Great stories happen at Iowa

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.

Meet Kid Captain Gracelyn Springer
At age 8, Gracelyn Springer received a rare diagnosis: Ewing sarcoma, located in her head. Thanks to compassionate experts at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Gracelyn’s cancer is now in remission.

Hawks on the scene for historic NASCAR street race
A practicum gives University of Iowa students exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the inaugural Chicago event and a chance to pitch promotional campaigns to NASCAR executives.

Finding and fighting a boy’s deadly brain infection
The expertise and persistence of pediatric neurosurgeon Brian Dlouhy and the UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital team helped a Des Moines boy recover from a life-threatening brain abscess.

Nursing excellence honored once again
The University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center nursing team has been recognized with a fifth consecutive Magnet Recognition Program designation, joining a select group of organizations nationwide to achieve that streak.

Spencer Lee spreads Hawkeye goodwill
The Olympic hopeful and University of Iowa graduate student gets on the mat and talks shop during a recent visit to Japan.

UI grad living dream producing ‘Pat McAfee Show’
Fueled by the confidence he built as a University of Iowa student, Ty Schmit made a play in 2017 to join Pat McAfee’s fledgling media enterprise as an intern. Now he produces the retired football player’s daily sports show, which recently was acquired by ESPN.

Thriving after devastating burn accident
Thanks to a little luck—and a lot of care and skill from the University of Iowa Health Care Burn Treatment Center team—James Rogers is back to loving life with his new wife in their new home in Denver, Iowa.

‘MasterChef’ gets a taste of what this Hawk is cooking
Grant Gillon, who graduated from the University of Iowa in 2012, beats out 20 other contestants to win long-running food competition show.

A commitment to rural mental health
University of Iowa alumna Shea Jorgensen found her calling providing community-informed mental health care in small communities near Mason City, Iowa.

Following a passion to care for women in rural Iowa
Emily Boevers discovered her love of labor and delivery at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Now, she’s practicing medicine 10 minutes from where she grew up.