Hawkeyes make a difference all along RAGBRAI route (and beyond)

From the west to the east, the University of Iowa and its alumni provide expertise in areas as varied as health care, education, and law.

Story: Office of Strategic Communication
Photography: Tim Schoon
Published: July 16, 2025

As RAGBRAI riders travel across the Hawkeye State in 2025 (July 20–26), it’s common for them to see plenty of black and gold. Hawkeye pride often takes center stage, whether displayed on the gear of cyclists or adorned on homes and vehicles along the route.

The University of Iowa’s holistic impact on the communities along the route — which spans Orange City to Guttenberg this year — isn’t always made obvious by visual cues or color schemes. But what is known is that Iowa alumni are creating a positive social and economic impact within these towns and across the state.

2025 RAGBRAI route showing the starting town (Orange City), overnight towns (Milford, Estherville, Forest City, Iowa Falls, Cedar Falls, Oelwein), and the finishing town (Guttenberg)

While the students stay on campus only for a short period, the influence they have back in their communities lasts a lifetime. These are the doctors, nurses, librarians, lawyers, pharmacists, and much more whom you interact with every day.

Here is a breakdown of University of Iowa alumni and students affiliated with the eight counties that hold the starting point, the overnight stops, and the endpoint of the RAGBRAI 2025 route…

3,995

alumni living in the eight counties

865

current students from the eight counties

Successful Hawkeyes from RAGBRAI communities

a doctor examines a young boy who is being held by a parent

Back home, rooted in family medicine

David Janssen, who graduated from MOC-Floyd Valley High School in Orange City, received a medical degree from the University of Iowa and returned to his roots in northwest Iowa to practice family medicine. He says his goal is to take care of residents, so the community can thrive.

A man smiling with an IOWA poster behind him

Graduate spotlight: Kevin Dong

Kevin Dong says he’s been a Hawkeye fan his whole life. So, when choosing a college, the Estherville, Iowa, resident didn’t have to think too hard about where to go. It also didn’t hurt that he knew he wanted to be a pharmacist and the University of Iowa’s College of Pharmacy is ranked among the best 20 in the country.

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.

Iowa has myriad health care connections throughout the state as well. University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center serves thousands of Iowans from near and far. The State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa identifies infants at risk for more than 50 inherited conditions, while also monitoring water, air, soil, and food for contaminants of public health concern.

Here’s a yearly snapshot of numbers from the eight starting point/sleepover/endpoint counties along the 2025 RAGBRAI route:

41,811

patient visits to UI Health Care Medical Center

10,269

clinical tests

9,587

environmental tests

34,650

newborn screenings

The University of Iowa's impact is not limited to the communities along the RAGBRAI route. Hawkeyes can be found throughout the state of Iowa, across the United States, and all over the world.

Some notable facts and figures...

# 1

hospital in Iowa
(UI Health Care Medical Center, for 35 years and counting)

4,300

employers have hired Iowa graduates in the past three years

301,000

University of Iowa alumni around the world

Great stories happen at Iowa

UI experts use data in fight against cancer

A public health team from the University of Iowa is collaborating with partners across the state to share county-specific cancer data with residents in each of Iowa’s 99 counties.

Emergency medicine physician assistant residents with simulated patient and Christian Junker, PA-C

Training emergency care providers for all of Iowa

For more than two decades, the UI Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant Residency Program has addressed the specialty training gap for PAs working in rural emergency departments.

A man smiling with a lake in the background

Helping small towns meet wastewater needs, affordably

Craig Just at the University of Iowa has sought an affordable wastewater solution for small towns. Now, through Just’s research, partnerships, and persistence, a pilot system in Dow City appears poised to meet federal wastewater treatment regulations. The technology would then be available for hundreds of small towns in Iowa.