Welcome to The University of Iowa—where we are entering an exciting new era!

All that is remarkable about this University’s legacy remains true.  We provide excellence and accessibility in education, conduct groundbreaking research, undertake revolutionary creative endeavor, dedicate ourselves to diversity, and enhance higher education's role in public life.  At Iowa, undergraduate, graduate, and professional students find a rich, vibrant, innovative, and affordable academic experience.  While we continue to serve the public through our traditional strengths, we also recognize that today is not the same as twenty years ago, or five years ago, or even yesterday.  The University of Iowa, as one of the nation’s academic leaders, must always hold our traditions and our strengths dearly, but we must also look forward to a future marked by increasing distinction and new discovery.

One area of tremendous importance to every person on the planet is sustainability, perhaps the central issue of our time.  As an educational and research leader, The University of Iowa must remain at the forefront of preparing the next generation of thinkers, innovators, and entrepreneurs who will help the world meet its profound environmental challenges.  Our Sustainable University Initiative focuses partially on reducing our own carbon footprint through institutional energy conservation, use of renewable energy resources and sustainable materials, and green construction.  But even more importantly, we have developed new educational programs such as wind energy management in our College of Engineering and a University-wide undergraduate certificate in sustainability studies.  While many universities are scaling back their sustainability commitments in a troubled economy, The University of Iowa continues to move forward.

For decades, Iowa has been known for the best in health care and medical research and education.  We are moving our stature as a leader in life sciences research forward by building the new UI Institute for Biomedical Discovery.  This center for the science of saving lives will unite expertise and resources from across the University to address some of the world’s most devastating diseases and conditions.  We are at an exciting crossroads in Iowa and across the nation.  Before us lie incredible opportunities to save lives, to improve the health of Iowans and people everywhere, and to ensure a better quality of life from birth into advanced age.  The UIIBD—and all of our health sciences programs—are taking advantage of those opportunities on the leading edge.

Iowa is also known as the first University to offer academic credit for creative work, inventing the MFA degree, and creating the most renowned Writers’ Workshop in the world.  That reputation—and the incredible cultural vibrancy of our home community—has led Iowa City to be designated the first City of Literature in the Western Hemisphere, and only the third in the world, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  Since before the first MFA’s in the 1930s up to today’s expanding writing programs, The University of Iowa has been known for being a leader in the literary world.  With a renewed world spotlight on us, we are making sure that we continue to be a center for the arts and letters that is known across the globe. 

As those who create art and literature know, through tragedy comes opportunity.  And that is exactly what is happening at the UI.  In 2008, our campus and many communities throughout Iowa experienced the most significant flood in our state’s history, and one of the biggest natural disasters in American history.  We have shown the incredible resilience and dedication of the University community by completing a full 2008-2009 academic year with all the courses we promised our students.  As we continue to renew our campus, we have an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild our programs for the 21st century.  While we continue all of our programs at full steam, the next few years will see the emergence of new facilities—particularly on our arts campus—that will not only be state-of-the-art, but will define what a University education is all about for future generations.  Also as a result of the flood, the UI is building on our experience through numerous research programs focused on flooding, including a new Iowa Flood Center that will conduct pioneering research for real-world solutions.

The people of the state of Iowa are justifiably proud of their University, and I hold that legacy in hand with a profound sense of stewardship.  While we honor and build upon the UI's heritage, and while we continue to renew our physical campus, we will move together into a future of endless opportunity for all through the promise of new knowledge.  Here is a link to some of the UI's recent and past achievements: University of Iowa Marks of Distinction.  I invite you to peruse them, and then to explore our website to see the excellence that we have to offer, whether you are contemplating your college career, seeking information on the latest research discoveries, or connecting with a service important to you.  I am thrilled to be part of a University of Iowa community that is talented, dedicated, and caring.  I know you will be, too.



Sally Mason
President