. It continues to grow and set a new record for enrollment in the fall of 2015 with 36,001 students.
Manhattan Project
Iowa State played a role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project, a research and development program begun in 1942 under the Army Corps of Engineers.The process to produce large quantities of high-purity uranium metal became known as the Ames process. One-third of the uranium metal used in the world's first controlled nuclear chain reaction was produced at Iowa State under the direction of Frank Spedding and Harley Wilhelm. The Ames Project received the Army/Navy E Award for Excellence in Production on October 12, 1945, for its work with metallic uranium as a vital war material. Today, ISU is the only university in the United States that has a U.S. Department of Energy research laboratory physically located on its campus.
Atanasoff–Berry Computer
Iowa State is the birthplace of the first electronic digital computer, starting the world's computer technology revolution. Invented by mathematics and physics professor John Atanasoff and engineering graduate student Clifford Berry during 1937–42, the Atanasoff–Berry Computer pioneered important elements of modern computing.On October 19, 1973, U.S. Federal Judge Earl R. Larson signed his decision following a lengthy court trial which declared the ENIAC patent of Mauchly and Eckert invalid and named Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer—the Atanasoff–Berry Computer or the ABC.
An ABC Team consisting of Ames Laboratory and Iowa State engineers, technicians, researchers and students unveiled a working replica of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer in 1997 which can be seen on display on campus in the Durham Computation Center.