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.

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.

In 1870, President Welch and I. P. Roberts, professor of agriculture,[16] held three-day farmers' institutes at Cedar Falls, Council Bluffs, Washington, and Muscatine.

In 1872, the first courses were given in domestic economy (home economics, family and consumer sciences) and were taught by Mary B. Welch, the president's wife.

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.

Today, Beardshear Hall holds the offices of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Registrar, Provost, and student financial aid.

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.

[24] Iowa State's eight colleges today offer more than 100 undergraduate majors and 200 fields of study leading to graduate and professional degrees.

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.

[25] Located on a 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) 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.

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.

[22] 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.

Located immediately south of Jack Trice Stadium on the ISU campus, Reiman Gardens is a year-round facility that has become one of the most visited attractions in central Iowa.

James "Tama Jim" Wilson resided for much of the 1890s with his family at the Farm House until he joined President William McKinley's cabinet as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Today, faculty, students, and community members can enjoy the museum while honoring its significance in shaping a nationally recognized land-grant university.

Objects include furnishings from Carrie Chapman Catt and Charles Curtiss, a wide variety of quilts, a modest collection of textiles and apparel, and various china and glassware items.

The Farm House Museum is an on-campus educational resource providing a changing environment of exhibitions among the historical permanent collection objects that are on display.

Over 2,000 works of public art, including 600 by significant national and international artists, are located across campus in buildings, courtyards, open spaces and offices.

Planted with perennials, ground cover, shrubs, and flowering trees, the landscape design provides a setting for works of 20th and 21st century sculpture, primarily American.

[72] Surrounding the first floor lobby staircase in Parks Library are eight mural panels designed by Iowa artist Grant Wood.

[82] ISU research for the government provided Ames National Laboratory its start in the 1940s with the development of a highly efficient process for producing high-purity uranium for atomic energy.

[83] Dan Shechtman, awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of quasicrystals at Johns Hopkins University, is an Associate of Ames National Laboratory.

On Veterans Day in 2014, ISU's "Gold Star Hall" publicly honored Petty Officer Jerry Leroy Converse, a U.S. Navy sailor that was killed by Israel during the 1967 USS Liberty incident.

The Daily has its roots from a news sheet titled the Clipper, which was started in the spring of 1890 by a group of students at Iowa Agricultural College led by F.E.

In addition, VEISHEA brought speakers, lecturers, and entertainers to Iowa State, and throughout its over eight decade history, it has hosted such distinguished guests as Bob Hope, John Wayne, Presidents Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, and Lyndon Johnson, and performers Diana Ross, Billy Joel, Sonny and Cher, The Who, The Goo Goo Dolls, Bobby V, and The Black Eyed Peas.

The Iowa State Cyclones are a member of the Big 12 Conference and compete in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), fielding 16 varsity teams in 12 sports.

In 1894, college president William M. Beardshear spearheaded the foundation of an athletic association to officially sanction Iowa State football teams.

Hopes of "Hilton Magic" returning took a boost with the hiring of ISU alum, Ames native, and fan favorite Fred Hoiberg as coach of the men's basketball team in April 2010.

Dan Gable, another legendary ISU wrestler, is famous for having lost only one match in his entire Iowa State collegiate career - his last - and winning gold at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, while not giving up a single point.