University of Northern Iowa

Iowa State Normal School, c. 1904

Curris Business Building at University of Northern Iowa

The University of Northern Iowa was founded as a result of two influential forces of the nineteenth century. First, Iowa wanted to care for orphans of its Civil War veterans, and secondly, Iowa needed a public teacher training institution. In 1876, when Iowa no longer needed an orphan home, legislators Edward G. Miller and H. C. Hemenway started the Iowa State Normal School.[6]

The school's first building opened in 1867 and was known as Central Hall. The building contained classrooms, common areas, and a living facility for most of the students. It was also a home to the college's first principal, James Cleland Gilchrist. The building was the heart and soul of the school, allowing students to study courses of two-year, three-year, and four-year degrees. In 1965, a fire destroyed Central Hall, and school faculty and Cedar Falls citizens donated over $5,000 to start building Gilchrist Hall.[6]

The school has been known under the following names:

• Iowa State Normal School, 1876–1909
• Iowa State Teachers College, 1909–1961
• State College of Iowa, 1961–1967
• University of Northern Iowa, 1967–present

Memorial to 2LT Robert Hibbs and Campanile at University of Northern Iowa

From 2014 through 2018 the UNI hosted the Midwest Summer Institute: Inclusion and Communication for All, a two-day conference on facilitated communication sponsored by the Inclusion Connection and Syracuse University's Institute on Communication and Inclusion. Facilitated Communication is a discredited practice, and in 2018 UNI decided to discontinue the conference at the urging of multiple nationwide academics.

University of Northern Iowa colleges include:

• Wilson College of Business
• Education
• Humanities, Arts and Sciences
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Graduate College

North American Review

The university is the publisher of The North American Review (called the NAR), a celebrated literary magazine that began originally in Boston in 1815. Its past editors have included James Russell Lowell, Charles Eliot Norton, and Henry Adams; while among its past contributors are Mark Twain, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Walt Whitman, Kurt Vonnegut, Joyce Carol Oates, Guy Davenport and Margaret Atwood. In 1968, when the magazine was purchased by UNI, Robley Wilson was appointed editor, a position he continued in until his retirement in 2000. The current editors are Rachel Morgan, Jeremy Schraffenberger, Grant Tracey, and Brooke Wonders.

UNI Teaching and Research Greenhouse

The school's mascot is the Panther. They participate in the NCAA's Division I (I-FCS for football) in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) for most other sports, and the Big 12 Conference for wrestling.[9] The major arena on campus is the UNI-Dome, currently the home of the football team. The Dome also serves as a venue for many local concerts, high school football playoffs, trade shows, and other events. In 2006, the university opened a new arena, the McLeod Center, to serve as the home for several athletic programs, including volleyball and men's and women's basketball.

UNI Athletics has enjoyed great success lately with the men's basketball team competing in the NCAA tournament three consecutive times in 2004, 2005, 2006, again in 2009 and 2010 and in 2015 and 2016. On March 20, 2010, the men's basketball team defeated the heavily favored, top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. It was the school's first appearance in the Sweet Sixteen. The Jayhawks were favored to win the NCAA championship. Their Cinderella potential ended with a loss to Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen, 59–52. The win over Kansas earned them the 2010 ESPY Award for Best Upset. Jacqui Kalin helped lead the women's basketball team to consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, as the team won back-to-back MVC Tournament titles.[10][11][12][13][14] In 2010-11 she was named the Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year.[14][13] In 2012-13 she led the league in scoring (19.5 ppg; a school record), had the fourth-highest season free throw percentage in NCAA Division 1 history-and the highest of any senior (95.5%), and was again named the Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year.[11][14][15][16] For her career Kalin was first all-time at UNI in scoring (2,081), 3-point field goals made (265), free throws made (484), and free throw percentage (.920) the NCAA Division 1 career record.[11][17][14][15]

The football team has been ranked in the I-AA (FCS) top 25 almost every year for the last two decades. The team appeared in the I-AA championship game in 2005, only to lose a close game to the Appalachian State Mountaineers. During 2007, the team was ranked #1 in the country by the TSN FCS poll for several weeks. The football team went undefeated in 2007 with an 11–0 record, a first for any school in the 23-year history of the Gateway conference. In 2001 and 2002 the volleyball team reached the NCAA Sweet 16 round, and in 2006 made it to the second round, and has competed in the tournament numerous times. The track team is also very successful (usually ranked in the top 25), as are the wrestling and volleyball teams.

The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team won the NCAA Division I national championship as ISTC in 1949 and NCAA Division II national championships in 1975 and 1978. They competed in the Western Wrestling Conference until 2012, when UNI became an associate member of the Mid-American Conference since the MVC is a non-wrestling conference. In 2017, UNI wrestling joined the Big 12 Conference. In 1977 the women's softball team won the AIAW national championship.[18]

Bryce Paup won the Defensive Player of Year Award by the Associated Press in 1995. In 1999 and 2001, UNI alumnus Kurt Warner was named NFL MVP by the AP.[19]

During the 2014–2015 season, the men's basketball team ended the regular season ranked #11 by the AP Poll, the highest ranking in school history, and #9 by USA Today.[20]

• Bartlett Hall - Faculty offices. Formerly a residence hall.
• Bender Hall - Coed Residence Hall (Towers Complex)
• Begeman Hall - Newly Renovated Physics Building - opened October 5, 2007
• Biology Research Complex
• Communication Arts Center - Location of studios of Iowa Public Radio stations KUNI-FM (news and music) and KHKE-FM (classical). Houses the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department and the faculty offices of the Department of Theatre.
• Campanile - Clocktower on campus built in 1926, landmark of UNI and included in many university logos
• Curris Business Building
• Center for Energy & Environmental Education
• Commons - Event space containing ballrooms and meeting rooms.[21] Also houses the 23rd Street Market (Closed in 2023).[22]
• Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center
• Gilchrist Hall - Administration building. Closed until 2008 due to arson fire during homecoming, Fall 2005, now reopened[23]
• Hagemann Hall - Coed Dormitory (formerly all female, part of Quads Complex)
• Industrial Technology Center - Academic Building
• Innovative Teaching and Technology Center - Previously known as the East Gymnasium. Former Women's Gym. Remodeling was completed late Spring 2006.
• Kamerick Art Building - Academic Building; houses the University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art
• Latham Hall - Academic Building
• Lang Hall - The oldest academic building on campus, constructed in 1900. Houses the Department of Communication and Media. Also houses the Interpreter's Theatre. This space often produces original work written and directed by faculty and students.[24]
• Maucker Student Union - home of UNI's student-run radio station, KULT 94.5 FM[25] and the Northern Iowan newspaper.
• McCollum Science Hall - Academic Building housing the science departments.

• Redeker Center - Center of Quads Complex. Houses UNI Department of Residence and Piazza Dining Center
• Rod Library - Library, UNI Museum, Special Collection & University Archives
• Russell Hall - Academic building and auditorium housing the Music departments
• Sabin Hall - Academic Building
• Schindler Education Center - Academic Building housing the education departments
• Seerley Hall - Home of the Office of the President. Also an Academic Building, home to the History department
• Student Health Center-Student Health Clinic, Counseling Center, Student Disability Services, Violence Intervention Services.
• Strayer-Wood Theatre - Theatre that also houses the theater department of UNI. Home of Theatre UNI. The theater was named after Hazel Strayer and Stanley Wood, two influential former faculty members.[26] Also houses a black box, the Bertha Martin Theatre.[27]
• Wellness Recreation Center - Contains an aquatic center, climbing wall, track, and racquetball courts.
• Wright Hall - Academic Building housing the Mathematics Department

• 
  John R. Dinger, Ambassador and Diplomat
• 
  Paul Emerick, USA international rugby player and London Wasps player
• 
  L. J. Fort, Linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens
• 
  Charles "Chuck" Grassley, United States Senator
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  David Johnson, NFL Pro Bowler and Record Holder
• 
  Jason Lewis, politician, radio talk show host, and political commentator
• 
  Greg McDermott, head coach of the Creighton Bluejays men's basketball program
• 
  Abinadi Meza, contemporary visual artist, sound artist, conceptual artist, and filmmaker
• 
  Nick Nurse, NBA coach
• 
  Tom Pettit, Award-Winning executive and journalist
• 
  Nancy Jo Powell, U.S. Ambassador to Nepal and U.S. Ambassador to India
• 
  Phyllis Somerville, Broadway, Film and Television Actress
• 
  Mark Steines, host of Entertainment Tonight
• 
  Vanessa McNeal, Activist
• 
  Krista Voda, Sportscaster
• 
  Kurt Warner, quarterback, NFL MVP, Super Bowl Champion, and Hall of Famer

• Official website