Great stories happen at Iowa

Student composer sets tone in Performing Arts video
Sean Harken, a student in the University of Iowa School of Music, found a natural outlet for his musical talents. The Iowa City native created the soundtrack for a new video hyping the Performing Arts at Iowa initiative.

Unconventional path leads med alum to healing, mentorship
Many physicians feel the calling to practice medicine from early childhood. For those with no physicians in their families, the decision is often less obvious. Iowa alum Allie Kim shares the story of hard work and self-discovery that led to her dream job.

Taking passion for Iowa, leadership to national stage
Second-year student James McCurtis III is the first University of Iowa student selected to take part in the Institute for Responsible Citizenship’s Washington Program.

Hawkeyes leading the way in health care administration
The University of Iowa College of Public Health trains its students to meet the challenges and opportunities associated with working in the health care field. Meet two Hawkeyes who are putting what they learned into practice in rural Iowa health care facilities.

A safer treatment for atrial fibrillation
New technology developed at the University of Iowa comes full circle, as physicians in the cardiac electrophysiology division of UI Health Care are the first in the state to begin using the technology in patient care.

Hawkeyes providing health care in Antarctica
Two University of Iowa medicine alumni met by chance while serving patients in one of the most remote environments on Earth.

Flexible health care job for students is win-win deal
The creation of a new University of Iowa Health Care position is giving students invaluable experience while also supporting the workload of hospital staff and enhancing patient care.

A third generation provides dental care in Fort Dodge
In deciding to be a dentist, Amy Seehusen became yet another generation of her family to attend the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and practice in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Targeting tumors even more precisely
Software piloted at University of Iowa Health Care automatically turns the radiation beam on and off during treatment to account for a tumor moving out of position—something that can happen due to coughing or breathing.

Iowa student designs big-ticket mission at NASA school
Graduate student Jacob Payne went to school—but not just any school. Payne earlier this year attended NASA’s Astrophysics Mission Design School, the first ever in astrophysics offered by NASA that teaches grad students how to write proposals for grand-idea, big-budget missions.

Artist’s work lights up Iowa City
Ali Hval, an alumna and lecturer in the School of Art and Art History, brings her public art onto the pedestrian mall with “Scribble Trees.”

10 books published in 2023 by Iowa grads
Not sure what book to dive into next? For your consideration, here is a shortlist of titles released in 2023 by University of Iowa grads, including the latest winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.

Claiming Iowa business school’s newest degree
By graduating in December, Will Corbin places himself in the inaugural cohort of UI students earning a degree in risk management and insurance. He’s already employed by a brokerage close to his hometown in central Iowa.

Driven to create community through sport and recreation
Carter Shockey says the communities he discovered at the University of Iowa will have a lasting impact on his life. The sport and recreation management grad aims to facilitate similar bonds in his professional career.

From retired high school player to the World Series
Reed Zahradnik knew he wanted to work for a Major League Baseball team. He says the opportunities he found at the University of Iowa showed him how to do it.

Pandemic prompts Iowa student to pursue art passion
Despite switching majors early in her University of Iowa experience, Liv Plowman has no regrets. She is now looking forward to her first job as an elementary art teacher in rural Iowa.

PhD student balances academics and family life
University of Iowa doctoral candidate Prarthana Parepalli planned to present her dissertation in mechanical engineering a month ahead of the anticipated arrival of her second child. Mother Nature had other ideas.

Celebrating Iowa’s fall 2023 grads
This fall, nearly 1,700 University of Iowa undergraduate, graduate, and professional students will earn degrees. These Hawkeyes have engaged, excelled, and stretched to reach their goals.

UI pediatric experts save toddler’s life after cardiac arrest
Quinn Anderson of Chariton, Iowa, lives a happy life — something that was not a given following multiple hospitalizations for congenital heart defects.

Ethics and education in the emergency room
University of Iowa alumnus Nick Kluesner, MD, is using his background in philosophy to make his mark on the future of health care in Iowa.

Meet Kid Captain Nathan McDonald
As the boy from Delta, Iowa, went through numerous orthopedic surgeries to address his medical condition, his family felt the experts at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital provided them with all the support in the world.

Building healthier communities throughout Iowa
The Business Leadership Network in the UI College of Public Health has backed health and wellness initiatives in small to mid-sized towns across Iowa, providing grants and expertise that allow these community efforts to flourish.

Meet Kid Captain Cooper Estenson
After he was diagnosed with leukemia, Cooper worried he would never be able to leave the hospital. His care team at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital made sure the North Liberty, Iowa, boy’s fears did not become reality.

Hawkeye lands role as a top storyteller for the NFL
Kimmi Chex says she shot for the stars and landed on them. The popular NFL on-air personality and analyst says what she learned at the University of Iowa helped get her there.

Meet Kid Captain Chloe Dinkla
After Chloe was diagnosed with several serious conditions—including a bony mass that split her spinal cord—her family was reassured by the collaborative and compassionate nature of UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital experts.

A sound career choice for sisters
Not only did all three sisters in one family study audiology and speech-language pathology, but each also earned admission to the highly ranked and highly selective clinical doctoral program in audiology at the University of Iowa.

Meet Kid Captain Lincoln Veach
On the heels of a leukemia diagnosis, the young boy from Maquoketa, Iowa, faced the grim prospect of a flesh-eating disease. UI Health Care providers put Lincoln on the road to recovery and supported his entire family through it all.

Complex procedure helps young athlete with heart condition
Keeli Frerichs was a star soccer player and avid exerciser until a heart condition sidelined her. The path back to an active lifestyle brought the St. Ambrose student to UI Health Care, home to one of the few experts in the nation who perform a new procedure to treat the condition.

Here to support students who served
Chuck Xander, Iowa’s new embedded counselor focusing on Veterans and military-connected students, brings a great blend of empathy and expertise to the role because of his own military service and educational background.

Breaking records, making memories at Crossover at Kinnick
The Iowa Hawkeyes played a historic women’s college basketball game in an outdoor football stadium, and more than 55,000 fans showed up—nearly doubling the NCAA’s former single-game attendance record.

Meet Kid Captain Madi Ramirez
After the young girl from LeClaire, Iowa, was diagnosed with two rare conditions, doctors at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital worked to find the medications to reduce her seizures and improve her muscle strength.

Hawaiian-born wrestler mobilizes Hawkeye community
Nanea Estrella is grateful for Iowa fans’ support for her neighbors in Lahaina, Hawaii, whose community was devastated by wildfires. That outpouring reinforces the Tippie College of Business student’s decision to be a Hawkeye.

Medicine alum answers call to serve western Iowans
Ericka Muhlbauer sees her family medicine practice in Carroll as a way to repay her community for helping her achieve her dream of being a physician.

Tillman Scholar devoted to dental advocacy
Cedar Falls native Zach Graham feels an obligation to serve others. That helps explain why Graham, a student in dental surgery in the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and an Army Veteran, was named a 2023 Pat Tillman scholar.

Meet Kid Captain Max Schlee
When newborn screening revealed Max Schlee had a rare inherited disorder, the Farmersburg, Iowa, boy was referred to UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, where his care team allayed his family’s fears and answered their questions.

Meet Kid Captain Wyatt Rannals
The fourth grader from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, enjoys playing outside and he loves to sing, dance, laugh, and make others laugh—all things he can do following a lifesaving heart transplant at ‘Wyatt’s Hospital,’ a.k.a. UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

Hawkeyes teach, coach kids in Vietnam
Two University of Iowa student-athletes participated over the summer in Coach for College, a global initiative that promotes higher education through sports. They expanded what they knew about the world and themselves.

Off-duty Iowa nurses save life near hospital skywalk
Three quick-acting nurses and some shocking serendipity recently helped resuscitate Iowa resident Ervin Imm, who experienced sudden cardiac arrest as he and his wife were leaving University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center.

Meet Kid Captain Gabby Ford
The resilience of the girl from Fairfield, Iowa, and the expertise of UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital professionals have been on full display in the face of a relentless brain tumor.

Competitive on the court and in the classroom
University of Iowa women’s basketball player Sharon Goodman takes academics as seriously as she does her teamwork, earning the admiration of her peers as she goes through the daily grind of sports and school.

Fact: UI Nonfiction Writing Program is a destination
After decades of cultivating award-winning writers, the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program has a place on campus to call its own.

Iowa poet gives new voice to 1960s girl groups
A longtime fan of doo-wop, University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Emily Sieu Liebowitz became frustrated when she found background information elusive on groups such as the Shirelles and the Ronettes, despite their hit singles. So she decided to write a book.

Meet Kid Captain Maggie Larson
Maggie Larson’s parents say their hope was restored after they began seeking treatment for their daughter’s rare, terminal disease at University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

Iowa’s 2023 incoming class, by the numbers
The University of Iowa welcomes another academically accomplished cohort of students this fall.

Meet Kid Captain Nile Kron
Like his namesake, Nile Kron is part of a great University of Iowa team — only his huddle contains UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital experts, helping the Iowa City boy conquer health challenges.

Bringing advanced pharmacy care to rural southeast Iowa
Mylo Wells always knew he wanted to return to his Iowa hometown as a pharmacist. The University of Iowa gave him the skills he needed to serve his community and open his own pharmacies.

The Hawkeye you’ll hear during halftime
The University of Iowa’s new commercial features voice-over by alumna Virginia Wangechi Muturi, an artist who finds inspiration in Hawkeyes who came before her.

Write it down: We change the game
At the University of Iowa, Hawkeyes are changing people’s lives or changing the game completely — storybook scenarios befitting of the best public university for writing and communication.