Accepting qualified students regardless of race or sex from day one

Political economy, an early form of macroeconomics

Chester A. Phillips is named the college's first dean

Knight went on to become one of the founders of the “Chicago school” of economic theory in the late 1920s and taught several promising students, including Milton Friedman and influenced countless more, including Tippie's Richard Peter.

Read Mary's story

Kinnick gained fame as an All-American and winner of the Heisman Trophy. Check out Dean Phillips' recommendation letter for Kinnick to enter law school, which he tragically never got to attend.

UI offered veteran housing in trailers, barracks, or Quonset huts for $25-$48 per month (utilities included)

"My hut was anchored to the ground with about four stakes and that was it, so that didn’t work very well. It was a rocky start, but it all worked out okay in the end."

- Keith Cook (BSC49), a Tippie Society member and Navy veteran

There were only 35 other women who earned a business degree in 1949.

It turns out surnames played a role in David (BSC58) and Lois (Fritz) Gardner (BSC58) meeting while they attended Iowa, as alphabetized seating put them next to each other in all their business classes.

They married and had two children while still in college and lived in a trailer not far from the Iowa River.

"We were happy as could be."
- Jerre Stead

Becoming the 65th such program in the country

He was essential in helping the university earn a distinguished reputation in the field of insurance education while mentoring many of the industry's top leaders. After Dr. Vaughan's passing in 2004, the Emmett J. Vaughan Institute of Risk Management and Insurance was named in his honor. Its professional director is currently his daughter, Terri Vaughan.

Opening the door to working professionals to earn an MBA through evening and weekend courses while continuing to work full-time.

He and a couple of friends convinced the Associated Residence Halls student organization to rent a bus to get students from the west side to main campus. They could only afford a single school bus but demonstrated that there was high demand. The service coincided with the university's need to start satellite parking for staff and grew into what is now CAMBUS.

The scene that played out (and got replayed multiple times) on national TV. (See it at minute 25:18)

“Boom. He ran me right over. I was parallel, my feet off the ground. But I was okay, and an Iowa fan gave me a Band-Aid for the cracked beak. It was certainly my most noteworthy college experience—nothing else I did was broadcast on NBC (luckily)"

- Kevin Krause

Learn more about the institute.

"We all had one—and the HP-12C was expensive at $150 (equal to almost $400 in today’s dollars)!"
- Maria Rydberg Turner

Explore IEM.

“Union Pacific hosted an annual audit challenge, and the year I participated, Iowa State hosted the event. I was lucky enough to have been on the winning team and still receive dividend checks from the original share of stock that was awarded as a prize, of course along with bragging rights for the Hawkeyes!”

- Cindy Staebell (BBA89), finance human resources manager, Deere & Co.

The Henry Fund has been the defining experience of some of the most acclaimed graduates from the Iowa MBA finance program and now the college’s Master of Finance program. It is named for its founders: Henry Royer and Henry B. Tippie (BSC49).

"I want to make Iowa the most entrepreneurial state in America."

- John Pappajohn (BSC52), JPEC founder

W. A. (Bill) Krause (BA57), founder and CEO of the Krause-Gentle Corporation, established this capstone undergraduate student-managed equity fund.

"I moved to the West Coast to be a part of the tech boom back in the dot com era and worked for a start-up company. I have to credit my initial interest in entrepreneurship from the amazing class I took from John Buchanan. It led me to a now 23+-year career in tech, most recently with Adobe."
- Jason Baer (BBA96), enterprise account executive, Adobe

A wireless LAN allows students to use laptop computers in various locations throughout the building.

"You’ve got to be able to communicate verbally and in writing in order to advance beyond mid-level manager. The writing program helps Tippie students achieve that."

- Bob Nicolls (BBA80) 

From attending a one-room school house in Belle Plaine, Iowa to the New York Stock Exchange Wall of Fame, learn more about his legacy here.

The Hawkinson Institute has become a pipeline from Iowa to Wall Street, providing top undergraduate students with contacts at prestigious investment banks and other financial services firms.

During his time on the Professional Accounting Council, Gregory C. Ellison established a feeder initiative between Tippie and Morehouse College, which continues to this day. 

Check out the Frank Center.

“I remember them setting up a hot spot in the Ped Mall, broadcasting wifi. At the time I thought... why would anyone want wifi outside?”

- Andy Stoll (BBA03)

The Pomerantz Center offers MBA-level classrooms as well as admissions, advising, and career services for all university students.

Providing entrepreneurship instruction and practice for K-12 students.

Matthew Wolf (BBA82) started the Iowa Brewing Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with friends after their property took on 10 feet of water in the flood of 2008. He has lived in Denver, Colo., since 1982, but returns to Iowa regularly.

Learn more about the Marketing Institute.

Explore our Business Analytics Programs.

In an effort to engage students from underrepresented or under-resourced populations in business, the Tippie Gateway Program provides a free, on-campus summer experience designed to increase awareness of opportunities in business among high school juniors. Anibal Mares Marques (BBA20) is a great example of what the Gateway Program makes possible.

“We hope this early exposure means more students from every race and background study business, go into business, and hopefully, end up in the C-Suite.”

- Tippie Gateway Program Coordinator Mark Archibald

The Tippie Analytics Cooperative is the college’s industry-facing arm for all things analytics. We build partnerships through the region that result in hands-on projects for our students and data-based business decisions for our clients.

Lorraine Hart (MBA75) was part of the first wave of women who began bringing diversity to the financial industry. She launched the college’s fixed-income investment fund managed by Master of Finance students.

“When we piloted, we knew we had interest. I remember Professor Jen Blackhurst had “Operations and Supply Chain” offered online in the summer of 2018. It filled within eight minutes.”

- Jan Fasse, senior director of online operations, Graduate and Professional Programs

Scott Taylor (BBA82) established the college’s undergraduate student-managed asset allocation fund named in honor of the late finance professor Charles Marberry who taught at the college from 1959-1988.

Extended reality, augmented reality, and virtual reality are key areas in the future of business and industry, and Tippie has the technology to explore this new horizon. Interested faculty and staff of the college can explore virtual and augmented reality to extend to their teaching, research, presentations, and special projects.

Find out more about the Iowa MBA Program.

The prize recognizes the leading university in the world for excellence in preparing students to practice in the areas of analytics or operations research.

Starting in the fall of 2023, this new major helps to strengthen the state’s largest non-agriculture economic sector.