[17] In addition, Iowa was the world's first university to accept creative work in theater, writing, music, and art on an equal basis with academic research.

[18] 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 (Alexander G. Clark, Jr. in 1879), and to put an African American on a varsity athletic squad (Frank Holbrook in 1895).

Under the leadership of Carl Seashore in 1922, Iowa became the first university in the United States to accept creative projects as theses for advanced degrees.

In so doing, Iowa established a creative standard in qualifying for the Master of Fine Arts degree and secured a place for writers and artists in the academy.

The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission conducted several experiments examining the effects of iodine-131 administration in pregnant women (scheduled for abortions) and infants in 1953 and 1963, respectively.

In the summer of 2008, flood waters breached the Coralville Reservoir spillway, damaging more than 20 major campus buildings.

[25] Several weeks after the floodwaters receded, university officials placed a preliminary estimate on flood damage at $231.75 million.

[26] The reconstruction and renovation work took a decade, but the university has recovered and taken several preventive measures with the hope of avoiding a tragic repeat of the event.

[28][29] In 2015, the Iowa Board of Regents selected Bruce Harreld, a business consultant with limited experience in academic administration, to succeed Sally Mason as president.

The regents' choice of Harreld provoked criticism and controversy on the UI campus due to his corporate background, lack of history in leading an institution of higher education, and the circumstances related to the search process.

[30][31][32][33] The regents said they had based their decision on the belief that Harreld could limit costs and find new sources of revenue beyond tuition in an age of declining state support for universities.

The campus is roughly bordered by Park Road and U.S. Highway 6 to the north and Dubuque and Gilbert streets to the east.

Additionally, five residence halls (Hillcrest, Slater, Rienow, Parklawn, and Petersen), Kinnick Stadium, and Carver-Hawkeye Arena are located on the west campus.

A flood of the Iowa River in 2008 had a major impact on several campus buildings, forcing many to temporarily or permanently close.

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 collection includes many important works, including works by artists Sol LeWitt (2-3-1-1, 1994), El Anatsui (Anonymous Creature 2009), Dale Chihuly (Forest Amber and Gilded Chandelier, 2004), Auguste Rodin (Jean de Fiennes, draped, 1889), and Peter Randall-Page (Ridge and Furrow, 2011).

[70] U.S. News & World Report also ranked 9 University of Iowa graduate programs among the top 25 in the United States for 2021.

[70] According to the National Science Foundation, Iowa spent $511 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 51st in the United States.

The University Libraries' holdings include more than five million bound volumes, more than 200,000 rare books, and 1000 historical manuscript collections.

Significant holdings include Hardin Library's John Martin Rare Book Room, the Iowa Women's Archives,[75] the Louis Szathmary culinary arts collections, the Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry,[75] science fiction collections, and works of Walt Whitman.

[76][77] There are also over 500 student organizations, including groups focused on politics, sports, games, lifestyles, dance, song, theater, and a variety of other activities.

[79] In 2004 the university established an annual $25,000 contract with the newly reopened Iowa City Englert Theatre to host concerts and performances for as many as 40 nights a year.

For example, students edit and manage The Daily Iowan newspaper (often called the DI), which is printed every Monday through Friday while classes are in session.

They have won 13 conference titles and have made 11 Final Four appearances in the 33-year history of the NCAA tournament, despite field hockey not being a high school sport in Iowa.

Other sports at the university include basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, gymnastics, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, cross country, and rowing.

Among the thousands of graduates from the University of Iowa, especially notable alumni include George Gallup, founder of the Gallup Poll (BA, 1923; MA 1925; PhD 1928); Tennessee Williams, leading 20th century playwright and author of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (BA 1938); Gene Wilder, comedic film and television actor (BA 1955, Communication and Theatre Arts); James Van Allen, world-famous physicist and discoverer of the radiation belts (the Van Allen Belts) that surround the earth, Emeritus Carver Professor of Physics at the University of Iowa (MS 1936, PhD 1939, Physics); Mauricio Lasansky, Latin American artist known as the father of modern printmaking, founder of the University of Iowa's 'Iowa print group'; Albert Bandura, one of the most cited psychologists of all-time as originator of social cognitive theory (MA 1951, PhD 1952); (Mary) Flannery O'Connor, novelist and author of numerous short stories (MFA 1947, English); Sarai Sherman, a twentieth century modernist painter whose work is in major national and international collections; Sculptor Luther Utterback (1973 M.F.A.

);[91] John Irving, novelist who wrote The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and several others (MFA 1967, English), writer Jenny Zhang; Andre Tippett, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker for the New England Patriots; Don Nelson, Boston Celtics star, NBA head coach and Naismith Hall of Fame member, and Luka Garza, two-time college basketball national player of the year currently playing in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves.