University Of Iowa

About University Of Iowa

The University of Iowa, also commonly called Iowa or U of I, is a major research university located on a 1,700-acre (7 km²) campus in Iowa City, Iowa, US, on the banks of the Iowa River. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. The University is a member of the Big Ten Conference, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, and is considered a Public Ivy.

The University of Iowa was originally named the State University of Iowa, and this remains the institution's legal name. The State University of Iowa was founded February 25, 1847 as Iowa's first public institution of higher learning, only 59 days after Iowa became a state. Despite its legal name, it is not to be confused with Iowa State University.

The first faculty offered instruction at the University in March 1855 to students in the Old Mechanics Building, situated where Seashore Hall is now. In September 1855, there were 124 students, of whom forty-one were women. The 1856-57 catalogue listed nine departments offering Ancient Language, Modern Language, Intellectual Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, History, Natural History, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry. The first President was Leigh S. J. Hunt.