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BON VOYAGE

Hawkeye-built instruments aboard the Voyager spacecraft continue to help NASA discover the cosmos.

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FOR UNIVERSIT Y OF IOWA ALUMNI AND FRIENDS M AG A ZIN E.FO RI OWA .O RG

HOMECOMING 2024

LONG ROAD HOME Former quarterback Chuck Long returns to Iowa City.

HAWK VISION

Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz navigates the ever-changing world of college athletics.

BIGGER TEN

Get to know the new schools joining the Big Ten this fall.

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n i v e K h t i d e r Me

(01BSE) President, Capital Area Iowa Club Washington, D.C.

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FE ATURES

EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF

Shelbi Thomas (05BA) ART DIRECTOR

Nick Beecher (03BA) MANAGING EDITOR

Josh O’Leary (00BA) CONTRIBUTING WRITERS/EDITORS

Bon Voyage For nearly 50 years, Hawkeye-built instruments aboard the Voyager spacecraft have been gathering data to decipher the galaxy.

Ben Frotscher Josephine Geiger-Lee Leah Klevar (93BA, 95MA) Tyler Strand Vivian Wang Ellen Yandel

GRAPHICS MANAGER

Jared Salasberry

Long Road Home

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS

Former All-American quarterback Chuck Long (85BBA) arrives back on campus as the grand marshal of this year’s homecoming parade.

Danette Angerer (85BFA) Jodi Schmucker e m a i l : uimagazine@foriowa.org w e b s i t e : magazine.foriowa.org

DIGITAL SENIOR WEB DESIGNER/DEVELOPER

Jimmy Losasso (09BFA) WEB DEVELOPERS

Mike Miersen Heidi Schmidt

SENIOR DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIST

Nicole Knoll (08BA, 22MS)

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIST

Megan Magee

MULTIMEDIA SPECIALISTS

John Emigh (11BBA, 13BFA) Jason Smith

Reflecting on her first year as Iowa’s athletic director, Beth Goetz coaches Hawkeyes through the rapidly evolving game of college athletics.

UCLA, the University of Southern California, the University of Oregon, and the University of Washington join the Big Ten Conference.

VICE PRESIDENT, ALUMNI & DONOR ENGAGEMENT

LEADERSHIP

The Bigger Ten

Hawk Vision

PRESIDENT AND CEO

Lynette Marshall

Colin Hennessy (01BA)

ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT

LONG PHOTO: JOHN EMIGH; VOYAGER IMAGE: NASA; GOETZ PHOTO: JEROD RINGWALD/HAWKE YESPORTS.COM; BIG TEN IMAGE: JIMMY LOSASSO

Leslie Prideaux (08BA, 12MA)

SECTIONS

ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING

Rebekah Tilley

2 | Big Picture 4 | Campus Mail 7 | On Iowa

The Stanley Museum of Art becomes the first in the U.S. to return artifacts from its collection directly to the Benin Kingdom in southern Nigeria.

15 | Go Hawks

Pat Angerer (09BA) makes the call to join Gary Dolphin (69BBA) on the Iowa football radio broadcast.

44 | Iowa Writers

A UI medical student explores what it means to become a doctor after his experience with cancer.

49 | For Iowa

Former Hawkeye Marching Band director Morgan Jones (60BM, 61MA) is one of eight recipients of this year’s UI Distinguished Alumni Awards.

57 | Always A Hawkeye

Before writing the most Tony Awardnominated play in history, playwright David Adjmi found his voice at the Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

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Iowa Magazine, Volume 77, Number 3 © 2024 University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The UI Center for Advancement publishes Iowa Magazine four times a year. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Iowa Magazine, UI Center for Advancement, One West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the university, the publishers, or the editors.

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Art In Motion

Bananas and blossoms are just a few of the whimsical images welcoming visitors to the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art on a new mural, One An Other, by international artist Jiha Moon (01MA, 02MFA). Moon unveiled her work in the museum lobby this past July, which replaced an earlier wall painting, Surrounding, by artist Odili Donald Odita. Born in Daegu, South Korea, Moon is an assistant professor at Florida State University and a rising star in the art world. Her paintings, ceramic sculptures, and installations appear in places such as the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. The Stanley Museum of Art also recently added one of her ceramic vessels and a painting to its collection. Moon’s pieces vibrate with the energy of neon colors and illustrations that reference everything from social media and pop art to tattoos, video games, and Korean temple paintings. Through them, she explores the global movement of people and societies. “I am a cartographer of cultures and an icon maker in my lucid worlds,” she says. BY LEAH KLEVAR | PHOTO: JASON SMITH

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As a parent of a college student with autism, I can tell you that the University of Iowa’s Academy for Twice-Exceptionality [“Twice as Bright,” summer 2024, p. 40] is something parents have wished for their children to have in the college community. It is fantastic to hear about the program, and I hope it stays here at Iowa. It is of huge importance that these students receive the support and guidance that they deserve. Thank you so much for providing a program for all these wonderful students! Shannon Grecian Iowa City As someone who went to a smaller college and is twice exceptional, I think this is a fantastic program, and I am proud to be an employee of a university that isn’t forgetting about those who might have fallen through the cracks otherwise. The line from the article, “Because their talents may hide their disabilities and their disabilities may hide their talents,” really got me. I appreciate this new program and hope it is successful for all involved. Grant Carl Cedar Rapids

CONNEC T W I T H

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Medical History

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I worked for Learning Resource Services at the UI College of Nursing. I would pull the video of the Barbara Fassbinder (75BSN) story [“Compassion Amid Crisis,” summer 2024, p. 60] for the instructors to use in the classroom. This is an important part of history not to be forgotten. Carolyn Smith Iowa City

Quarterbacks Remembered

I noted the passing of Wilburn Hollis (71BA) earlier this year [“In Memory,” summer 2024, p. 64]. I was fortunate to have a class with him in my senior year. Since it was at 11 a.m., I would often have lunch with him after class. He loved the Hamburg Inn, so that’s where we went. He would have two of those monster burgers, while I could barely eat one. He was an unassuming, happy guy who loved Iowa football and Coach Forest Evashevski and was a great quarterback. Hollis played in the 1960 Iowa vs. Minnesota game in Minneapolis, where Minnesota was No. 1 and Iowa No. 2. I was in the stands, and it was a great game that sadly Iowa lost, but Hollis played well. Sportswriters at the time noted that it was the first major college

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game where two Black quarterbacks faced each other: Minnesota’s Sandy Stephens and Iowa’s Hollis. I also noticed that Kenneth Ploen (58BSCE) died in February. He was the quarterback who led the Hawkeyes to a 35-19 win in the 1957 Rose Bowl against Oregon State. It was a rematch from the regular season, where the Hawks prevailed 14-13. This was Iowa’s first Rose Bowl, and Ploen was named player of the game. Martin Waldinger (61BBA) Scottsdale, Arizona

Brainy Baller

I loved this quote from Ryan Bowen (98BS) in the Iowa Magazine article, “NBA Summit” [summer 2024, p. 21]: “I was an effort and energy player for a majority of my career.” Truer words have never been spoken. Bowen wasn’t the most gifted NBA athlete, but he made up for that by being among the smartest and most tenacious. As a Hawkeye living in Denver, it was a pleasure for me to watch Bowen’s career with the Denver Nuggets. It’s no surprise that head coach Michael Malone now relies on Bowen to scout opposing teams and develop the Nuggets’ strategy and game plans. Rob Youle (76JD) Evergreen, Colorado

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Letters to the editor may be edited for style, length, and clarity. While we welcome feedback, we regret that we are unable to print or reply to every letter.

And the Winner Is…

Congratulations to Daniel Baker of North Liberty, the winner of our Herky prize pack, and thank you to all who entered our Herky on Parade drawing.

A Writer’s Legacy

I am regularly impressed with Iowa Magazine and read it cover to cover. However, the recent story on Diane Oliver (66MFA) [ “ Diane Oliver ’s Unfinished Story,” spring 2024, p. 36] was particularly moving. First, thank you for amplifying Oliver’s story of a life cut tragically short. It had a deeper meaning for me as I recently completed a PhD degree at Oliver’s alma mater, University of Nor th

PHOTO: JUSTIN TORNER/UI OFFICE OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

A Twice-Exceptional Program

Ca mpus Ma i l

Carolina Greensboro. On top of that, my commencement was presided over by fellow Hawkeye, UNCG Chancellor Franklin Gilliam (78MA, 83PhD). Go, Spartans! Go, Hawks! Scott W. Wojciechowski (12MA) Ardmore, Pennsylvania

Taste of Childhood

I have to say thanks to Ben Smart (04BS) and Nate Kaeding (04BA, 15MBA) for saving the Hamburg Inn, an icon of Iowa City [“Hamburg Helpers” spring 2024, p. 12]. I too was born and raised here and have a lot of memories at the restaurant. I rode my bicycle to school from Mosquito Flats every day; when I had some change in my pocket, I would stop at Hamburg Inn and play a quick game of pinball before school. What more could a child ask for when we had Hamburg Inn and Pearson’s Drug Store and John’s Grocery all on the way to school? I can’t forget George’s either. It was John’s for lunch and Pearson’s for a Green River on the ride home, unless I decided to go to the Iowa Memorial Union to go bowling or shoot pool or play more pinball. What is more priceless in life than comfort food and good times? David Larsen Iowa City

PHOTO COURTESY HEIDI MCNEIL STAUDENMAIER

An Evening with the Allman Brothers

On Feb. 19, 1972, the Allman Brothers Band played the UI Field House with opening act Big Brother and the Holding Company [“Music Memories,” summer 2022, p. 29]. Big Brother at that time consisted of original members Peter Albin and Sam Andrew, along with singer Kathi McDonald and others—arguably one of their best post-Janis Joplin lineups. Albin and I had been friends for a few years, so a buddy and I wandered over to the Field House in the afternoon before the show to wait for them to arrive. Big Brother missed their flight from Chicago, so they were running late. This gave us a chance to hang out with the Allman Brothers Band’s legendar y road crew. I distinctly

remember conversations with Red Dog and Twiggs Lyndon. We were just a couple of teenage knuckleheads with no real business hanging around backstage, but no one asked us to get out of the way. The Allmans showed up, and we wound up in a conversation with Dickey Betts. I can still see him: not too tall, a small gold earring, slicked-back hair, and a mustache. He had on a brown suede jerkin with short fringes that I saw again years later on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He looked like a biker to my Midwestern eyes. With his later reputation of being somewhat difficult, he couldn’t have been nicer to us, telling stories about playing in bar bands with Rick Derringer in Ohio in the 1960s. In a word, it was amazing. Big Brother finally took the stage and put on a tremendous show. I remember burning versions of “Crazy ’Bout You Baby” and “Call on Me.” Duane Allman had died four months previously, and the Allman Brothers performed with their shor t-lived five-man lineup. Fans had worn thick grooves in our copies of At Fillmore East, but we didn’t know if they were still that same incredible band; Betts had huge shoes to fill. They burned, just took the paint off the walls of the Field House. As I recall, they played the Fillmore East set with a few additions. Toward the end of “Mountain Jam,” they inserted “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” the same as we later heard on Eat a Peach. The road crew told us later that this was the first time the band had played “The Circle” since Duane’s funeral. In the parlance of the Allman Brothers Band, they were “hittin’ the note” that night. Musically, it was an impossibly great performance cherished by me and any others who remember it all these years later. I still remember Betts’ kindness, too, in taking the time to have an unrushed and friendly conversation with a couple of strangers. He died earlier this spring. Rest in peace, Betts and all the other Brothers who have gone on. Ed Ripp (75BA) Albuquerque, New Mexico

On Top of the World

On June 30, Iowa alums Melanie Ferguson (14BA), Renea Rathmacher (21MBA), and I (pictured from left to right) reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The Uhuru Peak is 19,341 feet above sea level, the highest point in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. I didn’t know Ferguson or Rathmacher prior to the trip. We found out the first day that we had our Iowa roots in common. We reached the Kilimanjaro summit on day six of our seven-day trek. It has been a dream of mine for many years, so I decided to celebrate my 65th birthday with the hike. Our team bonded quickly and had the best time encouraging each other to make the trek. On our summit day hike, the sunrise over the mountains was simply breathtaking. Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro was the most physically and mentally challenging feat I’ve ever undertaken in my 65 years. I’m proud of myself and my team for successfully reaching the summit. It was a long-time dream and bucket list item for me. Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier (81BA, 85JD) Phoenix

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8 A R T R E T U R N S H O M E 12 T A Y L O R S W I F T S T U D I E S 13 A M E R I C A ' S T I N I E S T B A B Y

IOWA CIT Y SCENE

ART: CARLOS MALDONADO

Tasty Traditions

As University of Iowa alumni pour back into Iowa City next month for homecoming, favorite old haunts such as the Hamburg Inn, Joe’s Place, and The Airliner are sure to buzz with Hawkeyes. A popular downtown restaurant since 1957, Pagliai’s Pizza serves as the inspiration for this painting by local artist Carlos Maldonado.

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NEWSMAKER

Sacred Objects Return Home The Stanley Museum of Art stands at the forefront of the restitution movement as the first U.S. museum to restore items to the Kingdom of Benin. Lauren Lessing was in her first months

as director of the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art in 2018 when a faculty member asked if there was any art looted during conflict, colonization, or war in its collection. The inquiry came immediately after the release of a highly publicized report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron to assess the history and present state of publicly owned African artworks in France. Cory Gundlach (12MA, 19PhD), the museum’s curator of African art, told Lessing that he suspected several objects from the Kingdom of Benin might have been looted in the 19th century by British soldiers. If that were true, he said, “My training and my heart tell me these need to go back to the royal family.” This past summer, the Stanley Museum of Art became the first in the U.S. to return objects from the Kingdom of Benin in present-day Nigeria directly to the Oba, the ruler of the Oda people. After years of meticulous research, the Stanley

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discovered that the histories of a wooden altarpiece it acquired in 1986 and a plaque acquired in 2001 trace back to the British siege of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897. The issue of restitution was amplified by the 2020 publication of The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence, and Cultural Restitution. Authored by British curator Dan Hicks, the book provided a stark account of Britain’s violent attack and massive pillaging of the Kingdom of Benin. The British Museum took possession of 900 objects, including brass plaques that serve as the kingdom’s historic record and which have become synonymous with colonial theft. Up to 10,000 objects were pocketed by British soldiers who were photographed in 1897 sitting atop piles of artworks. In 2020, a modest grant allowed the Stanley to hire a student to do provenance research. Mason Koelm (21BA, 21BS, 24JD) used a global network of digital resources to follow the ownership of more than 300 objects. “I had an Indiana Jones globetrotting experience every day while sitting

Oba Ewuare II holds the brass plaque presented to him by UI Stanley Museum of Art curator Cory Gundlach (right) during the restitution ceremony this past summer at the Royal Palace of the Oba of Benin. BY JENNIFER NEW

PHOTOS: OMOREGIE OSAKPOLOR/COURTESY UI STANLEY MUSEUM OF ART

Palace dignitaries carry the Benin bronzes during the restitution ceremony.

in my cubicle wearing a mask in the midst of a pandemic,” he says. Eventually, two Stanley objects were traced to the wills of soldiers who participated in the 1897 raid. It was a rare example of an unbroken chain of provenance—unequivocable proof that the pieces had been forcibly taken. They had to be returned. But to whom? Many museums were choosing to repatriate objects to the Nigerian government, the location of the historic Kingdom of Benin. Gundlach didn’t think this was the right approach. Doing so would be akin to another country returning a Native American object to the U.S. government instead of the tribal government. He needed a point of connection to the royal family. He found it through Adepeju Layiwola, a professor at the University of Lagos and a granddaughter of the current Oba, whom he met at a conference. “We were the only museum pursuing this route,” says Lessing. In 2023, when the President of Nigeria affirmed the Oba’s right to returned objects, the Stanley was ready. This past July, Gundlach and Layiwola traveled to Nigeria and personally delivered the pieces to the Oba in a ceremony at his royal palace. Having created a path for restitution, Lessing says the Stanley plans to organize workshops to help other museums do the same. Final research is being completed on two other Stanley objects that will also be returned. And a grant from the Mellon Foundation has allowed Layiwola to increase her provenance research of the Stanley’s collection. After more than a century, these sacred objects have finally returned home. “The violence and loss associated with these objects can never be forgotten,” said Gundlach in his formal address to the Oba. “The Stanley Museum of Art is committed to acknowledging this tragic chapter in history and using it as a catalyst for positive change.”

On Iowa

“

Every year, we do [physical] checkups to make sure we’re healthy, but we rarely think about doing a mental checkup.” —Rong Su

By assessing strengths and weaknesses, a person can then break down their larger goals into smaller, more manageable steps. It can prevent someone from becoming overwhelmed by unhappy feelings. For example, if someone wishes for more autonomy at work, they can start by finding time frames on their calendar when they can exercise control. The first steps could be as small as making new decisions on how to spend a single hour. As people seek resources to help them thrive, Su stresses the importance of using research-backed assessments, such as the ones provided on her website (rongsu.org/scales.html). “Hopefully, they will gain a better picture of themselves as a holistic person,” says Su. BY JOSEPHINE GEIGER-LEE

BUSINESS

Mental Health Check

HEADSHOT COURTESY RONG SU

A business professor creates a self-assessment tool to help people thrive in their day-to-day lives. Forget online quizzes from questionable sources. When it comes to mental health, Rong Su, an associate professor at the Henry B. Tippie College of Business, empowers people to use research-based wellness assessments for insight into their overall well-being. “Every year, we do [physical] checkups to make sure we’re healthy,” says Su. “But we rarely think about doing a mental checkup.” To encourage mental wellness, Su helped develop the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT) and the Brief Inventor y of Thriving (BIT), which were featured earlier this year in The New York Times. Organizations can use these sciencebacked inventories to help individuals evaluate their mental health on an

average day, rather than waiting until symptoms of depression or anxiety strike. Both inventories dive into more than whether a person feels happy or unhappy. Instead, they examine seven interconnected areas of life, such as how someone feels about their relationships and how much optimism they have for the future. By reviewing one’s thoughts on a series of statements, the inventories can draw attention to the aspects in someone’s life that could be improved. “The most helpful feedback is not always positive,” says Su, who has been named a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in recognition of her contributions to the field. “The most helpful feedback is to figure out where are your strengths and where are your weaknesses.” Rong Su

FOR GOOD MEASURE Su’s psychological selfassessment tools focus on seven areas: subjective well-being, social relationships, engagement in daily activities, meaning and purpose in life, a sense of mastery and accomplishment, feelings of control and autonomy, and optimism. Below are just a few of the statements on the assessments to consider: I feel a sense of belonging in my community. There are people who appreciate me as a person. In most activities I do, I feel energized. My life has a clear sense of purpose. I am achieving most of my goals. Other people decide most of my life decisions. I am optimistic about my future.

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On Iowa

BRIEFS

RESEARCH RAMPS UP The University of Iowa’s IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering program plans to build a new hydraulic modeling facility at the Oakdale campus in Coralville. This $40 million expansion will allow for more ambitious hydraulic model projects that serve communities around the world and keep Iowa at the forefront of fluids-related research.

GROWING BUSINESS The Iowa Board of Regents recently approved a UI project to create more space for the growing Tippie College of Business. The donor-funded plan includes enclosing the internal courtyard patio of the Pappajohn Business Building and modernizing nearby Gilmore Hall for the college’s use.

LEADERSHIP NEWS Jill Kolesar, an expert in oncology drug development and precision medicine, succeeds Donald Letendre as dean of the UI College of Pharmacy, while UI College of Law Dean Kevin Washburn will step down Dec. 31, returning to teaching and research. Jim Leste, formerly of Children’s Minnesota, is the new chief administrative officer for UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital, while Mark Burkard of the University of Wisconsin becomes director of the UI Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center on Oct. 1.

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HIS T OR Y

Hot Topics The UI’s Rapid Response History lecture series connects students with experts on the Israel-Palestine conflict and other current events. W hen violence erupted in Israel and Palestine last fall, the f lood of information online—like for any political topic—quickly made it difficult to discern fact from fiction. Students at the University of Iowa, fortunately, had experts they could turn to for a deeper understanding of the conflict. Since 2017, the UI’s Rapid Response History lecture series has brought together faculty experts from across disciplines to dive into complex topics and create an environment where students can engage in a healthy and informed conversation about current events. “As faculty members at a public university, we consider it our civic responsibility to do this work,” says Elizabeth Heineman, a professor and scholar in history and gender studies at Iowa. Together with history department chair Colin Gordon , Heineman developed the most recent Rapid Response History course this past spring to give context around the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Students studied the history of Zionism leading to the 1948 founding of Israel, examining the roles of Britain and the U.S. in its establishment. They also learned about the responses of Palestinian communities and the long-simmering violence leading to the current state of affairs. Heineman emphasized the importance of classroom environments for students to understand the historical context for what they’re seeing on social media. “When big things are happening in the world,” says Heineman, “students are so desperate for an education. They come into class saying, ‘I know this is huge, and I’m seeing a lot

online, but I’m not sure what to trust.’ They need more information.” In the past, the lecture series has covered topics such as the #MeToo movement, the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the 100 th anniversary of women’s suffrage. The courses benefit from cross-departmental collaboration with professors conducting research in these areas. “We’re not just teaching from textbooks,” says Heineman, “but we’re teaching from our own research.” When it was time to book lecturers for the IsraelPalestine course, Heineman tapped into Iowa’s rich bank of expertise. This brought a diverse set of voices to the class, including law professor Brian Ferrell, an expert on the international laws of war; theatre arts professor Lisa Schlesinger (89MFA, 95MFA), who worked with youth community theater in the West Bank; UI ambassador-in-residence Ron McMullen (82MA, 85PhD), who brought his U.S. Foreign Service experience to discuss diplomacy in the region; and religious studies professor Ahmed Souaiaia , who spoke on Islamic perspectives on human rights. In a period of heightened tensions and politicization, Heineman hopes the lecture series helps students sift through information without letting emotion overtake their ability to participate in civic discourse. “We don’t have to leave emotion out of it; emotion is a major driver in politics,” she says. “You can be passionate and also be someone who’s listening and learning.” BY MEGAN MAGE E

On Iowa

P OL I T IC A L S CIENCE

The Politics of Social Media

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: NICK BEECHER

A UI course explores social media’s influence on politics leading up to the presidential election. Social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok not only churn out celebrity gossip and memes—they have also become major sources of information on politics. Recently, University of Iowa students in the Introduction to Social Media and Politics course explored the role such platforms have played in U.S. politics this presidential election year. According to Broderick DeBettignies (14BA, 23MA), a political science graduate student who taught the course this past summer, social media has increased political polarization through its use of algorithms designed to continually give users content similar to what they have previously engaged with. He says this reinforcement of views can create echo chambers and lead to more extreme policy positions.

“Now, I can see, ‘Oh, my friend from high school has different political views than me. Let me mute them or unfriend them,’” he says. “You have to be willing to put in the time and effort to look for the other side of the argument.” Pol it ic a l sc ience profe s sor Caroline Tolbert , who developed and supervises the UI course, says this polarization only compounds during a presidential election year in which most Americans will receive their

political information online. According to Tolbert, the online political landscape suffers from a “lack of civility,” which favors personal attacks over pure political debate. DeBettignies adds that “political misinformation has become a huge thing. People can just get on [social media] and say whatever they want, regardless of truth value.” However, social media also has led to some positive developments. According to Tolbert, online platforms have been used to help voters become more quickly and widely informed, as well as more deeply engaged. Furthermore, DeBettignies says social media has created a direct line of communication between politicians and citizens, so politicians no longer “have to go through gatekeepers to share their political information with viewers.” The trick for viewers, including DeBettignies’ students, is to learn how to carefully navigate through a sea overflowing with information—not all of which is true. Identifying political bias online requires one to actively seek out both sides of any given issue, according to DeBettignies. “If you see something that’s clearly partisan in one direction, it’s then incumbent on you as an individual to look at some of these nonpartisan sources, things that won’t be as biased in one way or the other, to try to get a complete picture of that,” he says. BY VIVIA N WA NG

HEALTHY DISCUSSIONS A University of Iowa political science professor is using a prestigious 2024 Andrew Carnegie fellowship to research ways the U.S. can achieve health equity amid political polarization. Julianna Pacheco’s project focuses on “the deadly effects of partisanship” in health care, including potential biases in medical treatment that can lead to health disparities. She investigates how political divisions can influence health outcomes and how doctors of differing political views can work together to better address public health challenges. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned that health is not only driven by where a person lives, works, or grows up, but also by the political environment,” says Pacheco. “The political determinants of health include the rules that govern who votes, which in turn influences the power that individuals and communities have to advocate for their own health.”

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Honors program instructor Candice Wuehle invites students to learn about poetry through the music of Taylor Swift.

HONOR S P ROGR A M

Inside ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ A new Taylor Swift course at Iowa inspires honors students to study poetry. Whether or not you’re a fan, you know her. Her name regularly makes headlines, her face graces magazine covers, and her music fills coffee shops, shopping malls, and football stadiums. Taylor Swift’s undeniable cultural impact begins with her chart-topping hits and Eras world tour, but University of Iowa honors program instructor Candice Wuehle (08BA, 14MFA) also credits the singer’s special relationship with her fans, her journey to re-record and reclaim copyright of her music, and her unprecedented power and visibility as a young woman. The current “monoculture” around the megastar, as Wuehle describes it, is what inspired Wuehle to teach Poetics (Taylor’s Version), a UI honors course centered on Swift’s songwriting. “There’s never been an artist like this in my lifetime, someone who—whether you like her or don’t—you have at least one strongly held opinion on her,” says Wuehle.

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A poet herself and graduate of the esteemed Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Wuehle fused her love for poetry and Swift into the UI introductory and intermediate poetry course, which debuted this fall. The 22 honors students in the course explore different elements of poetry such as imagery, sound, and rhythm, which they practice by writing imitations of songs from Swift’s different eras. The class also discusses biographical criticism on topics such as gender, race, and trauma and memory in the context of Swift’s songwriting. As the students learn about these elements of poetry, they coauthor The Taylor Swift Dictionary of Literary Terms, compiling definitions along with examples from Swift’s discography. What makes Swift’s lyricism such an ideal lens through which to learn about poetry? “If you think of your average poet, they’re writing in one voice and genre for their whole career,” Wuehle says. But Swift is anything but average. From country pop to folk-inspired ballads to “almost kitschy melodramatic” songs like “But Daddy I Love Him,” Swift’s musical exploration knows no bounds, Wuehle says. Swift not only defies musical genres, she also defies literary genres. In addition to albums like folklore, which explore the “more fictive” side of her storytelling, Swift has woven “herself as a character throughout her catalog,” according to Wuehle. “She’s built this multiverse where she’s not just building chronologically on her work, but she’s commenting back to other albums,” she says. “The plot isn’t just progressing—it’s thickening.” For example, Wuehle recalls being blown away when she realized Swift’s “my tears ricochet” from folklore pulls lyrics from Swift’s previous albums and combines them “to create this really cohesive chorus.” On its last day, Friday, Dec. 13 (which also happens to be Swift’s birthday), the class will culminate in a “Swiftposium.” This public “Erasstyle conference event” will include students’ presentations of their final papers, friendship bracelet-making, and possibly even a Taylor Swift impersonator, Wuehle says. “I feel like Taylor Swift is so much about community that it’s really important to have some fun moments of community building throughout the semester,” she says. As they move through the course, Swifties learn the elements of poetry and how to analyze it. But Wuehle also hopes students can use what they learn to “succinctly prove to their uncle at Thanksgiving who thinks Taylor Swift is just a pretty pop star” that Swift is a poet too—and a great one at that. BY VIVIA N WA NG

PHOTO: JOHN CHARLSON/THE DAILY IOWAN

On Iowa

TINIEST BABIES REGISTRY

Emily and Ted Eilers recently welcomed their newborn daughter, Evelyn, home.

Neonatologists at UI Health

Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital have developed a worldwide web-based registry to collect data on the smallest surviving babies. The goal is to provide this data to physicians and parents so the best medical decisions can be made when tiny babies are born. Here is where Evelyn—who weighed 240 grams, or 8.46 ounces, at birth—falls on the Tiniest Babies Registry.

No.

212 grams Baby born in Singapore in 2020 P EDI AT RIC S

Small Wonder

No.

230 grams Baby born in Germany in 2016

PHOTO: LIZ MARTIN/UI HEALTH CARE

The tiniest preemie in the U.S. goes home after life-saving care at UI Health Care. Eight-and-a-half ounces. That’s about the weight of two sticks of butter, a roll of quarters, or a cell phone. It’s also how much Evelyn Eilers weighed when she was born 17 weeks early at University of Iowa Health Care in September 2023, making her the smallest surviving infant in the U.S. and one of three tied for third-smallest in the world, according to the UI-based Tiniest Babies Registry. Evelyn’s parents, Emily and Ted Eilers of Solon, Iowa, knew the survival outcomes for extremely premature infants at UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital are among the best in the world. And when Evelyn was diagnosed with capillary leak syndrome—a usually fatal condition—a treatment protocol designed by UI doctors and researchers saved her life. “She was definitely one of the smallest babies I’ve ever seen,” says neonatologist Timothy “TJ” Boly (23F). “There

are a lot of things that go into [caring for] really small babies, but it’s essentially managing every body system every single day—not even just on a day-to-day basis, but sometimes an hour-to-hour basis.” More than seven months after her birth, Evelyn weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces—the size of an average fullterm newborn—and could go home. Evelyn’s parents say they are grateful to have the NICU team so close. “From the beginning, we knew we were in the best hands,” says Ted. “They gave us an idea of how things might go well or how they might not, and they were there for all of it.” As for the title of tiniest surviving baby in the United States? “That doesn’t mean a lot to us,” Emily says. “To us, she’s just Evelyn.”

No.

(THREE-WAY TIE)

240 grams Evelyn Eilers Born in Iowa City in 2023 (tied in size with two preemies born in Germany in 2011 and 2015)

No.

245 grams Baby born in California in 2018

B Y M O L LY R O S S I T E R

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17 J E N S E N E R A B E G I N S 18 A N G E R E R O N T H E A I R 20 H A L L O F F A M E H A W K S

Olympic Dreams

PHOTO: STEPHEN MALLY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

Eleven Hawkeyes represented their countries and four earned medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including Spencer Lee (21BS), a silver medalist for Team USA in 57kg freestyle wrestling. For a complete Hawkeye Olympics recap, visit foriowa.info/IM-Olympics-24.

Hawkeyes at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Kennedy Blades, sophomore, USA freestyle wrestling Brittany Brown (17BA), 2014-18, USA track & field • Megan Gustafson (19BBA), 2015-19, Spain basketball • Peter Jok (23BS), 2013-17, South Sudan basketball • Cloé Lacasse (14BA), 2011-14, Canada soccer • Cassie Lee, freshman, Canada artistic gymnastics Spencer Lee (21BS), 2017-23, USA freestyle wrestling Eve Stewart (20BA, 21BA), 2016-20, Great Britain rowing • Tomi Taiwo (22BA), 2018-22, Nigeria basketball • Aurélie Tran, freshman, Canada artistic gymnastics • Sydney Turner, freshman, Canada alternate for artistic gymnastics

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Jay Higgins enters his final year at Iowa as a Walter Camp preseason first-team All-American.

PL AYMAKER: JAY HIGGINS

Leader at Linebacker The preseason All-American returns for a fifth year at Iowa to head the stout defense. Jay Higgins had lofty goals as an incoming freshman on Iowa’s football team.

“I thought I would start the first day I got on campus and would be the greatest linebacker that Iowa has ever seen,” says Higgins, who’s now a fifth-year senior. “I quickly realized how good everyone is at the college level.”

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Higgins, who didn’t start on defense until his junior year, is a prime example of what Iowa and Moon Family Head Football Coach Kirk Ferentz are known for—developing hard-working studentathletes into leaders. Higgins now enters his final Hawkeye season as Phil Steele’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. While linebacker has been a natural f it for Higgins, he started playing the game as a quarterback on his first-grade flag football team. His dad coached him and inspired his love of the game. After being named a two-time all-state selection in high school, the Indianapolis native arrived at Iowa with confidence and raw talent. He soon discovered, though, that he had more to learn from fellow linebackers like Jack Campbell (22BA), who’s now in his second season with the Detroit Lions. “I’ve always been the guy that shows up and works hard,” says Higgins, who learned a lot about dedication and work ethic from assistant head football coach Seth Wallace. “But when you’re on a team and playing major college football, you also must be a vocal leader. I hadn’t learned how to put myself out there when things are going well and when they’re not.” Higgins had a breakthrough season last year, leading the Big Ten and tying a school record with 171 tackles. His success on the field earned him All-America honors and attention from NFL scouts, but last December, Higgins announced his return to Iowa. “I learned that the NFL isn’t going anywhere,” says Higgins. “I wanted to come back and continue to put in the work. Iowa does a good job of preparing you for the next level.” This season, Higgins hopes to build on the team’s historic defensive success, as Iowa trails only Georgia in the Football Bowl Subdivision for fewest points allowed and defensive efficiency during the past four years. “I’m looking forward to helping my teammates accomplish a lot of things,” says Higgins. “My roommate, Nick Jackson, needs 114 more tackles to become the outright NCAA leader. It can be easy to get into the mindset of ‘It’s all about me,’ but it’s about playing good football together.” Iowa has finished two of the last three seasons with 10 wins, and Higgins knows another strong performance will set him up for the next chapter of his football career. “If we have a good season, I’ll like wherever my name is called in the NFL draft,” he says. BY BEN FROTSCHER

PHOTO: BRIAN RAY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

Go Hawks

Jan Jensen, the P. Sue Beckwith, MD, head women's basketball coach at Iowa, brings a steady presence to a team with six new players.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

New Era, Same Run-and-Fun The Hawkeyes welcome new faces that keep momentum building for the upcoming season.

“We haven’t had anyone like her for a while,” says new head coach Jan Jensen of Olsen, the transfer point guard. “She’s more mid-range [shooting], pass-first, and she has a nice bounce about her. Her personality is golden, and I’m fortunate we got her.” Other leaders for this year’s team include Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter. Recovering from injury this summer, Stuelke spent the offseason refining her shot and ball handling as she prepares to play more at power forward after filling the void at center much of last season. “I like to attack the basket a lot more than I like to have my back to it,” says Stuelke, one of eight returning players. “Being able to work on all the little parts of my form has been really good for me.” Affolter emerged as a star in March Madness and continued her ascent this summer. “Syd has been unbelievable,” says Jensen. “She paid a lot of attention to Kate [Martin (22BS, 24MA)], and I’m very thankful for that. … Syd knows that this is kind of her team and she’s welcoming that.” Three-point threats Taylor McCabe and Kylie Feuerbach will compete for increased roles this season, while post Addison O’Grady will vie with 6-foot-4 freshman Ava Heiden for minutes at center. Iowa didn’t appear in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 this spring, which included five Big Ten teams and two more that received consideration. “This year they can lean in with a little chip on their shoulder because everybody’s going to be like ‘Oh, they lost Caitlin [Clark (24BBA)]; they’re never going to be the same,’” says Jensen. “All of that can be true, but it can also be fun. And I think this group, what they’ve shown me, is that it’s fun. I could not ask for any more energy or just a great work ethic to start.” BY T YLER STR AND

Hawkeye Newcomers Aaliyah Guyton, freshman guard from Peoria, Illinois

Ava Heiden, freshman center from Sherwood, Oregon

PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

Callie Levin, freshman guard from Solon, Iowa Teagan Mallegni, freshman guard from

A new head coach. Six new players. The departure of the program’s winningest coach and greatest player. For all that has changed within Iowa women’s basketball since last spring’s return to the NCAA championship game, the smiles, fun, and up-tempo play have stayed the same. “Iowa basketball will still remain Iowa basketball: post feeds, running up and down the

court, transition buckets, moving the ball,” says assistant coach Tania Davis (19BA). “But I think this group is special in the unique things that not only our freshmen, but also Lucy [Olsen], are going to bring.” The newcomers include four ESPN top 100-ranked freshman recruits, Miss Iowa Basketball Callie Levin, and Olsen, the country’s third-leading scorer last season at Villanova.

McFarland, Wisconsin

Lucy Olsen, graduate student guard from Collegeville, Pennsylvania

Taylor Stremlow, freshman guard from Verona, Wisconsin

Randi Peterson Henderson (01BS), assistant coach

Sean Sullivan (15BS), assistant coach, general manager

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Go Hawks

An All-American on the 2009-10 Iowa team that won the Orange Bowl, Pat Angerer now joins Gary Dolphin on the air this fall.

Mic’d Up Former Hawkeye and NFL linebacker Pat Angerer joins the Iowa football radio team. Pat Angerer (09BA) ducked out of

Kinnick Stadium early during Iowa’s primetime football game against Michigan State last fall to beat traffic and get his young kids to bed. As he drove home to the Quad Cities, Angerer took advantage of the rare opportunity to tune into the longtime Hawkeye radio duo of Gary Dolphin and Ed Podolak (69BBA). Little did Angerer know that eight months later, he’d be calling that same game. As part of his audition to become the new color analyst for Hawkeye football, the former Iowa and NFL linebacker sat down in the booth with Dolphin for a simulated broadcast. It was a happy coincidence when interviewers queued up the thrilling fourth quarter of that Hawkeye win over the Spartans on

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FALL 2024

the monitors, and Dolphin and Angerer relived the excitement of Cooper DeJean’s decisive punt return. “That’s when I realized this was going to be a lot of fun,” says Angerer of the audition. “It felt comfortable. It was like sitting there with a friend talking about a football game, which, I mean, if that’s the job, that’s a pretty good job.” That natural chemistry with Dolphin—plus Angerer’s everyman charisma and deep knowledge of the game—helped convince Hawkeye Sports Properties, the Iowa partner of national media and marketing company Learfield, that he was the right choice to succeed Podolak. Earlier this year Podolak announced he was transitioning out of the booth after 42 years of broadcasting games for his alma mater. Podolak plans to continue to contribute to Hawkeye pregame shows and podcasts.

Gary Dolphin welcomes Pat Angerer to the Hawkeye radio booth. BY JOSH O’LE ARY

FOOTBALL PHOTO: BRIAN RAY/THE GAZETTE; BROADCASTING PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

F OO T B A L L

A Bettendorf, Iowa, native, Angerer was an All-American as a senior in 2009 when he helped lead Iowa to an 11-2 season and an Orange Bowl victory. After the bowl game, he proposed to his high school sweetheart and fellow Iowa alum, Mary Beth Porter Angerer (09BA). Indianapolis selected Angerer in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft, and he played four seasons for the Colts before injuries cut his professional career short. After the NFL, the Angerers settled in their native Quad Cities, where they’re raising three children. Pat currently works as a business development officer for IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union. “Pat’s passion for Hawkeye football has been evident from the moment he set foot on campus nearly 15 years ago,” says Moon Family Head Football Coach Kirk Ferentz. “He was the heartbeat of our team throughout his career, and I am confident that he will do a great job on the air.” Angerer plans to channel the same passion, enthusiasm, and sense of humor that made him a fan favorite during his playing days into his new radio role. And he’s thankful to be able to lean on Dolphin, who has been the Voice of the Hawkeyes since 1996, for guidance. “Obviously I’ve known Gary for a long time, and he’s such a pro,” Angerer says. “I could put my dog in the booth with Gary, and he would put together a heck of a show.”

Go Hawks

BRIEFS

Peter Jok returned to campus this past spring for commencement before heading to Paris for the Olympics. Jen Llewellyn

NEW GYMNASTICS COACH Jen Llewellyn has been named the University of Iowa’s new gymnastics head coach. She comes to Iowa from the University of Washington, where she led the gymnastics team to three-straight NCAA second round regional appearances.

HAWKEYE WRESTLING HUB WHERE ARE THEY NOW? PETER JOK (23BS) MEN’S BASKETBALL, 2013–17

Harmony Through Hoops

SOUTH SUDAN PHOTO: FIBA; GRADUATION PHOTO: BRIAN RAY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

Peter Jok (23BS) witnessed how

basketball can unite a nation. The former Hawkeye and his South Sudan men’s basketball teammates returned to their homeland last September after qualifying the country for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Despite political conflict and ongoing violence in South Sudan, thousands of fans gathered in the capital city of Juba to celebrate Jok and the rest of the Bright Stars for earning the country’s first Olympic basketball berth. “To represent South Sudan and bring joy to the people back home—we’re the reason everybody was united with everything that’s going on, all the negativity,” says Jok, whose team qualified at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines. “To see everyone being positive and cheering us on as one instead of as different tribes, it was special to go out there and play for the whole country.” This past summer, Jok represented South Sudan against the world’s best in Paris. The two-time All-Big Ten honoree scored eight points in a July exhibition against the United States a few days before he was named to the Bright Stars’ 12-man Olympic squad.

Academic Accomplishment

Soon after last year’s World Cup celebration, Jok completed another milestone. The 6-foot-6 swingman earned an Iowa degree in sports management last fall and donned his cap and gown this past spring at commencement. “It means everything,” says Jok, who left Iowa early in his final semester in 2017 to prepare for the NBA. The former Hawkeye All-American has played professional basketball in the NBA Summer League, NBA G League, and in Spain, France, Greece, and Canada.

The Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center opened this past May as the new practice home for the Iowa men’s and women’s wrestling programs, which connects via underground tunnel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

CLARK KEEPS CLIMBING Caitlin Clark (24BBA) recently received two ESPY Awards in recognition of her storied college basketball career, winning best women’s college athlete and becoming the first woman to win best record-breaking performance. Now with the Indiana Fever, the WNBA All-Star has become the first rookie in league history to record a triple-double.

Beyond Paris

Jok, who has played on the South Sudan national team for the past three years, contributed 11 points and six rebounds to help the Bright Stars defeat Puerto Rico in their Olympic opener. The 30-yearold provided consistent scoring off the bench in the Olympics and hopes to continue playing professional basketball overseas. Says Jok: “I feel like I’m in my prime right now, so I’m just trying to take advantage of it while I can.”

MAJOR DEBUT Former Iowa baseball pitcher Adam Mazur made his MLB debut this past summer for the San Diego Padres. The 2022 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year allowed just one run and two hits in six innings against the Los Angeles Angels.

BY T YLER STR AND

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Go Hawks

Adrian Clayborn (10BA) Football (2007-10)

A three-year starter on Iowa’s defensive line, Clayborn was a consensus All-American in 2010 and MVP of the Hawkeyes’ Orange Bowl victory over Georgia Tech following the 2009 season. After recording 19 career sacks at Iowa, Clayborn became a first-round NFL draft pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2011 and enjoyed a 10-year NFL career. Laura Dvorak (95BA) Women’s Tennis (1991-95)

Dvorak was a four-time first-team All-Big Ten selection who earned the conference’s Medal of Honor in 1995—the first women’s tennis honoree in school history. She set a new school record with 30 victories as a sophomore and ranks second in Iowa history in career singles victories with 102. Shonn Greene Football (2005-06, 2008) HALL OF FAME

Great Eight Iowa enshrines a new class of Hawkeye legends.

Iowa’s first consensus All-American running back since Nile Kinnick (40BA), Greene was the 2008 Doak Walker Award winner after rushing for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns, which were both school records. Greene was a third-round selection in the NFL draft and played six seasons with the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans. Kevin Kunnert Men’s Basketball (1971-73)

Mike Boddicker Baseball (1976-78)

After averaging 11.5 strikeouts per game as a senior, Boddicker finished his college career with 189 strikeouts, which still ranks in the top 10 in program history. Boddicker had an 11-year career in the big leagues, including nine seasons with the Baltimore Orioles during which he was the MVP of the 1983 American League Championship Series and a 1984 All-Star.

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Sue Bury (83BS) Field Hockey (1979-83)

A two-time first-team All-American and a member of the Big Ten’s All-Decade team, Bury led Iowa to two Big Ten regular-season titles and a school record 25 wins in 1981. She was named to the U.S. National Field Hockey Team in 1981 and 1982. Rico Chiapparelli Wrestling (1983, 1985-87)

A three-time All-American and Big Ten champion, Chiapparelli won a national title at 177 pounds in 1987 and helped lead Iowa to three NCAA team titles. Chiapparelli, a member of the U.S. National Team from 1987-90, was a 1989 World Cup gold medalist.

A Helms Athletic Foundation firstteam All-American in 1973, Kunnert averaged 15.9 points and 12.7 rebounds in three seasons and tallied 48 career double-doubles. Kunnert currently ranks third in Iowa history in rebounds with 914. He was a first-round selection in the 1973 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. Lindsey Meder (02BS, 07DDS, 09EndoS) Women’s Basketball (1998-2002)

Meder, who led Iowa to a pair of NCAA Tournaments, was a three-time All-Big Ten player and a member of the Hawkeye team that won the conference tournament title in 2001. She finished her career ranked second in school history in scoring with 1,906 points and set a record for career 3-pointers with 261.

PHOTOS: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

Eight Iowa icons were inducted in August into the Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This was the 35th class of inductees, selected annually by the Iowa Letterwinners Club and the UI Athletics Department.

Go Hawks

Kinnick Stadium, seen here in a screenshot from EA Sports College Football 25, will be the site for a fall fundraiser for the UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital that features the popular video game.

E-SPORTS

It’s in the Game

SCREENSHOT COURTESY EA SPORTS

Iowa hosts a College Football 25 video game tournament this fall to raise money for its children’s hospital. The Hawkeye Wave, the Swarm, and Iowa Fight Song are all in the game. So is Kinnick Stadium, which has been faithfully digitized, brick by brick. And most importantly for gamers and fans—including those who will compete in a special fundraising tournament this fall—dozens of Hawkeye student-athletes are represented. After an 11-year hiatus, EA Sports revived its popular college football video game series this past summer. Developers for the long-awaited College Football 25 worked with UI Athletics and the other 133 Football Bowl Subdivision programs to replicate the pageantry and traditions of game day—and deliver on EA’s “It’s in the game” tagline. The company also secured the rights to officially use player names and likenesses in the game for the first time, paying more than 11,000 student-athletes who opted in $600 and giving them a free copy of the game. Iowa senior running back Leshon Williams (24BS) was one of the many UI student-athletes eager to play as their digital doppelgangers after opting in through the NIL deal. “I will be giving out free whoopings all today,” Williams joked on social media on the game’s release day.

Williams and the Hawkeyes will no doubt be a popular team selection Sept. 28 when Extra Life, a fundraising program of the Children’s Miracle Network, hosts its first-ever College Football 25 video game tournament at Kinnick Stadium. The single-elimination tournament is open to those who raise money for UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital through DonorDrive, an online fundraising platform. Those who reach the fundraising goal before the entry spots are filled not only will compete in the tournament, but can also meet Iowa football players and coaches on the field and hear stories from families who have had a child receive care at Iowa’s only comprehensive children’s hospital. Prizes will be awarded to the top three fundraisers and the tournament champion and runner-up. Registrants who don’t participate in the fundraiser may try the new college football video game in a free-play area, watch the tournament action, and participate in a silent auction and the Hawkeye Wave during the championship game.

Extra Life Charity Challenge: College Football 25 W H AT: A video game fundraiser to support UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital W H E N: 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 W H E R E: Kinnick Stadium’s Ted Pacha Family Club D E TA I L S A N D R E G I S T R AT I O N :

foriowa.info/ IM-ExtraLife-24

BY JOSH O' LE ARY

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Legendary Hawkeye quarterback Chuck Long reminisces on his time at Iowa ahead of this fall’s homecoming festivities.

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THE

ROAD

HOM E

Hawkeye football great Chuck Long returns to the campus where his legend was born as grand marshal for Iowa homecoming. BY

John Bohnenkamp

PHOTO BY

John Emigh

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Iowa's No. 16

At first, Chuck Long (85BBA) thought it was a prank. In fall 1979, Long quarterbacked his high school team, Wheaton North, to an Illinois state football championship. But the junior didn’t exactly toss the ball all over the field that season. When North used its option attack to beat LaSalle-Peru 14-6 in the Class 4A state title game, Long threw for minus-3 yards. Division I football didn’t seem like a part of his future. So, when Long received a phone call from the University of Iowa, he wondered if someone was pulling a practical joke on him. “We were basically a team with a great running game and a great defense,” Long says. “Because of that, I wasn’t going to get recruited. I mean, who in their right mind would do that?” But Iowa’s new coach, Hayden Fry —himself a former quarterback at Baylor 30 years earlier—saw something special when he watched film of the tall, lanky signal caller, who would lead Wheaton North back to the playoffs as a senior. Iowa flew Long in for an official recruiting visit, his first introduction to the campus where he’d become a football legend and the charismatic Texan who would change his life. “I came back, told my dad they had offered me a full-ride scholarship,” recalls Long. “He said, ‘Well, what does that mean?’ I said, it covers room, board, tuition, everything. He said, ‘Have they seen you play, son?’ My dad had a great sense of humor. For my family, it was all a very surreal moment.” This fall, Long will make another memorable visit to Iowa City—this time as the grand marshal of the UI homecoming parade. Long was 4-0 in homecoming games as Iowa’s quarterback, including when he ran in the winning touchdown to beat Michigan State to cap homecoming weekend in 1985. Long turned Iowa’s scholarship offer into an eight-season NFL career, followed by a lengthy college and professional coaching career. The road, Long says, started with the faith that Fry had in him.

“The university and my experience there opened up so many doors to me,” Long says. “It changed my life forever. You always think about ‘what if.’ What if I didn’t go to Iowa, where would I be? I would probably have done what my dad did—get on the train every day from a western Chicago suburb and go into the city to work every day. My experience as a student-athlete at the University of Iowa has taken me all over the world.” Long was a four-year starter with the Hawkeyes from 1982–85 and became the first quarterback in Big Ten history to pass for more than 10,000 yards. He threw a record six touchdown passes in

“

The university and my experience there opened up so many doors to me. It changed my life forever.” —Chuck Long

Long leads No. 7 Iowa to a 20-14 win over

the 1984 Freedom Bowl, and he was the runnerup for the Heisman Trophy in 1985 after leading Iowa to the Big Ten championship and a spot in the Rose Bowl. Fourteen years after his college career ended, Long was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. For all the success he enjoyed at Iowa, however, Long struggled during his freshman year. “I was overwhelmed at my very first training camp,” he says. “I didn’t know how to read coverages, I didn’t know any of that stuff. Hayden and [offensive coordinator] Bill Snyder, they were ahead of the curve. They were today’s spread offense. They had a sophisticated passing attack, and you had to be able to read coverages as a quarterback to be good at it. And I was lost.” Long remembers calling his father, Charlie, during training camp when his conf idence was waning. 24

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P H O T O S: H A W K E Y E S P O R T S.C O M

No. 3 Ohio State in September 1983.

P H O T O: H A W K E Y E S P O R T S.C O M

Long credits legendary Iowa coach Hayden Fry for his success as a quarterback.

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Long speaks at a press conference following Iowa's 1984 Freedom Bowl win over Texas.

In 1985, Michigan State nearly upset No. 1 Iowa at home, only for Long to score a 2-yard touchdown with 27 seconds remaining to lead Iowa to a 35-31 victory.

“Dad, I don’t know if I can do this,” Chuck said. “I’m so far behind.” “You’ve got really good coaches there who know what they’re doing,” Charlie said. “And they will get you to that point where you need to be. Just trust the process.” Long became the starter at the beginning of the 1982 season but got off to a slow start. He threw for just 31 yards in the season-opening 42-7 loss at Nebraska. “Of all the games I’ve played, that was the worst day I ever had,” says Long, whose team was trailing big when he called a timeout in the second half. “It’s a hot day, I go over to the sideline, and

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Hayden was mad at me for calling a timeout. He says, ‘Charlie, why are you calling a timeout? Let’s get this game over with.’ I proceeded to throw up all over his white pants and white shoes. So, he benched me on the spot. That was a miserable day.” Long, though, grew into his job. He threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns in Iowa’s 28-22 win over Tennessee in the 1982 Peach Bowl, the game he says changed his career. That season started a four-year run in which the Hawkeyes won 35 games with four bowl appearances. The 1985 season, when the Hawkeyes were ranked No. 1 in the nation for five weeks, was one that brought Iowa’s program national attention.

—Charlie Long's encouragement to his son Chuck

P H O T O S: H A W K E Y E S P O R T S.C O M

“

You’ve got really good coaches there who know what they’re doing. And they will get you to that point where you need to be. Just trust the process.”

LIONS PHOTO: DAMIAN STROHMEYER/AP; AWARD PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM; REVSINE PHOTO: BRIAN RAY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM; OKLAHOMA PHOTO: NATE BILLINGS/THE OKLAHOMAN VIA AP

Long was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1986.

“People forget that back then, there were only one or two games of the week on national TV, and we were good enough to be in a few of them,” he says. “That was a big deal.” One of the biggest victories of that season came in the fourth game, when Long scored the winning touchdown on a naked bootleg with 27 seconds left to beat Michigan State 35-31. The Hawkeyes had moved into the No. 1 spot in the national polls a few days earlier but needed to rally from a 24-13 third-quarter deficit. The play call on the decisive touchdown came as a surprise to Long, who faked a handoff up the middle, then rolled to the right and raised

the football over his head as he crossed the goal line untouched. As Kinnick Stadium shook, Fry embraced Long on the sidelines. “The full five years I was there, we had never practiced that play, and then Hayden calls it. The genius of Hayden Fry,” Long said. Two weeks later, Long was part of the 12-10 win over Michigan in an epic No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle that ended with the winning field goal by Rob Houghtlin (87BA). Long, who threw for 297 yards in the game, completed several key passes on the final scoring drive, including an 11-yard toss to Mike Flagg (87BBA) on third-and-8 from the Iowa 48-yard line.

B O T T O M R O W (left to right):Coach Hayden Fry joins Long for his acceptance of the 1985 Davey O’Brien Award for best quarterback; Long in Iowa City with the Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine in 2015; and Long with Oklahoma in the early 2000s, where he served as quarterbacks coach, passing game coordinator, and co-offensive coordinator. MAGAZINE.FORIOWA.ORG

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A consensus All-American, Long stands near his honorary portrait (upper left) in the All-American Room at the Hansen Football Performance Center.

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operates several health and wellness programs in the state, including the Iowa Games, the Iowa Senior Games, Live Healthy Iowa, the Iowa Corporate Games, and Adaptive Sports Iowa. Homecoming will give Long a chance to reflect on those memorable years at Kinnick Stadium—and all he’s accomplished since. It’s a road, he says, that wouldn’t have happened if Fry hadn’t taken a chance on him. “I’ve enjoyed the journey ever since I stepped foot on Iowa soil,” Long says. “It’s been a whirlwind ever since.” Any comments? Email uimagazine@foriowa.org.

John Bohnenkamp (88BA) is an awardwinning Iowa sportswriter who has covered Hawkeye athletics for 36 years. He currently serves as the sportswriting coach for The Daily Iowan. In 1985, Bohnenkamp was a UI sophomore in the north stands of Kinnick Stadium, where Rob Houghtlin’s field goal landed to beat Michigan.

SAVE THE DATE University of Iowa Homecoming Oct. 20-26, 2024 homecoming.uiowa.edu

P H O T O: J O H N E M I G H

“The euphoria of the crowd when Rob Houghtlin kicked that field goal—I have never been part of a crowd like that since,” Long says. “It was a Hollywood-scripted ending. We take the ball down the field, they try to ice Rob with the timeouts, and then he went out there … he basically told us, ‘Don’t worry guys, I’ve got it.’ And went out there and drilled it. I can still feel it. Not just see it, but feel it. Your hair stands on the back of your neck.” Long would finish second behind Bo Jackson in the 1985 Heisman Trophy voting, then was a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions in the NFL draft the following spring. His path since then included coaching stops with Iowa, Oklahoma, San Diego State—where he was a head coach for three seasons—and Kansas. Long, who lives in Altoona, Iowa, still coaches today; he’s the offensive coordinator for the UFL’s Arlington Renegades and works alongside former Hawkeye Bob Stoops (83BBA), who is the team’s head coach. Long is also CEO and executive director of the Iowa Sports Foundation, a nonprofit organization that

Chuck Long’s Iowa City As the UI welcomes alumni and friends back for Homecoming, the All-American quarterback reflects on what makes the home of the Hawks so special. Any time Chuck Long visits Iowa City, he can’t help but be transported back to 1985. The University of Iowa campus, after all, is filled with fond memories for the former Iowa quarterback, who led the Hawkeyes to four bowl games, including the Rose Bowl after a Big Ten title in 1985. “The buzz on campus that year was very unique, very surreal,” says Long, who returns in October to serve as grand marshal of this year’s homecoming parade. “Just walking from class to class, you got a lot of pats on the back, you got a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’

from other students. You would walk into a class, and everyone [would be] excited with you. And that was a campus that was good in all sports—men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball was going well, wrestling was always on top. There was always a buzz, the whole place. And it started off with football.” Ahead of his homecoming appearance, Long reminisced with Iowa Magazine about his favorite campus memories and why Iowa City still feels like home.

Iowa’s Charm

Dorm Dinners and the Bubble

Town and Gown

Long has spent much of his career working in university towns since leaving Iowa, but he says none compare to the UI. “ T he layou t of the campus is beautiful, with the rolling hills,” Long says. “Going across the [Iowa] river to the campus from the dorms is, I think, a cool scene.” And yet, for all of its history, the campus has evolved. Every time he’s back in Iowa City, Long makes a point to visit familiar spots and see what’s changed. A business student in the 1980s, Long had many of his classes in Phillips Hall. When he’s returned over the years to speak to classes at the Tippie College of Business, he’s marveled at the modern amenities of the Pappajohn Business Building. “I just like the feel of the campus, the beauty of it,” he says. “The Old Capitol area, the Pentacrest—it’s just part of the charm of Iowa.”

Long grew to appreciate the older dor mi tories on the wes t side of campus, where much of his student life was focused. “Our scholarship meal plan was in the dorms,” Long says. “It was cool to go to Hillcrest every night for dinner, because Hillcrest has that old-time charm." Long remembers when the athletics department built the practice bubble to the north of Kinnick Stadium, which was used from 1985 until 2012. It has since been replaced by the state-of-the-art Hansen Football Performance Center. “We didn’t have the Bubble initially, so we froze when it got cold out," says Long. “I remember freezing in Kinnick Stadium practicing for the [1982] Peach Bowl. “When the Bubble was built, to us it was like the Taj Mahal.”

A big part of what makes Iowa City unique, says Long, is how downtown is intertwined with campus. “A lot of them aren’t that way,” Long says of other college towns. “I was at Kansas coaching, and the campus is not close to downtown. You had to get in a car to get downtown, and that’s something you didn’t have to do in Iowa City. “Back then, the big places to go were the Field House, the Sports Column, The Airliner,” he says. “The Airliner had such history. I always say they took the capitol out of Iowa City and moved it to Des Moines, but they didn’t take The Airliner with them.” What were some of Long’s other go-to places to eat? “One a.m. at the hot dog stand, or buying a gyro downtown,” he laughs. “That was our second-favorite, next to the dorms. At 1 o’clock in the morning, that’s what you do.”

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BON VOYAGE:

F R O M I O W A T O T H E F I N A L F R O N T I E R For decades, UI-buil t scien ti f ic ins tr umen ts onboar d the t w o Vo y ager spacecr a f t ha v e y ielded gr oundbr eaking disco v er ies as the v essels explor e the cosmic unkno w n. B Y J A C K TA M I S I E A

Saturn’s icy moon Dione as photographed by I O W AVoyager M A G A Z I N E 2 F in A L L 22005 024 30 NASA’s

PHOTOS: NASA

Saturn’s moon Enceladus as photographed by Voyager 1 in 1980

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and Astronomy in 2017, Jaynes works closely with NASA colleagues to decode data collected by Voyager 1’s plasma wave instrument. The tool— which helped establish the UI’s longstanding partnership with NASA when it was built at Iowa nearly half a century ago—has kept a detailed record of the plasma that pulsates through the entire solar system. When Voyager 1 went off line, the plasma wave instrument was collecting insights into the cosmic conditions of interstellar space. Jaynes worried that this irreplaceable data was stranded across the universe. “All this data was just sitting there, but we could not access it because we lost communication with Voyager,” Jaynes recalls. For months, the silence was stifling. Was data from NASA’s most distant spacecraft forever lost in space?

Voyager 2 at the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1977

ven from 15 billion miles away, it was clear something had gone awry.

Late last year, the usually reliable Voyager 1 spacecraft was sending an undecipherable jumble of code back to scientists on Earth. Originally only meant to last for five years, the spacecraft had spent nearly five decades taking awe-inspiring photos of planets and sharing invaluable data revolutionizing human understanding of the solar system. In 2013, the spacecraft became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, or the region between stars. Now researchers around the world were worried that the pioneering spaceship had become unreachable. Allison Jaynes was particularly perturbed by the disconnect. An associate professor who joined the University of Iowa’s Department of Physics Voyager 1 lift-off from Kennedy Space Center, 1977

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The whole journey began in September 1977, when Voyager 1 and its identical twin, Voyager 2, launched weeks apart in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The two NASA spacecraft were bound for the outer solar system, where a multitude of moons rotate around gaseous giants and icy planets. Every 176 years, cosmic conditions align as they did in 1977 to enable a spacecraft to visit all four of the solar system’s outer planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—by using the gravitational forces of each planet to sling the spacecraft along to the next. Now approaching 47 years in space, the twin spacecraft have conducted flybys of all the outer planets at 38,000 mph and observed nearly 50 different moons. They discovered giant volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io that spew out sulfur to heights 30 times higher than Mount Everest and outlined the intricate structure of Saturn’s rings for the first time. To make these discoveries, the two spacecraft are outfitted with a battery of scientific tools. One of these devices is called a plasma wave instrument. This tool detects radio waves and can measure the densities of plasma “winds” that travel across the solar system. To design and calibrate the instrument, NASA turned to its trusted collaborators in the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER PHOTOS: NASA/JPL-CALTECH; BOTTOM LEFT PHOTO COURTESY JET PROPULSION LABORATORY; OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY UI DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

An Ambitious Mission

Saturn as photographed by Voyager 2 in 1981

James Van Allen

Don Gurnett

SPACE PHOTOS: NASA; HEADSHOTS COURTESY UI DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

Outfitting Cosmic Campaigns

As the old Iowa adage goes: If you build it, they will come. This was why astronomers and high-ranking government officials were coming in droves to Iowa City as far back as the 1950s and ’60s. The United States was desperate to make up ground in the Space Race, and the UI had the pioneering engineers and physicists to get them to the moon and beyond. Over the ensuing 60 years, UI researchers have designed and built scientific instruments for dozens of high-profile NASA missions that explored planets and moons throughout the solar system. It all started with UI physicist James Van Allen (36MS, 39PhD). In 1958, Van Allen was in the Pentagon War Room when Explorer 1 became the first American satellite to reach space. On board was a scientific instrument called a Geiger tube designed by Van Allen and his team to measure cosmic radiation. When Explorer 1 exited Earth’s atmosphere, Van Allen’s Geiger tube became the first scientific instrument in space. The Geiger tube would also make one of the first major discoveries of the Space Age by revealing radioactive regions of charged particles that circle the Earth, which are now known as the Van Allen radiation belts. The success of Explorer 1 shot Van Allen’s profile into the scientific stratosphere. The “father of scientific space exploration” was interviewed by Walter Cronkite, and his visage graced the cover of Time magazine in 1959. All this publicity also boosted Van Allen’s burgeoning program. Between 1951 and 1975, the UI operated the largest space instrumentation lab in the world. To keep this lab firing on all cylinders, Van Allen relied on a cadre of renowned researchers and an ever-expanding outfit of doctoral and undergraduate students.

PAGE 32 BOTTOM (LEFT TO RIGHT): Voyager plasma wave subsystem investigators Fred Scarf, Don Gurnett, and Bill Kurth in 1986; the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy machine shop prepares the plasma wave subsystem instrument case for Voyager; Hawkeyes Don Gurnett, James Van Allen, Iver Cairns, and Dave Barbosa study Voyagers 1989 Neptune flyby; and the Voyager plasma wave subsystem instrument developed at Iowa.

Bill Kurth

Allison Jaynes

Bill Kurth (73BA, 75MS, 79PhD) joined this cohort shortly after he began attending Iowa as a freshman in 1969. As an amateur astronomer growing up in Cedar Rapids, Kurth would use his telescope to explore the night sky. Sometimes he and his friends spotted auroras igniting the dark skies west of town. These glimmering displays fascinated Kurth, especially after trips to the local library revealed little about the origins of these cosmic light shows. During his sophomore year at Iowa, Kurth volunteered to help one of his physics professors and soon began calibrating scientific instruments for Hawkeye, a spacecraft designed and built at the UI. The satellite was launched in 1974 to survey the magnetic fields above Earth’s polar latitudes. Over the next four years, Hawkeye orbited the Earth nearly 700 times and provided scientific fodder for dozens of publications. These included insights into how electromagnetic forces interplay with solar energy to spark the auroras that had long fascinated Kurth. “I was hooked,” he recalls. Data from Hawkeye fueled Kurth’s PhD thesis. While he pursued graduate degrees, he also became involved with an even more ambitious project that was taking over the department— building instrumentation for a set of NASA spacecraft named Voyager. By the time Kurth defended his thesis in 1979, Voyager was soaring towards Jupiter. The desire to see where the spacecraft went next tethered Kurth to Iowa like a gravitational force. “I asked if I could stick around to see what comes back from Voyager,” he says, “and I’m still doing that.” For decades, Kurth served as a co-investigator of the Voyager project with his mentor, space physicist Don Gurnett (62BSEE, 63MS, 65PhD). Like Kurth, Gurnett—who died in 2022—joined Van Allen’s program as an undergraduate and spent the rest of his career at Iowa. He served 34 years as the principal investigator for the plasma wave instrument aboard the Voyagers.

Voyager 1 captures a volcanic eruption on Jupiters moon Io in 1979.

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“Nobod y reall y kne w w he ther ligh tning could exis t on o ther plane ts or no t. W e w en t to Jupi ter and found i t.” —Bill Kurth

Passing the Boundary

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TOP: Jupiter as seen by Voyager 1 in 1979 RIGHT: Neptune captured by Voyager 2 in 1989

PHOTOS: NASA

Until it went silent last year, operating the plasma wave instrument had for decades been a relatively straightforward task for Iowa’s scientists. Beyond turning it on and off (“and we don’t like to ever turn the instrument off,” Kurth says), the team relies on only a few commands to control the instrument. One involves operating a set of attenuators, which reduce the strength of signals like inverse amplifiers. These were installed to help the instrument sift through intense waves that the researchers expected Voyager to encounter near Jupiter. But these waves never swamped the instrument, and the attenuators have never been activated. The other command turns on a specialized receiver that has collected high-resolution data on plasma waves throughout the solar system. Interpreting what the plasma wave instrument is collecting is much more complex. But it has led to incredible insights. In 1979, the instrument detected radio emissions from lightning in Jupiter’s atmosphere. This was the first time lightning was observed outside of Earth’s atmosphere. “Nobody really knew whether lightning could exist on other planets or not,” Kurth says. “We went to Jupiter and found it.” In 2013, the plasma wave instrument made its largest discovery yet when it detected a dramatic change in the plasma conditions near the edge of the solar system. The dense plume of plasma emanating from the sun is known as the solar wind. This wind moves throughout a region known as the heliosphere. The heliosphere is essentially a big bubble of plasma that contains Earth and its planetary neighbors and extends roughly three times the distance of Pluto into space. What lies outside the heliosphere is known as the interstellar medium. Plasma near the sun is made up of a dense number of electrons and ions. But as the plasma moves farther from its solar source, its density gradually decreases. Kurth compares this phenomenon to an expanding gas—the farther the plasma expands, the less dense it becomes.

That’s why it was surprising when Voyager 1 was suddenly detecting a dense plasma, again at the farthest points of the heliosphere where the plasma usually peters out. This piqued the interest of the team, especially Gurnett, who had theorized that plasma waves called plasma oscillations would be found beyond the edge of the heliosphere based on radio waves Voyager 1 recorded as it soared beyond Saturn in the early 1990s. Observing these theoretical oscillations seemed like a longshot. “The probability of having Voyager fly through the right region of space at the right time to actually detect them seemed slim to none,” Kurth says. In those days, Kurth made a habit of sifting through the plasma wave data at night when it arrived from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in California. He remembers that April night when the high plasma density readings came through and knowing “within 10 seconds what they meant.” The next day he shared the data with Gurnett, whose theory had been validated. The increase in plasma density Voyager was recording was not seismic. For example, the plasma density was actually much weaker than it is near Earth. But the density was at least 50 times as dense as those usually found in the outer heliosphere. Combined with other evidence—like the increase in cosmic galactic rays, which originate outside the solar system—these density readings provided “the last piece of the puzzle that convinced us that we had crossed into the interstellar medium,” Kurth says. Voyager 1 had become the first spacecraft to pass through the heliopause, the boundary that separates the heliosphere bubble from interstellar space. Gurnett, Kurth, and their colleagues published the update in the journal Science in September 2013, and news that Voyager had entered the final frontier captivated audiences around the world in a similar vein to the press Van Allen once received. “It was one of the greatest scientific events of my career,” Gurnett recalled in 2017. “We were there at the beginning of discovery.”

Packing the Essentials

When the two Voyager spacecraft left Earth in 1977, each weighed

nearly 1,800 pounds—about the same as a subcompact car. Each Voyager contains roughly 65,000 parts and includes an array of scientific tools. The spacecraft also contain information about Earth in 2 3

case of curious extraterrestrials.

IMAGES: NASA

The Journey Continues

For most of the next decade, the Voyagers sent back a steady stream of scientific data collected where no spacecraft had been before. Crossing this cosmic chasm takes quite a bit of time and a multitude of powerful radio dishes. But the insights are well worth the wait for Jaynes, who views the mission as “the shining example of our desire to reach out and discover what is elsewhere in the universe.” She was working as a post-doc on the Van Allen radiation belts at the University of Colorado when Kurth and Gurnett determined that Voyager 1 had entered interstellar space. From her office in Iowa’s Van Allen Hall, Jaynes now serves as a co-investigator on the Voyager mission with Kurth, who took over the principal investigator role after Gurnett’s death. Once the data makes it back to Earth, the UI researchers work with their partners at NASA and other institutions to understand the instrument’s readings. These readings became impossible to decipher when Voyager 1 experienced an anomaly. The spacecraft usually beamed its data to Earth in binary codes of ones and zeroes. But beginning in November 2023, Voyager 1 began sending repeating patterns of unusable code back to Earth, leading many researchers to worry that the aging spacecraft had finally reached the end of its mission. While the spacecraft had lasted nearly 10 times longer than initially thought, NASA scientists were not ready to let them drift into the void. Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Lab worked tirelessly to pinpoint the issue causing the disconnect. The NASA team initially sent commands aimed at rebooting Voyager 1’s computer systems. This past March, they located the region of the spacecraft’s data system that appeared to be producing the jumbled data. An engineer was able to decode the signal and access the data system’s entire memory. This helped the team locate the corrupted region of memory, which was stored on a single chip that was either worn down or exposed to damaging radiation. Because they couldn’t replace the chip from 15 billion miles away, the team programmed around the infected memory to restore the system’s ability to collect and send data to Earth.

On April 20, the team received the first coherent data from Voyager 1 in five months. “It is just amazing that they were able to recover it from this anomaly,” Jaynes says. Since the recovery, Voyager 1 has continued to collect scientific data. The data from Voyager 1 is crucial to understanding cosmic conditions outside the heliosphere. Recently, the plasma wave instrument has provided insights into charged dust particles that float throughout space, which are scarcer in interstellar space than inside the heliosphere. To Kurth, the Voyagers have already outpaced any expectations, and not just because they have outlived their initial lifespan by more than 41 years. These spaceships have provided insights into the basic building blocks of science itself. “They have shown that nature is so much more inventive than our minds are,” Kurth says. “We found situations in the outer solar system and the interstellar medium that we just hadn’t fathomed before, which is the reason we do missions of discovery.” Deciphering Voyager data is paramount. While NASA was able to reconnect with Voyager 1 after its anomaly, these aging spacecraft will not be reachable forever. Voyager 1 and 2 both are powered by a limited power supply of decaying plutonium. Once that power runs out—NASA scientists have their fingers crossed that it will be after 2027 for the 50th anniversary of the launch—the Voyagers will fall silent as they fade into the final frontier. But the data they leave behind will continue to guide the Earthlings stretching out for the stars. Jack Tamisiea is a science writer based in Washington, D.C., who covers natural histor y and environmental issues. Tamisiea’s work has appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, Scientific American, Hakai Magazine, Johns Hopkins Magazine, and many others. Tamisiea is also the son of Iowa alumnus John Tamisiea (87BBA) and grew up an avid Hawkeye fan.

High-Gain Antenna Housed inside a satellite-like dish measuring more than 12 feet across, the high-gain antenna transmits information back to Earth. The spaceships are so far away that transmissions take nearly 24 hours to reach Earth despite traveling at the speed of light. 2

The Bus The antenna is attached to a tensided structure called “the bus” that acts like the spacecraft’s body. The bus is outfitted with more than a dozen instruments considered cutting-edge in the 1970s, including a scientific tool that measures solar magnetic fields and a narrowangle camera with a resolution so sharp that it can make a newspaper headline readable from more than half a mile away. An instrument built and monitored at the UI detects the movements of super-charged plasma particles. 3

Phonograph Both spacecraft contain this goldplated copper disk. These records include more than 100 images depicting life on Earth, greetings

Any comments? Email uimagazine@foriowa.org.

recorded in 55 different languages, and music recorded by artists ranging from Beethoven to Chuck Berry.

Beth Goetz cuts the net after the Iowa women’s basketball team defeats Louisville in the Elite Eight in March 2023 to advance to the Final Four.

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k w a H From revenue sharing and Big Ten expansion to the women’s basketball boom, Beth Goetz guides Iowa into a new world of college athletics. BY JOSH O’LEARY

PHOTO: BRIAN RAY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

efore Beth Goetz recently sat down with Iowa Magazine to discuss her first year as University of Iowa athletic director and the changing tides of college sports, she gave a small disclaimer: By the time this Q&A was published, things would likely have shifted again. Change, after all, is a constant these days. Since Goetz began leading the UI Athletics Department on an interim basis in August 2023, then formally succeeded Gary Barta in January, the transformation of college sports has only accelerated. In May, the NCA A and its f ive largest conferences, including the Big Ten, announced a pending court settlement that could pave the way for revenue sharing between schools and studentathletes for the first time. Meanwhile, conference realignment has reshaped college sports’ geography as the Big Ten welcomes four new West Coast programs (see p. 42-43) this fall. And here in Iowa City, where stability has been a hallmark in many sports, the ground shook when the Hawkeyes’ all-time winningest women’s basketball coach, Lisa Bluder, announced her retirement following back-to-back Final Fours. Goetz, the Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair, covered those topics and more on a recent afternoon inside CarverHawkeye Arena. Here’s the conversation, edited for length and clarity.

What would you include on a highlight reel from your first year as athletic director? It’s been an incredible year for the Hawkeyes. We started off last fall with some awesome performances—footba l l won the Big Ten West division, women’s soccer won a Big Ten championship, and many other successes. Then you roll right into a women’s basketball run, and what an amazing Final Four experience that was. All of those great things in addition to our athletes continuing to do well in the classroom, being great stewards in our community, and the opportunity I’ve had to get to know so many passionate Hawkeyes has been really special. It seems like you’ve made it a priority to be visible and accessible this first year. Why has meeting alumni and fans been important to you? This program belongs to our alumni and our Hawkeye community, so it’s important that we’re great ambassadors for them. We have great stories to tell, so when I can be out in front of them and tell those stories and hear what they’re excited about and the concerns they may have, I think that’s important. It informs how we can continue to not only support our athletes, but to make sure that what we do every day serves the mission of the MAGAZINE.FORIOWA.ORG

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institution and creates a great place for people to gather and share that Hawkeye passion. What role did sports play in your childhood, growing up in the St. Louis suburbs as one of four sisters in an athletic family? My mom’s actually the biggest sports fan of the group, but both my parents love sports. And all four of us girls played everything you could play back in the day. That was how we spent our social time, both at the youth level and through high school and then club sports. Early on I didn’t think of it as a pathway to college. But then I realized I get to do what I love, what I’m passionate about, and have a chance to go to college and play with a great team there.

I feel fortunate because they were two unique experiences. Brevard at the time was a small, private two-year school, and when I came out of high school, there weren’t a lot of Division I women’s soccer programs. It was just this beautiful little place in the mountains in North Carolina, and everybody knew each other. I loved that culture. Then that opportunity led me to play at Clemson in the ACC, and I was playing against some of the best women’s soccer programs in the country as a junior and senior. I think both of those experiences give me some perspective, not only about what that experience is like for student-athletes today, but also that not every experience is going to look the same, in a positive way. It’s really about the culture you build and the opportunities you give young people to play the sport they love, but also to pursue their other passions. Out of college you coached soccer at Missouri-St. Louis, then eventually became an administrator there and at Butler, Minnesota, UConn, and Ball State. What guiding principles did you pick up along the way? I’ve been fortunate to work with some great coaches and had some great mentors who have championed me throughout my career. From that long list, one that always resonates when I’m asked this question was the opportunity to work with [former Butler

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Goetz brings her experiences as a former student-athlete, including as captain of the Clemson University women's soccer team, to her work as Iowa's athletic director.

and Boston Celtics coach] Brad Stevens, who’s now general manager of the Celtics. He used to say that when your best player is your best teammate, there’s no limit to what the group can accomplish. And that’s always resonated with me. I like to approach everything I do, including administration, as part of a team, and I think you’re stronger together. You’re stronger when everybody knows how to play a role but also knows how to lift others up, step in when they’re needed, and take a back seat when it’s somebody else’s chance to shine. What made Iowa City an attractive destination in 2022 when you left Ball State, where you were the athletic director, to become UI’s deputy athletic director and chief operating officer? I was watching Iowa from afar for years, and everyone admires the culture here and just the level and longevity of the coaches. There’s a reason why people stay here; it really speaks to who our community is and what the University of Iowa is all about. The opportunity to work with such great people, these hall of fame coaches, was incredibly special. The recent NCAA settlement opened the possibility of universities sharing athletics revenue with student-athletes beginning in 2025. How do you see this taking shape?

PHOTO COURTESY CLEMSON UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

What was your experience like as a soccer player in the 1990s, first at Brevard College and then at Clemson University, and how has that shaped your work as an administrator?

It really is an incredibly dynamic time in college athletics, and we’re on the precipice of what revenue sharing may look like and a new landscape that allows us to provide even greater resources to student-athletes. I think it’s something that we’re all excited about. And sure, there’s some anxiety about how we’re going to function in this new environment, but I’m confident that from a Big Ten perspective, with our resources and support here at the University of Iowa, we’re going to figure out a path forward that’s going to preserve all the great things about college athletics but do it in a more modernized environment. It may take a while for those things to fall into place in a way that there’s more stability, but it’s exciting to be a part of the process to shape what the future of athletics looks like. What’s your message to alumni and donors who are wondering how best to support Iowa athletics in the name, image, and likeness (NIL) era? The first thing I always want to lead with is just gratitude, because they’re supporting the Hawkeyes, and that support comes in many different ways. That can be proudly wearing a Hawkeye T-shirt across the state, buying a season ticket, or showing up at one of our events. Or it can be from a philanthropic standpoint, like making contributions to the UI Center for Advancement, which supports our operations and scholarships, or supporting the Swarm Collective from an NIL perspective. We’re just grateful that they’re willing to support our student-athletes in a way that’s meaningful to what they are passionate about. Those dollars help us ensure we’re providing a great experience to our student-athletes and serving those communities. However you have a desire and passion to give, we’re appreciative and want to meet you where you are.

It’s a state-of-the-art facility that will be one of the best in the world, if not the best in the world, and it’s going to be a wonderful experience for 70 athletes annually and the many more to come. It’s going to match the level of the tradition we have in men’s wrestling and the tradition we’re building in women’s wrestling. And those facilities and those experiences to compete at that stage just aren’t possible without the belief that these donors have in that program, so we’re grateful to the Goschkes and everyone else who made this a reality. Can you update us on other facilities projects in the works? The gymnastics and Spirit Squad facility is under construction now, and we expect that to open sometime in the new year. We have some smaller projects out at the baseball field we’re doing, we need to resurface the track, and we’ve started talking about a modernization project here in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Carver has been a wonderful facility, but it’s more than 40 years old. After 40 I think we all need a little bit of love, and so does the arena. We’re looking forward to continuing to talk about ways in which we can modernize Carver in the future, whether that’s fan amenities, premium seating, or perhaps how to get students closer to the court. That also will be a philanthropically supported project. The arena is a revenue source that supports all 20 of our programs going forward, and that’s why it’s a priority for us now. Your biggest coaching change yet came in May when Lisa Bluder retired after 24 years, and you promoted associate head coach Jan Jensen. Do you expect that to be a smooth transition? Any time you lose a legend, certainly you’re filled with both gratitude and sadness. What Coach Bluder has built here was incredibly special, culminating with back-to-back national championship game appearances that captured the imagination of not only Iowa fans, but the entire country. We are so grateful for all that she’s done and for what she’s built.

PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

Speaking of facilities, the recent opening of the Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center is a big milestone. What does that donor-funded building mean for the future of the Hawkeye men’s and women’s wrestling programs? This is a vision that’s existed for years, and certainly Coach Tom Brands (92BS) has been carrying that torch and bringing people along with him. The work that goes into a philanthropic project of this size is incredible. It’s everything we want to provide a championship program: a place where they can commit to their craft, train, study, and get their nutrition needs met.

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PHOTOS: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

We’re also incredibly grateful that she mentored

Jan Jensen. Coach Jensen checks every box that

we feel is important—making sure this success continues and making an impact on these young people. I have complete confidence that we’re going to take that attention and success and build on it. Everybody’s going to fall in love with the next group of Hawkeyes, and that includes our next head coach. How gratifying has it been to see Iowa help lead the growth of women’s basketball? Just to be here at Iowa, where [former UI women’s athletic director] Dr. Christine Grant (70BA, 74PhD) laid the foundation in women’s sports, I know how proud she would be about the role Iowa continues to play in that success. We saw an explosion in the game of women’s basketball, but we’re also seeing it across all women’s sports. For somebody in my age bracket, you’re proud that we get to have a front row seat here. We know the responsibility. We’re part of a place that helped build that, and it’s our job to steward that on and make sure it continues to grow. I’ve heard so many stories from parents and young kids about the impact that those women and that team had on them. We heard from a father, an alum, who said, “I cannot thank Lisa Bluder and her team enough for the hours they have given me with my teenage daughters who have suddenly become interested in sitting down with Dad to watch these games.”

PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

What opportunities does Big Ten expansion present for Iowa, and does that balance out the greater challenge ahead for teams to compete for conference titles? I think it’s great for our institution. It helps us expand the footprint and the brand of Iowa a little farther out west, and obviously we know we have a lot of alumni in California. Across all our sports, we’re inviting in these incredibly competitive national brands to the Big Ten, and the chance to compete against the best is what all of our athletes and coaches want. Now you’ll be one of 18 schools chasing that championship, but I think the day-in and day-out desire of our coaches is to have an opportunity to compete at that highest level. What the Big Ten stands for and what the Big Ten brand is—we have such an incredible platform for our student-athletes, and I think they’re excited. It might take us a little bit to get used to seeing the purple uniforms of the University of Washington on the field at Kinnick, but it will be an exciting new chapter for the Big Ten.

What’s your assessment of the state of the football program heading into this fall as it comes off its third 10-win season in five years?

A B OV E : Goetz shakes hands with

What Coach Kirk Ferentz has done over his career to sustain the level of success is impressive, and, coming off last year, we can build on that. We had one of the best defenses in the country, and we have almost that entire crew coming back, and we have some maturity on the offensive side of the ball. I think we have a lot of reasons for excitement here in Iowa City, and I believe the Hawkeyes are going to be competing again for the Big Ten championship and for a spot in the playoffs. What’s been your favorite moment so far as a Hawkeye? I’m no different than any other fan; the first time you get to meet [retired wrestling coach] Dan Gable, you’re like, “How cool was that?” But it’s usually the little moments when you’re walking in a hallway, and you come shoulder to shoulder with a student-athlete, and you’re asking them about their day, how their exams are going. You get to hear about how tired they are because they just got out of a workout, or they’ll say, “Guess what? This great thing just happened to me.” Those are the moments that I cherish.

Moon Family Head Football Coach Kirk Ferentz following a 2023 news conference at the UI's Hansen Football Performance Center. P. 4 0 PH OTO S (CLOCKWISE FROM

TOP): Hawkeye basketball star Caitlin Clark (right) hugs Goetz following a Sweet 16 victory against Colorado in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Hawkeye defender Samantha Cary and Goetz celebrate a 2023 soccer victory over Rutgers, and Goetz and UI President Barbara Wilson present a check at the October 2024 Crossover at Kinnick event, which raised $250,000 for the UI Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital.

Any comments? Email uimagazine@foriowa.org.

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University of Illinois

University of Maryland

Year Joined Big Ten: 1896. Distance from Iowa: 244 miles, 3.5 hours. Mascot: Illini (Kingfisher). Famous Alumni: YouTube creators Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, actor Nick Offerman, and Yelp creators Russell Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s gymnastics, 10. Academic Strengths: Engineering, information sciences and computer programming, and psychology. Tradition: Dad’s Day, a football weekend with the crowning of a King Dad.

Year Joined Big Ten: 2014. Distance from Iowa: 903 miles, 14 hours. Mascot: Terrapins (Testudo). Famous Alumni: Google co-founder Sergey Brin, puppeteer and animator Jim Henson, and journalist and TV news host Gayle King. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Women’s lacrosse, 14. Academic Strengths: Education, engineering, and business. Traditions: Flash mobs at basketball games and the unfurling of huge state of Maryland flags at football and basketball games.

Indiana University

University of Michigan

Year Joined Big Ten: 1899. Distance from Iowa: 409 miles, 6 hours. Mascot: Hoosiers. Famous Alumni: Actor Kevin Kline, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and actor and LGBTQ advocate Laverne Cox. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s soccer, eight. Academic Strengths: Business, biology, and music. Tradition: Big Jake, a cannon that fires every time Indiana scores in a home football game.

Year Joined Big Ten: 1896. Distance from Iowa: 447 miles, 7 hours. Mascot: Wolverines. Famous Alumni: NFL star Tom Brady, Olympian Michael Phelps, and actor James Earl Jones. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s swimming, 12. Academic Strengths: Engineering, medicine, and business. Tradition: Players and coaches jump to touch the “Go Blue” banner while running onto the football field.

r e g g Bi The

Te n

As the nation’s oldest athletic conference expands to 18 universities this fall, get to know the members of the new Big Ten. BY E L L E N YA N D E L

FOUNDED IN 1896 BY SEVEN M I DWE STE R N SCHOOL S , the

Big Ten Conference has seen plenty of change over the years. The University of Iowa joined what was then known as the Western Conference in 1899, and the conference didn’t gain its 10 th member until 1917. In recent decades, the Big Ten added the University of Nebraska and grew east to include Penn State University, Rutgers University, and the University of Maryland. And though membership has held steady with 14 schools for the past decade, the Big Ten is expanding yet again—this time to the west. This fall, it welcomes UCLA, the University of Southern California, the University of Oregon, and the University of Washington for competition. “The opportunity for the Big Ten to grow its brand with institutions that share our long-held values is really exciting,” says Beth Goetz, Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair at the University of Iowa. “As the landscape continues to change, it’s 42

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important to leverage our strengths across a national footprint.” The Big Ten Academic Alliance, which helps member schools pool resources and funding for research, is also looking forward to collaborating with the research powerhouses of the West Coast. “The entry of UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington into the Big Ten creates so many new possibilities for collaborative research and innovative educational programs,” says Kevin Kregel, UI executive vice president, provost, and representative on the BTAA board. “These universities bring strengths that complement our university really well. I look forward to seeing how we can develop collaborations and share knowledge with these institutions to have a greater impact on our students, our faculty, and the broader global community.” Ahead of the fall sports seasons, learn about the UI’s new neighbors and get a refresher on established rivalries with an updated guide to the country’s oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference.

Year Founded 1820

University of Iowa Year Founded 1847

Year Founded 1856

Year Founded 1817

Michigan State University Year Founded 1855

Year Joined Big Ten: 1899. Mascot: Hawkeyes (Herky). Famous Alumni: Actor Gene Wilder (55BA), author John Irving (67MFA), and WNBA star Caitlin Clark (24BBA). Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s wrestling, 24. Academic Strengths: Writing, medicine, and research. Tradition: Hawkeye Wave.

Year Joined Big Ten: 1950. Distance from Iowa: 428 miles, 6.75 hours. Mascot: Spartans (Sparty). Famous Alumni: NBA star Magic Johnson, Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, and actor James Caan. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s cross country, eight. Academic Strengths: Education and agriculture. Tradition: Football players leave pennies at the bronze Spartan statue before games.

BIG TEN GR APHIC: JIMMY LOSASSO; PHELPS PHOTO: AGÊNCIA BR ASIL FOTOGR AFIAS VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Year Founded 1867

University of Minnesota

Ohio State University Year Founded 1870

Purdue University

UCLA

Year Joined Big Ten: 1896. Distance from Iowa: 332 miles, 5 hours. Mascot: Boilermakers (Purdue Pete). Famous Alumni: Astronaut Neil Armstrong, NFL star Drew Brees, and actor George Peppard. Sports With Most NCAA Championships: Women’s basketball, men’s golf, and women’s golf; one each. Academic Strengths: Engineering and pharmacy. Tradition: The Purdue Big Bass Drum, a 10-foot drum used by the marching band that forms the center of its “P” logo formation.

Year Joined Big Ten: 2024. Distance from Iowa: 1814 miles, 26 hours. Mascot: Bruins (Joe and Josephine). Famous Alumni: Composer and conductor John Williams, actor Marilyn Monroe, and actor and governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s volleyball, 21. Academic Strengths: Theater, film and television, and dentistry. Tradition: The victory bell, which is passed back and forth to the winner of the UCLA/USC rivalry game and painted in the winning school’s colors.

Year Founded 1869

Year Founded 1881

Year Founded 1851 Year Joined Big Ten: 1896. Distance from Iowa: 302 miles, 4.5 hours. Mascot: Golden Gophers (Goldy). Famous Alumni: Actor Jessica Lange, actor Henry Fonda, and WWE star Brock Lesnar. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Women’s ice hockey, six. Academic Strengths: Education, biology, and medicine. Traditions: Ski-U-Mah victory chant, started by two rugby players inspired by a native Dakota victory yell.

University of Nebraska

Year Joined Big Ten: 1912. Distance from Iowa: 537 miles, 8 hours. Mascot: Buckeyes (Brutus). Famous Alumni: Olympian Jesse Owens, actor J. K. Simmons, and author R. L. Stine. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s swimming, 11. Academic Strengths: Computer science and engineering. Tradition: Ringing of a 2,420-pound victory bell after each football win.

University of Oregon Year Founded 1876

CARSON, OWENS, AND DRUM PHOTOS: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; SHOE PHOTO: JORDAN GELLER/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; BELL PHOTO: ERIC CHAN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; BUCK Y PHOTO: MAXWELL THOMASON/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

Year Founded 1869

Year Joined Big Ten: 2011. Distance from Iowa: 301 miles, 4.5 hours. Mascot: Huskers (Herbie). Famous Alumni: Investor Warren Buffet, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, and TV host and comedian Johnny Carson. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s gymnastics, eight. Academic Strengths: Agriculture and journalism. Tradition: The Tunnel Walk entrance for the football players on game day, through a line of fans.

Year Joined Big Ten: 2024. Distance from Iowa: 1919 miles, 29 hours. Mascot: Ducks. Famous Alumni: Nike founder Phil Knight, actor Sam Elliott, and Olympian Steve Prefontaine. Sports With Most NCAA Championships: Women’s indoor track and men’s outdoor track, seven each. Academic Strengths: Business and environmental science and sustainability. Tradition: The football team is led onto the field at home games by its mascot who rides a custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Northwestern University

Penn State University

Year Founded 1851

Year Founded 1855

Rutgers University Year Founded 1766

University of Washington Year Founded 1861

Year Joined Big Ten: 2014. Distance from Iowa: 997 miles, 15.5 hours. Mascot: Scarlet Knights (Sir Henry). Famous Alumni: Actor Sebastian Stan, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and author Toni Morrison. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Fencing, one. Academic Strengths: Graduate education, medicine, and business. Tradition: Cannon firing after Rutgers touchdowns and a long history of cannon-stealing and painting between Rutgers and rival Princeton.

University of Southern California

Year Joined Big Ten: 2024. Distance from Iowa: 1855 miles, 28 hours. Mascot: Huskies (Harry the Husky and Dubs II). Famous Alumni: Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, actor Rainn Wilson, and actor Anna Faris. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Rowing, five. Academic Strengths: Medicine and engineering. Tradition: Football fans “sail-gate”—tailgate in boats— on Lake Washington before games.

University of Wisconsin Year Founded 1848

Year Founded 1880 Year Joined Big Ten: 1896. Distance from Iowa: 231 miles, 4 hours. Mascot: Wildcats (Willie). Famous Alumni: Actor David Schwimmer, author George R. R. Martin, and comedian and late-night host Stephen Colbert. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Women’s lacrosse, eight. Academic Strengths: Engineering, journalism, and medicine. Tradition: The Wildcat Dash, where freshman students lead the football team onto the field in the home opener.

Year Joined Big Ten: 1990. Distance from Iowa: 775 miles, 12 hours. Mascot: Nittany Lions. Famous Alumni: Film star Gene Kelly, actor Ty Burrell, and comedian and producer Keegan-Michael Key. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Fencing, 13. Academic Strengths: Engineering and business. Tradition: Nittanyville, a weeklong tent village tailgate before home games that includes games, pep rallies, and chants.

Year Joined Big Ten: 2024. Distance from Iowa: 1803 miles, 27 hours. Mascot: Trojans (Traveler). Famous Alumni: Filmmaker George Lucas, actor and singer Miranda Cosgrove, and actor Zac Efron. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Men’s outdoor track, 26. Academic Strengths: Journalism and cinema. Tradition: Traveler, a live white horse mascot who gallops around the stadium during home football games.

Year Joined Big Ten: 1896. Distance from Iowa: 175 miles, 3 hours. Mascot: Badgers (Bucky). Famous Alumni: Vice President Dick Cheney, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and NFL star Russell Wilson. Sport With Most NCAA Championships: Women’s ice hockey, seven. Academic Strengths: Engineering and medicine. Tradition: Fans jump in the stands to “Jump Around” by House of Pain at the end of the third quarter of football games.

Iowa Writers

44 L I T E R A R Y J O U R N A L I S M L E G E N D 45 B O O K S H E L F P I C K S 46 J O U R N E Y O F C O M P A S S I O N

AU T HOR Q & A

Rough Sleepers Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People by Tracy Kidder (74MFA) Random House, 320 pp.

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Iowa Writers

Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Tracy Kidder (74MFA) spent five years following physician Jim O’Connell around the streets of Boston as he provided medical care for people experiencing homelessness. The resulting book, Rough Sleepers, was released last year and became a New York Times bestseller. Described by The Baltimore Sun as “a master of the nonfiction narrative,” Kidder returns to his alma mater Oct. 15 for a Literary Legends lecture in conjunction with the Iowa City Book Festival. The Vietnam veteran is the author of several books, including The Soul of the New Machine, about the then-inchoate computer industry, which won the 1982 National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize. Iowa Magazine recently met Kidder at his elegant, antique-filled home in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, for an interview, which has been edited for length and clarity. You seem to have impeccable timing in releasing the right book at the right time. The Soul of the New Machine came out just when people became aware that computers would play a part in their lives. House released when the Baby Boomers were buying their first homes. Among Schoolchildren came out when they were putting their kids in schools. Was that strategic or serendipitous?

I just got crazy lucky. I’d just done a big article about Vietnam combat veterans. I remember saying to [my Atlantic Monthly editor Dick] Todd, “What do I do next?” He said, “Why don’t you look into computers?” I didn’t realize that it was timely, to be honest. I was interested in House because I’d just bought this place, and it was falling down. Among Schoolchildren was the idea of Susan Todd, Dick’s wife. She was an elementary school teacher who later became a principal.

offender staying up all night to protect the women sleeping under bridges.

I wanted to give the illusion of a whole panel of patients, but you can’t write about a hundred people and be able to tell them apart. I had to have one central character. I got awfully fond of that guy. Here’s this guy who was just desperate to find some purpose in his life. As diverse as Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumni are, they all share the belief that books matter. Sometimes it seems like the writer who hopes his books will make a difference also faces a monumental task. Do you hope your books will make people more aware, caring, and compassionate?

It’s nice to think that. I’ve got to say though, somewhere along the line, I lost faith that it would make a difference. I wrote a few things for The New York Times about Haiti that you hope might move the needle in some way or other, but more and more, I don’t try to do a good deed. I’ve just been learning about people who are doing good deeds.

PHOTO: BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY IMAGES

The main “rough sleeper” in your book, Tony Colombo, is utterly compelling: the substance-abusing former sex

Ghost Mother by Kelly Dwyer (90MFA) Union Square & Co. A woman convinces her husband to buy her dream mansion—only to begin experiencing ghostly visions when she finds out the house may be haunted.

Maybe making these problems visible is enough.

We ought to know these things are going on. It’s easy to ignore. We have this sleight of mind when you can just not see people anymore. We’ve got to live our lives. You can’t stop and worry over every homeless person. But you can recognize that they’re human beings.

The Wonderful Wishes of B. by Katherin Nolte (03MFA) Random House Books for Young Readers Suffering from grief, 10-year-old Beatrice tries to alleviate her pain by transforming into a Tin Man with an impenetrable heart. This children’s story about handling difficult emotions is geared toward ages 8-12.

You write about heroes whose missions are equal parts herculean, quixotic, and Sisyphean. They are sympathetic heroes, because they are fighting battles they can’t win. Paul Farmer in Mountains Beyond Mountains can’t defeat poverty in Haiti. O’Connell can’t win his battle against homelessness. Is it hard to write about heroes?

I don’t think the Paul Farmer book was hagiography. He’s a complicated guy, but it was incredible what he’d done in the world and the challenge that he represented. It upset me, the stuff we saw. It was ’94, so the U.S. invasion of Haiti had just happened. You’d see women giving birth by the sides of dirt roads. Things that hadn’t ever gotten deep into my consciousness, and here was a guy who said, “Okay, I’m gonna do something about it.” Jim O’Connell was amazing as a subject. He just decided he was going to trust me, and he made it possible for me to have as much access as I could possibly have.

BOOKSHELF PICKS

Author Tracy Kidder, right, poses for a portrait with physician Jim O'Connell, who founded Boston Health Care for the Homeless. BY PE TE NELSON

Literary Legends: Tracy Kidder 7:30 p.m., Oct. 15 Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge Hear Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate and Pulitzer Prize-winning literary journalist Tracy Kidder (74MFA) speak as part of the Iowa City Book Festival.

The Rich People Have Gone Away by Regina Porter (17MFA) Hogarth Set during the 2020 lockdown, this novel follows a diverse group of New Yorkers who come together in search of a pregnant woman who went missing after an argument with her husband.

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Iowa Writers

P ER S ON A L E S S AY

The Well An Iowa medical student reflects on how his experience with cancer has shaped his approach to patient care. BY WILLIA M MOODY

I could feel it seeping from my marrow and coagulating in my chest. The feeling rose like hot air. It became something more solid and intractable before the words burst out like an overfilled balloon. “I had cancer too. I know what you’re going through, and I am so sorry,” I said. The pressure dissipated, and I searched the patient’s face for a sign of recognition. A sign that they knew I was not another provider who nodded like they understood. Instead, a blank stare met me. A stare that said, “I am tired, and I have been tired for a long time.” I looked down, my cheeks reddening as the words I had spoken circled in my head. I thanked the patient for allowing me to see them. I gathered my notes and quietly shut the door as if that could somehow make up for the silence I had filled with my ignorance. I had often visualized my first encounter with an oncology patient while I was going through chemotherapy. In my mind, we would build a rich and fulfilling interaction from a foundation of shared human experience. I had seen what I thought would be a beautiful moment of bonding between patient and caregiver. I imagined what it would be like when I was no longer the patient. I would no longer be the one afraid and unsure of the future. As a medical student with little experience in patient care, I built up that moment until it became something it could never be. Standing outside the room, left with a feeling of uncertainty, I wondered if I would ever be able to enter a patient’s room without the sense there was something I needed to say. Carver College of Medicine student William Moody wears his white coat outside of Hancher Auditorium.

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PHOTO COURTESY WILLIAM MOODY; JOURNAL COVER COURTESY THE EXAMINED LIFE JOURNAL

Iowa Writers

As I walked home, my mind wandered. I was brought back to a different room from some years ago that seemed too small to contain all the hopes of the men and women who passed through its door. I was seated in an exam room at my oncologist’s office. My hands nervously rubbed my legs while my palms soaked my pants with sweat. I had Hodgkin lymphoma. The disease had survived the initial onslaught of chemicals designed to eradicate every aberrant cell inside me. At first, the cocktail had worked beautifully. A PET scan after four rounds of chemotherapy treatments showed that my cancer had retreated. My doctors told me I had more than a nine in 10 chance of being cured. I thought the additional eight grueling rounds I completed all but guaranteed success. Little did I realize that a small group of rebellious cells was biding its time. My care was shifted to a more specialized facility, and I began salvage treatment. I always hated the term. The word seemed to indicate that my body was beyond repair and that I would be lucky if the scraps could be turned into something useful. My new oncologist was young and confident. She imbued in me her belief that, although my road ahead was difficult, it was nothing we could not handle. I began salvage therapy with a newfound resolve. However, the treatment carried only half the odds of success that the frontline therapy had promised. Seated in that room for my follow-up appointment, my life hung in the balance. A resident I did not know entered and sat down facing the computer. He barely looked at me. He pulled up the scan I had thought about nonstop for the previous two months. I asked unsteadily if my cancer was gone, releasing my hopes and dreams, the same as many others had before me, like tossing a coin down a well. “No,” he replied flatly. His response was startlingly flippant, as though he thought I was naive for believing I could be free from cancer. He continued to speak, but I did not hear a word. He left the room, and my doctor entered. With a somber yet understanding look on her face, she told me about a newly approved medication. Although they were uncertain what the results would be, one thing was clear: My chances had steeply plummeted. “How long can you keep me alive?” I asked. My eyes welled with tears as she responded, “I had cancer too. I know what you’re going through, and I am so sorry.” Her words let in a light where I had only seen darkness. In front of me was everything I wanted to become: a cancer survivor, a physician, and a person who deeply connected with those they

In front of me was everything I wanted to become: a cancer survivor, a physician, and a person who deeply connected with those they encountered.

encountered. Her disclosure moved me. The raw compassion was starkly juxtaposed with the distant behavior of the resident, and I knew I would strive to emulate her if I was ever able to become a doctor. I only saw her one more time, the day she told me I was cancer-free. A few months after my encounter with the oncology patient, I began my neurology rotation. We had been warned that there was more morbidity and mortality on the service than many others. In the intervening months since I had seen the patient who sent me looking for an uncomfortable truth, I had grappled with how I wanted to respond to the next patient I would see. I did not have long before I was put to the test. A pager cut the silence in the team room. We were tasked with providing a prognosis for a patient. Her heart had stopped for many minutes before being resuscitated. I knocked on the door of an ICU room and entered to three sets of eyes that threatened to pierce my veneer of calmness. After introducing myself, I began the physical exam. It was a choreographed yet desperate search for life. I shined my penlight into her eyes, trying to touch a soul attached to this Earth by a thread. I desperately wanted to convince myself there was a faint flicker of reaction. Instead, I wrote down “pupils bilaterally unreactive to light.” I moved through the rest of the exam. Each negative sign dealt a hammer blow to the dwindling hope on her daughter’s face. I turned to the family to ask if there was anything I could do to make them more comfortable, which they

politely refused. I met each of their eyes, thanked them, and walked to the door. I felt a slight tug deep in my chest, but at that moment, I realized there was nothing more to say. Later that day, I made the same journey home from the hospital I had all those months ago. As I reflected on the tragedy I had witnessed, I knew that I would never fully move on from my experiences as a cancer patient. However, with time, confidence would replace the uncertainty I felt. The truth I found following my initial encounter with the oncology patient was that there was no grandiosity in acceptance or a patient interaction so profound it justified my struggle. Acceptance was the quiet moment shared with a grieving family. It came softly on a walk in the fading hours of the day, not in a frantic moment of disclosure that was for no one’s benefit but my own. I used to feel the reason I was worthy to serve others was because I had overcome so much and that my patients would be able to benefit from my suffering. The trouble with that story was it left no room to let go. We are the stories that we tell, and sometimes, the most powerful are those that go untold.

William Moody is a third-year medical student at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. His essay, “The Well,” placed second in the college’s Carol A. Bowman Creative Writing Contest, a competition established by Richard Caplan (51MA, 55MD) and sponsored by the college’s writing and humanities program. As a result, the piece was originally published in volume 12 of The Examined Life Journal, an annual literary publication of the Carver College of Medicine that explores the confluence of medicine and art. The journal can be purchased this fall online at theexaminedlifejournal.com or at Prairie Lights or Sidekick Coffee & Books in Iowa City.

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50 D I S T I N G U I S H E D A L U M N I 52 H A W K E Y E ’ S S O N R E M E M B E R E D 56 L N A C C C E L E B R A T E S 5 0 Y E A R S

Training Wheels

Before RAGBRAI bicyclists began their weeklong ride across Iowa this past summer, the University of Iowa College of Nursing’s Simulation in Motion-Iowa (SIM-IA) mobile vehicles visited the eight overnight stops to offer training to first responders. From Glenwood to Burlington, health care providers participated in clinical simulations to prepare them for potential emergencies such as bike crashes, heat strokes, and seizures. Forty percent of Iowa’s 3 million people live in rural areas, so the SIM-IA team delivers year-round continuing education onsite to emergency medical services and small hospitals that serve this population.

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Former educator and Iowa legislator Mary Seelman Mascher is one of eight Hawkeyes who will be honored with a UI Distinguished Alumni Award during Iowa homecoming week this fall.

SERVICE

Mary Seelman Mascher (75BA, 82MA)

Iowa Excellence Meet the high-achieving Hawkeyes set to receive the UI’s top honor for alumni and friends. This fall, the University of Iowa will present its highest alumni honor to eight exemplary Hawkeyes. From musicians to physicians to educators, the recipients of this year’s Distinguished Alumni Awards have risen to the top of their professions while giving back to their communities and alma mater. FRIEND OF THE UNIVERSITY

Michael V. Michener

Michener has had an extraordinary career in foreign relations and global food security. The Iowa native generously shares his extensive knowledge and unwavering support with the UI community. In 1983, Michener transferred to Iowa but withdrew to join the U.S. Army, where he served 17 years and received multiple military commendations. Thus began a 35-year career advising on democracy, agriculture, and foreign policy in the U.S., Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Ukraine. Michener has worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of State, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and numerous public and private sector organizations on human rights, agriculture, economic growth, and biotechnology. On campus, the UI Department of Political Science has welcomed Michener as a guest lecturer. He has mentored students and is working with the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to establish a multidisciplinary center within the college.

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FALL 2024

HICKERSON

James A. "Jim" Wiese (58BBA)

Wiese has exemplified a “can-do” work ethic throughout a lifetime of service and leadership with the university. Wiese enjoyed a 34-year career with Arthur Andersen & Co. in Chicago and Cleveland, where he worked as an audit partner specializing in the manufacturing industry. He recruited Iowa accounting graduates, served on the Henry B. Tippie College of Business’ Professional Accounting Council, and joined the UI Alumni Association Board of Directors. Wiese guided professional accounting organizations as well as nonprofits that support youth, disability services, and mental health. When Wiese retired in 1992, he and his wife, Nancy Baker Wiese (58BA), returned to Iowa City, where he joined the steering committee for what is now known as the Pappajohn Business Building. The Wieses are the parents of four UI graduates, and they have supported Hancher, the Tippie College of Business, and Hawkeye Athletics for many years.

MASCHER PHOTO: JOHN EMIGH

DIS T INGUIS HED A L UMNI AWA RD S

Throughout the past four decades as an educator and Iowa legislator, Mascher has aspired to make her community and state a better place. Mascher graduated from the UI College of Education and taught in the Iowa City Community School District for 33 years. She influenced the lives of thousands of students and families as a teacher and counselor before retiring from teaching in 2009. Midway through her career as an elementary educator, Mascher decided to run for office. In 1994, she was elected to represent Iowa House District 46, a position she retained until 2023. Mascher was a compassionate advocate for education, mental health, youth, and families. Mascher has been recognized as an outstanding legislator by diverse organizations, including the Girl Scouts of Mississippi Valley, Heritage Area Agency of Aging, and the Iowa Counseling Association. Mascher has volunteered for the Iowa City Education Association, community theater, local parks commissions, and other causes.

For Iowa

“FOREVERMORE” STAFF

Former Hawkeye Marching Band director and 2024

John A. Kundel (69BA, 74MA)

UI Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Morgan Jones (center) greets fans at Kinnick Stadium

With a career that began and ended at the UI, Kundel has acted with a spirit of service in everything he does. After completing a bachelor’s degree and U.S. Army deployment to Vietnam, Kundel returned to Iowa City to work in the UI Office of Student Financial Aid while pursuing a master’s degree. In 1984, he departed Iowa and rose through the ranks of financial aid, admissions, and enrollment departments at three other Midwestern universities. After retiring from the University of Missouri as associate vice provost for student affairs and enrollment management, Kundel volunteered for the UI as an admissions representative. In this role, he attended college fairs to help St. Louisarea students see the value in an Iowa education. From 2016–24, he worked part time as a regional admissions counselor for Iowa. Kundel received a Combat Infantryman Badge and an Army Commendation Medal with “V” device for valor for his active duty in Vietnam. He continued serving 20 years in the Army Reserve, including roles as a battalion commander and assistant professor of military science at Western Michigan University. FACULTY

JONES PHOTO: ALEX BUSH

Morgan Jones (60BM, 61MA)

Jones, associate director of bands and director of the Hawkeye Marching Band from 1973–90, encouraged leadership and musicianship in thousands of students. Jones played trumpet in the Hawkeye Marching Band at the Rose Bowl in 1957 and 1959 and was an Iowa graduate teaching assistant in 1960 and 1961. He taught high school band before returning to the UI to direct. He grew the Hawkeye Marching Band and added graduate assistants. Jones was at the helm when women were integrated into the band, and he selected the first Black drum major. Jones’ u ncomprom ising sta nda rds for musicianship and precision marching culminated in the Hawkeye Marching Band receiving the prestigious 1990 Sudler Trophy from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. From 1988–2018, Jones founded and led the Iowa Ambassadors of Music, which provides opportunities for high school music students and directors to perform across Europe. Jones also entertained audiences as conductor of the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band from 1994–2010.

during the 2023 Iowa homecoming game.

FACULTY

John J. Callaghan (83R)

Callaghan is a leading expert in hip and knee surgery at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine with hundreds of research and grant credits. Driven by a continual pursuit of knowledge, Callaghan dedicated himself as a faculty member, volunteer, and role model to make a positive global impact in his field. Callaghan completed his residency at Iowa in 1983, before practicing as a surgeon and educator at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He returned to Iowa City in 1990, serving as a faculty member in the UI Departments of Orthopedics and Biomedical Engineering. The educator and researcher mentored many orthopedic medicine specialists while providing surgical care at the university and the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In 2002, Callaghan was named the UI Department of Orthopedics’ Lawrence and Marilyn Dorr Chair of Hip Surgery & Research. ACHIEVEMENT

Kathryn M. Edwards (73MD)

Edwards is a world-renowned physician, teacher, mentor, and researcher who has made significant contributions to life-saving advances in vaccines. Throughout her career, she has designed and executed clinical trials and educated others on their conduct to ensure the safety and efficacy of vaccines for influenza, pertussis, pneumococcus, and many other pathogens.

Since 1980, Edwards has delivered care to children with infectious diseases and has conducted vaccine research at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She became the Sarah H. Sell and Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Pediatrics in 2008, and her prolific research has resulted in hundreds of publications and numerous NIH- and CDCfunded initiatives. As a vaccinologist, Edwards has counseled the World Health Organization and national governmental agencies while participating on advisory committees, including the American Board of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Disease. She also reviewed research for 15 major medical journals. In 2008, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. RECENT GRADUATE

Jon Lensing (20MD)

Lensing co-founded OpenLoop in 2019, when he was a medical student at Iowa. As CEO of the telehealth company, he has grown the company nationwide with the vision to bring healing anywhere. Lensing was planning to become a plastic surgeon when he and Christian Williams , OpenLoop’s chief operating officer and co-founder, saw a need for improved telehealth access and launched their startup. During the pandemic, OpenLoop evolved to deliver connected and seamless clinical support to virtual care companies, growing to more than 180 employees in five years. Lensing was named the 2022 UI Young Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year and listed on the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30. OpenLoop has received millions in funding and many awards, including the Technology Association of Iowa’s 2022 Prometheus Award for Software Development Company of the Year.

2024 Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Oct. 25 WHERE: Voxman Music Building concert hall REGISTER: Visit foriowa.org/daa

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For Iowa

Photos show Easton DeVries (center) with his family and friends. CHIL DREN’ S HO S P I TA L

‘In the Front Row of Life’ One of Jared (98BA) and Jamie DeVries ’ favorite stories about their son Easton is from the day he moved into Burge Residence Hall. It was August 2022, and Easton was following in his father’s footsteps as a student at the University of Iowa. Easton seemed a bit wary about the move, but it didn’t take him long to acclimate to Iowa City. “Mom, this is awesome,” Jamie remembers him saying when he called a couple hours later. “We all have our doors open and we’re just all roommates. We can go wherever we want, and we’re playing poker and video games.” When the DeVrieses returned to Iowa City for the first Hawkeye football game that fall, Easton brought a big group of new friends to their tailgate. “He was in heaven,” Jamie says of her son’s time at Iowa. That eagerness to embrace new experiences was hardly a surprise to anyone who knew Easton. Outgoing and warm-hearted, Easton was described by family as “always in the front row of life.” He made the most of his year as an Iowa student— and his 19 years with loved ones—before he died in July 2023 from complications of a congenital heart condition. The DeVries family recently made a $100,000 gift in memory of Easton to the UI Health Care

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FALL 2024

Stead Family Children’s Hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit. The PICU holds a special place in the hearts of the family after Easton spent his final six weeks bonding with doctors, nurses, and other families there. “You become very close to many of those individuals, especially when they’re dealing with some tough situations and making tough decisions,” says Jared. “We were all leaning on each other.” Easton and his older brother, Jaylen, were born in Detroit, where their father played professional football for the Lions. The family moved back to Iowa in 2010 after Jared retired from the NFL, and they settled in Clear Lake, where Jared coached high school football. Easton faced challenges from the start. He was born with a double outlet in his heart but no mitral valve, which required three surgeries before he turned 2. Despite these limitations, Easton was an avid golfer who qualified for the state tournament in high school, and he taught children at the local sailing school. When Easton was hospitalized in Iowa City in 2023, the summer after his freshman year of college, Clear Lake rallied around the DeVries family. Neighbors flew flags with the letter E on their boat docks, wore bracelets and sweatshirts with his name, and gathered for a community prayer at the high school’s football field.

Though Easton’s health deteriorated before he could be added to the heart transplant list, he served as an organ donor through the Iowa Lions Eye Bank. Hundreds turned out for his memorial service at Clear Lake’s Surf Ballroom, where two sails flanked his portrait. Kinnick Stadium has always been an important place for the DeVries family, but game days have now become particularly meaningful for Jared and Jamie. Last fall, Jamie became so overcome with emotion during each Hawkeye Wave—knowing what life is like for families at Stead Family Children’s Hospital—that she had to leave to watch the rest of the games in the RV. At the same time, Iowa City brings back memories they never want to forget. The time Easton showed up to the tailgate wearing a banana costume, getting big laughs from his family and friends, for instance. Or the day in the hospital that his brother and girlfriend snuck him in chicken strips from Graze, his favorite restaurant. “He touched a lot of lives, which, to me, speaks to the type of person he was and the spirit he had,” says Jared. “He lived life to the fullest.” BY JOSH O’LE ARY

PHOTOS COURTESY DEVRIES FAMILY

Easton DeVries approached each day with joy. Today, his family supports Stead Family Children’s Hospital to honor his shining spirit.

For Iowa

Lou Crist, the voice of the Hawkeye Marching Band, smiles as he announces one of the band’s pregame performances last season at the Recreation Building.

H AW K E Y E S GI V E B ACK

Banding Together

PHOTO: JOHN EMIGH

Lou and Jan Crist establish a fund in support of the Hawkeye Marching Band. The Hawkeye Marching Band has more than doubled in size since Lou Crist capped off his first season in the ensemble with an appearance in the 1959 Rose Bowl. But 65 years later, some things haven’t changed—including the Crist family’s ongoing loyalty to the band. Once a student baritone player, Crist (60BA, 81MA) now serves as the Golden Voice of the Hawkeye Marching Band. Crist has been announcing from the Kinnick Stadium press box since the 1981 season, letting fans know when “it’s time to get ready for the BOOM!” “I’ve done the announcing since then and just enjoyed it immensely,” says Crist, who received a 2023 UI Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his service. “I like to kiddingly say that the directors are going to give me a try until I get it right.” Crist’s wife, Jan Olson Crist (61BSN, 77MA), also used to accompany the band as its nurse. Throughout their many years traveling with the ensemble, the Crists have grown to cherish the relationships they have formed through the band.

“The band members are the most creative people, the nicest people you would ever want to be around,” says Jan. “We have always had a very good time with them.” The couple recently established the Lou Crist Legacy Fund in honor of the Crist family, including Lou’s brother Lyndon Crist (66BM, 90MA), who also played in the Hawkeye Marching Band and died two years ago. The Crists created the fund to support the Hawkeye Marching Band in any of its needs. They have also made donations to enrich the UI School of Music’s Rita Benton Music Library. After 43 years supporting the band, the Crists’ love for the Hawkeyes keeps them going. “It’s not a chore to do this,” says Jan. “It’s something that we’ve enjoyed.” Adds Lou: “Having a chance over these years to be a part of the marching band has just been one of the finest experiences that I’ve ever had.”

Video Extra Watch past UI

Distinguished Alumni Award honoree Lou Crist share stories from more than four decades as the voice of the Hawkeye Marching Band. foriowa.info/ IM-LouCrist-24

BY V I V I A N WA N G

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HAWKEYE HERITAGE

The Harper-Eichacker family receives the University of Iowa Family Spirit Award this month during Family Weekend in recognition of five generations of service to their communities and alma mater. For more on the family, whose members include Iowa civil rights advocates and university volunteer leaders, visit foriowa.org/family-spirit.

HAWK HANGOUTS

Meet local Hawkeyes or connect with those around the world who share common interests and experiences by joining an Iowa alumni network. Visit foriowa.org/ networks to learn more about Iowa Clubs, I-Clubs, and alumni communities.

A GRAND TIME

Grandparents and their grandchildren visited the UI campus this past summer to learn about everything from artificial intelligence to playground physics. For photos and more on the annual Grandparents University® event, visit foriowa.org/grandparentsu.

BAND REUNION

The Alumni Band honors former Hawkeye Marching Band director Kevin Kastens during its homecoming reunion Oct. 24-26, which includes a reception and performances at the parade and Iowa football game. For more information, visit foriowa.info/IMBandReunion-24.

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FALL 2024

IOWA W RI T ER S’ WORK S HOP

A Legacy in Literature The UI administers a prize for literary criticism, along with fellowships and scholarships, thanks to influential author Truman Capote, who would have turned 100 this fall. As the book world remembers Truman Capote on what would have been his 100th birthday Sept. 30, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop remains an important steward of his legacy through a partnership with the Truman Capote Literary Trust. A novelist, short story writer, and playwright, Capote rose to fame with his 1948 book Other Voices, Other Rooms and his 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, then ushered in the New Journalism movement with the 1965 bestseller In Cold Blood. Capote has remained a captivating cultural icon ever since. His life has been the subject of film and television, and his books remain an essential part of the American literary canon. Before Capote’s death in 1984, the acclaimed author took steps to ensure that even when he was gone, his influence in literature would continue. Capote included a provision in his will to support new generations of writers and establish an annual award for literary criticism. In 1994, following the death of Capote’s longtime partner Jack Dunphy, Capote’s estate established a literary trust to manage the rights and royalties from his books. Alan Schwartz, the executor of Capote’s will, knew former Iowa Writers’ Workshop director Frank Conroy and the UI’s reputation as the best school for creative writing in the U.S. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop became home to what Capote had envisioned as the Pulitzer Prize of literary criticism. Today, the $30,000 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin—selected by a panel of judges and presented annually in a ceremony in Iowa City—is the largest prize of its kind for English-language literary criticism. The award honors Arvin, a book critic and close friend of Capote. Additionally, each year the UI selects six recipients of a Capote fellowship in creative writing and awards a Capote scholarship in honor of Frank Conroy. Recent Capote fellows and scholars include celebrated authors like Justin Torres (10MFA), Kiley Reid (19MFA), Jamil Jan Kochai (19MFA), Jamel Brinkley (15MFA), and Maria Kuznetsova (17MFA). Over the past three decades, the Capote Trust has provided the Iowa Writers’ Workshop with $4.3 million to fund the prize, fellowships, and scholarships.

Nationally, the trust has granted universities a combined $12.5 million to support creative writing students. Novelist Maggie Shipstead (08MFA) came to Iowa as a Capote fellow in 2006-07 after studying as an undergraduate at Harvard under current Iowa Writers’ Workshop director Lan Samantha Chang (93MFA). Shipstead calls her fellowship “an amazing gift” because it provided her with the resources—and confidence—to fully focus on her writing.

Truman Capote at the 1968 premiere of the film In Cold Blood

“I felt so honored and encouraged to be given that fellowship—and to be given that extra time that came with it,” says Shipstead, the author of four books, including the 2021 Booker Prize finalist Great Circle. “It felt like a green light or a positive sign that I really needed at that time.” Joel Worford, who is entering his second year in the workshop this fall, says his Capote fellowship has been “creatively life-changing.” Worford this past year has written more than 40,000 words of what he hopes will become his first short-story collection. “The support has given me room to experiment and be free in my work,” says the Richmond, Virginia, native. “I’m doing much better work here by being able to follow what interests me in a place that says, ‘We value what you do, and we’ll give you the financial support to do it.’” BY JOSH O’LE ARY

PHOTO: ERIC KOCH/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

BRIEFS

For Iowa

AT L E F T: Abby Fowler poses in front of the Five-Storied

Pagoda in Senso-ji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo. A B OV E : The recent Iowa graduate prepares for her internship at Tokyo Broadcasting System.

T OGE T HER H AW K E Y E S

Time in Tokyo

PHOTOS COURTESY ABBY FOWLER

A media executive creates an internship in Japan for Iowa students and recent graduates. A couple months after graduating from Iowa with an Asian studies degree, Grier Patterson (85BA) moved to Tokyo without a job. The Iowa City native wanted to experience Japan firsthand to advance his education. Patterson enrolled in a couple Japanese language programs, made money teaching English, and became enthralled with the culture during his two-and-a-half-year stay. He’s continued studying Japanese ever since and built a successful career at Tokyo Broadcasting System, one of Japan’s leading broadcasting and media companies that’s created the hit shows America’s Funniest Home Videos and American Ninja Warrior.

Grier Patterson, vice president of Tokyo Broadcasting System International

This past summer, TBS awarded a new six-week internship to Abby Fowler (24BA) with TBS’ global business division in Tokyo. Patterson, the vice president at TBS International in New York, partnered with Iowa professors Yumiko Nishi and Kendall Heitzman in the Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures to create the annual internship that is open to a deserving UI student or new graduate. “You can study forever in a classroom, but you need to go somewhere and do it firsthand to see if it’s something you really want to commit to,” says Patterson, who’s primarily worked in the sport and entertainment business throughout his TBS career. Fowler arrived in Tokyo in late May, after earning UI bachelor’s degrees in international studies and Japanese language and literature. As part of the internship, she worked at the TBS Broadcast Center in coordination with TBS’ New York office. Fowler helped the global business division increase exposure for TBS content and create new content and business opportunities through collaborations with international partners. “I’m so thankful for the Japanese faculty [at Iowa] and for TBS and Mr. Patterson for creating this amazing opportunity,” says Fowler, who’s also heard Patterson speak to students on campus about his professional experiences. The internship marked a return to Japan for Fowler, who studied Japanese language and literature at Okayama University in Japan in summer 2023 through the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship. Fowler, who has accepted a tentative offer to work for the Department of State in Washington, D.C., was chosen from a competitive group of applicants for the TBS internship. “Her background, language abilities, and interests seem to fit really well for this first year of the internship,” says Patterson. “We need more talented American students that have studied Japanese, and that need is continuing to grow.” BY T YLER STR AND

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For Iowa

Joy Harjo

Juan Felipe Herrera

Some of the people you’ve interviewed haven’t been at the UI in five decades. How did they respond when you contacted them?

Brenda Child

A L UMNI COMMUNI T IE S

Cultural Connections Alumni share stories to celebrate the golden anniversary of the Latino Native American Cultural Center. When María Leonor Márquez Ponce began connecting with alumni of the University of Iowa’s Latino Native American Cultural Center (LNACC), she felt she’d found her people—even though most of them were decades older than her. “I could see their thirst for education,” she says. “Their stories gave me hope to not give up. I can finish my education and help my community.” Márquez Ponce (18BA, 20MA) grew up in a mountainous village in rural Mexico where she attended a one-room school. Against many odds, she’s now a PhD candidate writing a dissertation about Latinos’ paths to higher education. The topic has been strongly influenced by the 65 interviews she’s done with LNACC alumni for the UI Libraries Special Collections and Archives. As alumni celebrate 50-plus years of the LNACC this month at a reunion held in collaboration with the Latino and Native American Alumni Alliance (LaNA3), Márquez Ponce shares the powerful experience of connecting with this special group.

IOWA MAGAZINE

FALL 2024

María Leonor Márquez Ponce

What stands out to you about the earliest LNACC alumni you’ve interviewed? When they began, there were a handful of Chicanos and Native Americans on campus—most from outside Iowa. There’s been a Mexican community in Iowa since the late 1800s, so these first students wondered, “Where is everyone?” They got funding to travel to Iowa high schools and talk to Chicano and Native American students about why college was important. It’s amazing how active they were. They went to Muscatine to work with migrant workers. They founded a preschool in West Liberty. They protested and led hunger strikes. None of this was part of their regular classes. In fact, because there were no classes about their literature or history they created study groups. You’re on the planning committee for the LaNA3 and LNACC reunion. What are you looking forward to? We’re bringing in some amazing alumni, including Ojibwe historian Brenda Child (83MA, 93PhD) and writers Sandra Cisneros (78MFA), Joy Harjo (78MFA), and Juan Felipe Herrera (90MFA). I hope it will be a chance for earlier generations to reconnect and see the impact of what they did. It’s also important for current Latino and Native American students to know who came before us on campus. This history isn’t visible, and yet they fought for us to be here. I want to be sure their work doesn’t get taken for granted. BY JENNIFER NE W

LaNA3 and LNACC Reunion Sept. 27-29 in Iowa City foriowa.info/IM-LANA3-24

MÁRQUEZ PONCE PHOTO: UI OFFICE OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION; ALUMNI PHOTOS COURTESY LANA3 AND LNACC

Sandra Cisneros

“What took so long?” They knew that what they’d done in the early ’70s was historic, but it took 50 years for someone to reach out and ask them about their experience. Many of them were very excited and wanted to tell me their story immediately, before I could even begin recording. It was emotional for many of them—and for me. There have been a lot of tears.

A lways a Hawkeye

58 T O N Y W I N N E R 60 P U L I T Z E R P I C K S 61 W U Z Z L E S F A R E W E L L

ROOMMATE DRAMA Actors Mia Farrow (left) and Patti LuPone make their grand return to Broadway this fall to star in The Roommate, a dark comedy written by Iowa Playwrights Workshop alum Jen Silverman (11MFA). “They are both legends, but most importantly, they’re real artists,” says Silverman about the play’s leads. “My admiration and gratitude have only been compounded as we’ve started getting to work together.”

PHOTO: BRIGITTE LACOMBE

Set in Iowa City, The Roommate follows two women whose life circumstances bring them together in a desire to reinvent themselves. Silverman, who is also a prolific novelist and screenwriter, says at the heart of the play is the question: “Who says you can’t upend and remake your life at any age?”

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A lways a Hawkeye

David Adjmi's Stereophonic won the 2024 Tony Award for best play, plus awards for best featured actor, best direction, best scenic design, and best sound design of a play.

P ROF IL E

D AV ID A DJMI

From Struggling Artist to Tony Triumph Long before his Broadway show Stereophonic became the most-nominated play in Tony Award history, ultimately winning 2024’s best play and four other categories, David Adjmi arrived at the University of Iowa questioning his prospects as a writer and artist. It was during a tumultuous time in 1998 that Adjmi left New York for a studio apartment on Iowa City’s Linn Street. He’d broken up with his first boyfriend and was no longer on speaking terms with his father. Writing was a struggle. But over the next three years in the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Adjmi found his voice. His rise since, while marked by profound setbacks, has been cinematic. So is his next project: turning Stereophonic, which chronicles the recording sessions of a mid1970s rock band on the brink of stardom, into a Hollywood script.

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FALL 2024

David Adjmi

“I would not be the writer I am without Iowa,” says Adjmi. “That’s where I started to embrace my own voice.” Adjmi, who grew up in Brooklyn’s Sephardic Syrian Jewish community, had known he wanted to be a playwright since seeing Six Degrees of Separation at Lincoln Center Theater as a student at Sarah Lawrence College. Despite some initial fears about moving to the Midwest from a cultural hub, he found Iowa soothing—the perfect place to experiment and build confidence. “It’s a very artistically minded program,” he says. “They’re asking, ‘What does it mean to be an artist? How do you craft a play?’ And I didn’t always think about those things before I came to Iowa.” Theatre arts faculty, including Art Borreca and Dare Clubb and visiting instructor Naomi Iizuka, supported Adjmi’s explorations.

ADJMI PHOTO: WILL BUTLER; STEREOPHONIC PHOTO: JULIETA CERVANTES

The creator of Broadway’s best play of 2024 first found his voice at the Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

Adjmi says instructors taught him to risk being honest in his work and to challenge himself and others. Outside the classroom, Adjmi browsed Iowa City bookstores, saw movies, and savored the Hamburg Inn’s “goopy cheese sauces.” He and fellow students drove to the Sanctuary pub after classes, keeping the conversation going over artichoke dip. “I loved Iowa City; I had so much fun there,” says Adjmi. “I have a little place in my mind where I can visit it still and feel that emotion.” Inspiration came in bursts—including while walking through Chelsea while home in New York over Thanksgiving break. Adjmi jotted down bits of dialogue he was hearing but couldn’t yet see the shape of a play. Back on campus, he finally landed on a structure borrowed from Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, a play he was teaching Iowa undergrads that year as a resident teaching assistant. Ten minutes before class began, Adjmi rushed to the Theatre Building and printed copies of his play Strange Attractors. Despite missing a deadline, his loose adaptation was selected for production at the Iowa New Play Festival, which highlights original work from playwright workshop students. Strange Attractors later premiered in Seattle, leading to a commission from the Royal Court Theatre in London. “That was the play where I exposed myself in a very raw way,” he says. “I think at Iowa, because I was not being criticized all that much, I felt a kind of freedom. They understood that [playwrights] criticize ourselves enough.” The success of Strange Attractors led to Adjmi’s admission to Juilliard ’s incredibly selective American Playwrights Program, which only

accepts four students each year. But success was never linear or guaranteed. The Juilliard program was a disappointment that appeared for years to have been a setback, Adjmi says, after a combative professor who didn’t like his work dismissed him after the first year. Adjmi was working as a temp, living with his mother, and facing a financial crisis when he learned in 2003 that he’d been selected for a prestigious award for emerging playwrights. Adjmi traveled to Berlin, where he wrote three plays in quick succession: Caligula, 3C, and The Evildoers. His first big breakthrough came with Stunning, which was inspired by his roots in the Sephardic Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn. Its sold-out New York premiere in 2009 was at the Lincoln Center Theater, the same venue where he was inspired to become a playwright and where this past June he would attend the Tony Awards. In 2013, Adjmi was again thinking of leaving theater when he won a Mellon Foundation grant with a three-year residency and agreed to write a brief play. Inspiration hit on a flight to a Mellon Foundation conference in Boston when he was struck by the powerful conf licting emotions embedded in Led Zeppelin’s cover of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.” He shared his idea with Will Butler, formerly of the band Arcade Fire, who agreed to write the original music for a play that took audiences behind the scenes of a recording studio. After a year spent researching bands like Fleetwood Mac, Adjmi became enamored with playwrighting again as that brief play turned into a four-act production. It opened on Broadway at the Golden Theatre in April 2024 to rave reviews.

Chris Stack and Will Brill star in Stereophonic, a play written by Iowa alum David Adjmi.

“

A lways a Hawkeye

I would not be the writer I am without Iowa. That's where I started to embrace my own voice.” —Dav id Adjm i

The New York Times called Stereophonic “a staggering achievement” that “already feels like a must-see American classic.” Variety dubbed it a “work of theatrical virtuosity.” The Tonight Show had the actors on to perform one of the cast recording’s hit songs. Then came the June night when Stereophonic took home five Tony Awards, a capstone to the 11 years Adjmi devoted to the project. Early on, he asked director Daniel Aukin, sound designer Ryan Rumery, and set designer David Zinn to commit to the play, which he knew would take years to bring to the stage. All of them won Tonys. “The play is so much about collaboration and the ways in which it can falter,” says Adjmi. “But this process was an example of what an elevated collaboration can be when people are firing on all cylinders and being their best selves.” Borreca, co-head of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, was Adjmi’s advisor at Iowa and taught him in the program’s core creative course. He says Adjmi’s recent Tony recognition is momentous— and reflects the distinction of the UI program and its students. “It’s also a wonderful aff irmation of the American theater’s openness to supporting work of high quality that engages with contemporary characters and issues,” he says. “As a student, David always brought in work that was exciting.” For Adjmi, Iowa provided the initial fuel and confidence that propelled him down the bumpy path to Broadway stardom. “If this is your calling—and it has to be a calling—then you have to have faith in what you’re doing. And that doesn’t mean faith that it is going to work out the way I want it to work out,” he says. “Faith is you are unconditionally committing to this life and the notion that somehow everything I’m experiencing is going to enrich my art. My play is so much about that.”

PHOTOS: JULIETA CERVANTES

BY STE VE SCHMADEKE

UPCOMING IOWA PRODUCTION

The UI Department of Theatre Arts will stage Marie Antoinette, a play by David Adjmi that gives a contemporary take on the last queen of France before the French Revolution, Oct. 11-19 at the Theatre Arts Building. For more info, visit theatre.uiowa.edu. MAGAZINE.FORIOWA.ORG

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Class Notes 2020s

Vera Barkosk y (24BA) received the 2024 undergraduate HancherFinkbine Medallion for her service to the University of Iowa, including as the former Undergraduate Student Government vice president. Kathleen Doyle (20BA), former WNBA player and the 2020 Big Ten Player of the Year, has been appointed the director of recruiting and player personnel for Virginia Tech women’s basketball. Emily Larson (20MD), a physical medicine and rehabilitation sports medicine fellow at Mayo Clinic Square in Minneapolis, received the 2024 Young Alumni Achievement Award from the Drake University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, her undergraduate alma mater. Eweosa Owenaze (23JD), an associate at the Baker McKenzie law firm in Chicago, has been named to the National Black Lawyers’ 2024 40 under

40 list for Illinois. Monica Samples (20BSN), a nurse at the UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital pediatric intensive care unit, received the 2023-24 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the UI College of Nursing. Mitch Winterlin (24BA) received a 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion from the UI for his service to the university, including as the former Undergraduate Student Government president. Ada Zhang (20MFA), an author of fiction, received the 2024 Whiting Award, which supports promising early-career writers.

2010s

Jonathan Buese (10BA, 13BA), an aerialist, performed in Cirque de Soleil’s Corteo tour. Robyn Fennig (12MS) is assistant director of hazard mitigation at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento, California. Rita Guzmán (18BBA) has been named a UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business 2024 Tippie Young Alum of the Year for her work as the education coordinator for Northwestern

Medicine’s Canning Thoracic Institute in Chicago. Nick Howald (10BA, 15MBA, 15MHA) is chief executive officer of TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Kerry Howley (11MFA), a feature writer for New York magazine, was a finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for her nonfiction book Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State. Joe Kippley (12MHA), a Minnehaha County, South Dakota, commissioner and former Sanford Health clinic director of cardiology, has been appointed as the new public health director for Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Marius Kothor (17MA) is an assistant professor of studies of women, gender, and sexuality at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Afabwaje Kurian (18MFA) is author of Before the Mango Ripens: A Novel. Ben Linden (18BA) received the UI’s 2024 HancherFinkbine Medallion for his service to the university as a researcher and as the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine’s former student

2000s

Pulitzer Prized Alumni

Jayne Anne Phillips

Yiyun Li

Jorie Graham

University of Iowa alumna Jayne Anne Phillips (78MFA) won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and three other Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates were named finalists for this year’s Pulitzer literary awards. Phillips received recognition for Night Watch, a novel set in a West Virginia asylum after the Civil War. Yiyun Li (00MS, 05MFA) was a finalist in fiction for her book of short stories Wednesday’s Child, while poetry finalists included 1996 Pulitzer winner Jorie Graham (78MFA) for To 2040 and Robyn Schiff (99MFA) for Information Desk: An Epic. Forty-six Hawkeyes have now earned the Pulitzer Prize, including Tennessee Williams (38BA), Rita Dove (77MFA, 22LHD), and Marilynne Robinson (17LHD).

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FALL 2024

body president. Kevin Longo (10BBA), a financial advisor for Merrill Wealth Management in Oak Brook, Illinois, has been named to the 2024 Forbes Bestin-State Wealth Advisors list. Daniela Moga (12PhD), the Larry H. Spears endowed chair in pharmacogenetics, associate professor of pharmacy practice and science, and assistant dean for research at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, received a 2024 Outstanding Alumni Award from the UI College of Public Health. Sean Moore (14BS) is the director of player development for the Hawkeye baseball team. Riley Post (10BSE, 11MS, 24PhD), a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, received the UI’s 2024 Hancher- Finkbine Medallion for his research in flood prevention and service with the UI Graduate and Professional Student Government. C. Vivian Stringer (10LHD) received the WeCOACH 2023-24 Lifetime Achievement Award for her success as a head women’s basketball coach for Cheyney State, Iowa, and Rutgers.

Robyn Schiff

UI Pulitzer Prize Winners For the full list, visit foriowa.info/IM-Pulitzer-24.

Ka rl A lp h o n so (0 8 M FA) is the production stage manager for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Karen Bjøro (08PhD) received the 20 23 -24 UI C ollege of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award for 40 years of international work in nursing and global health. Chris Bogue (02DDS) is co-owner of Carroll Dental Clinic and Lake View Dental in Carroll, Iowa, and president of the Iowa Dental Association. Kitty Carey Brandtner (09BA) is the founder and co-president of March Fourth, a grassroots advocacy organization working to reimpose the federal ban on assault weapons. Charlie Bullen (08BBA, 11MA), a former student and graduate assistant for Hawkeye football, is outside linebackers coach for the New York Giants. Bryan Buss (05MPH), CDC career epidemiology field officer for the state of Nebraska, re ceived the Undergraduate of Distinction award from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for his contributions

PHILLIPS PHOTO COURTESY JAYNE ANNE PHILLIPS; LI PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; GRAHAM PHOTO: JEANNETTE MONTGOMERY BARRON; SCHIFF PHOTO: ROBYN SCHIFF

A lways a Hawkeye

to public health. Mark D. Fisher (07JD), a partner at Howes Law Firm in Cedar Rapids, has been appointed as a district judge in Iowa’s Judicial District 6. V. V. Ganeshananthan (05MFA), an associate professor of English for the MFA program at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, received the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for her novel Brotherless Night. David Gilbert (03PhD), a history professor at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, published the book The End of Catholic Mexico: Causes and Consequences of the Mexican Reforma (1855–1861). Vijay Golla (07PhD), vice provost for research and health sciences and professor of health and behavioral sciences at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, received a 2024 Outstanding Alumni Award from the UI College of Public Health. Megan Weiler Green (09JD) is chief financial officer and general counsel at Weiler, a manufacturer based in Knoxville, Iowa. Kent Lehr (09MBA, 09MHA) is the CEO of Iowa Radiology in the Des Moines metro area. Amy Lee Lillard (00BA) is author of A Grotesque Animal: A Memoir, published by the UI Press. Chad Long (05BBA, 08JD) is associate judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Illinois. Erik Maki (03PHR) is dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University in Des Moines. Brandon Miller (03BBA) has been named a UI Tippie College of Business 2024 Tippie Alum of the Year for his work as a financial services advisory partner at EY Financial Services in Des Moines. Stephen Ptacek (06BA) is the audio head for Broadway at Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse Theatre. Kathryn S c a n l a n (0 3 B A , 0 3 B FA), a Los Angeles-based author, received a 2024 Windham-Campbell Prize for fiction, which supports the creative practice of writers worldwide. Māra Bowen Wiggins (00MA), a librarian and professor of library sciences at Southern Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota, received the university’s 2024 Cowan Award for service.

® Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example, NOON GOOD = GOOD AFTERNOON

WORD PUZZLES BY

WOOD TOM

SO MANY YEARS

Wuzzles Whiz Retires For more than four decades, newspaper readers have started their mornings with Wuzzles, an internationally syndicated word puzzle created by former Hawkeye track and field letter winner Tom Ecker (57BA). The Cedar Rapidian has crafted more than 30,000 Wuzzles with The Gazette since 1982 under the pseudonym Tom Underwood. While Ecker retired from Wuzzles this past spring, he produced this word puzzle specially for Iowa Magazine to celebrate the occasion.

1990s

Dean S. Adams (94MA, 95MFA) has been named dean of the School of Art and Architecture at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. Shawn McMillan Castellanos (99BA) is executive vice president and chief revenue officer of WETA, a public media station in Arlington, Virginia. Lan Samantha Chang (93MFA), director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, received an Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a summer 2024 MacDowell Fellow. Michael Ellis (93BS), the boys head basketball coach at Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois, has been named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Timothy Frerichs (90MA, 91MFA), a visual arts and new media professor at State University of New York at Fredonia, has been conferred the rank of SUNY Distinguished Professor. Kent McCausland (99BA), a former Hawkeye men’s basketball

T I G N I V I G

Print Your Answer Here:

Created by Tom Underwood www.wuzzleking.com

® Answer

letter winner, has been named to the Iowa High School Athletics Association Hall of Fame. Karen Milbourne (96MA, 03PhD), formerly a senior curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, is director of the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Mark Shapiro (92BA), president and chief operating officer of Endeavor, a global sports and entertainment company, and TKO Group Holdings, which comprises UFC and WWE, has been inducted into the 2024 UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication Hall of Fame. Billie Rolen Townsend (95MA), a longtime leader and volunteer in the UI and Iowa City community, has been named the 14th honoree for Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build, which aims to build affordable housing for the community. Tracy Ullman (90BA) published her first book, The Serial Killer’s Apprentice, which will also be adapted into a TV series. Lance Van Gundy (95MD), an emergency room doctor in Marshalltown, Iowa, is author

North America Syndicate, 2024

Giving it up after so many years

PHOTO AND PUZZLE COURTESY TOM ECKER

A lways a Hawkeye

of the fantasy book series The Rune Fire Cycle. Casey Wiegmann (96BA), a former NFL player and team MVP and captain for Iowa football, has been inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Marie Wilkes (90BA, 93MFA, 08MA), producer of the documentary film Standing Strong: Elizabeth Catlett, which explored the life of the Black artist, activist, and UI alumna, was nominated for a 2023 Mid-America Emmy in the cultural documentary category. Patty Williams (94MA, 97JD) is provost at Grand View University in Des Moines.

1980s

Rima Afifi (87BS), a community and behavioral health professor at the UI College of Public Health, received a 2024 Regents Award for Faculty Excellence. Andrew Code (80BBA, 81MBA), founder, partner, and chairman of Promus, a private equity investment firm based in Chicago; president of the Code Family Foundation; founder and chair of Chicago Fellowship; and

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A lways a Hawkeye

chair of the UI Center for Advancement board of directors, received the UI’s 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for his service to the university. Luz Maria Frias (88MA, 88JD) received the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award for her mentorship and service as Minnesota’s first Latina deputy attorney general. David Hamod (81BA) received the UI’s 2024 International Impact Award for his overseas advocacy

Hawkeye at 100 John E. Tyrrell (47BA, 50MD), a retired family medicine physician at Tyrrell Clinic, recently celebrated his 100 th birthday on July 18 in Manchester, Iowa. A generous supporter of the university, Tyrrell is a lifetime board member of the UI Center for Advancement and former member of the Iowa Board of Regents. His Hawkeye pride runs deep; his late wife, Clarine E. Wall Tyrrell (49GN), and five children are all Hawkeyes too. At his birthday party, Tyrrell’s children played a video with messages from UI President Barbara Wilson and other university leaders. Tyrrell also received a custom vintage 1924 cap with the Tigerhawk and Iowa logos upon joining the centenarian club.

IOWA MAGAZINE

FALL 2024

for U.S. business and citizens as the president and CEO of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce. Angelica Hernandez (89BA, 93JD), a partner with the Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson law firm in Austin, Texas, received an award as outgoing chair of the S tate Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section and has been reappointed chair of the Texas Bar Journal. Christopher Klein (85BBA), retired executive chairman and CEO of Fortune Brands Home & Security in Deerfield, Illinois, serves on the UI Center for Advancement board of directors. Lisa Stevens Kragenbrink (88BSN), assistant professor of nursing at the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Iowa, has been inducted into the school’s Faculty Hall of Fame for Excellence in Teaching and Advising. Miriam Landsman (82MSW, 00PhD), associate professor and director of the UI School of Social Work, executive director of the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, and co-director of the Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation, received the university’s 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion in recognition of her research in child welfare. Debbie DeWild McClung (86BA, 23MA) is chief communications officer for the City of Des Moines. Bret Mills (83BGS) is vice president of business and finance at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. Andrea Lawrence Nordgren (89BA) is executive producer and director at Heroine Films, a woman-led commercial and independent film studio based in Denver. Tom C. Petersen (85BA, 11MA, 15MS), a public relations professional, recently published the book Thank God It’s Monday(?): Balancing Work and Faith While Keeping Your Sense of Humor. Dana Roberson (87BA), an executive producer at the WNET Group in New York, has been inducted into the 2024 UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication Hall of Fame for her distinguished career in TV news. Karen Manderscheid Simons (84BS) retired this past August after a 40-year career with IBM and Minnesota IT Services in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Kirk Speraw (80BBA), a former Hawkeye men’s basketball player and assistant coach, has been named to the Iowa High School Athletics Association Hall of Fame. Woodie Thomas (82PhD), author of The Public School Curriculum Revolution, is the producer of a family talk show called American Family Life.

1970s

Robert W. Becker (71MA), recently retired CEO of New Orleans City Park, is author of the book, New Orleans City Park: From Tragedy to Triumph, and has been named the 2024 recipient of the Adrian Freund Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Division of the American Planning Association. Elizabeth Cave Chrischilles (79BSPh, 81MS, 86PhD), the Marvin A. and Rose Lee Pomerantz Chair in Public Health in the epidemiology department at the UI College of Public Health, received a 2024 Regents Award for Faculty Excellence as a leading expert on medication safety and effectiveness. Susan Neely (78BA), president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers, is a board member for the UI Center for Advancement. Jim Torner (71BS, 74MS, 84PhD), a UI epidemiology professor, has been inducted into the Society for Clinical Trials’ 2024 Class of Fellows. Richard Tyler (78PhD), a faculty member and director of audiology at Iowa, received the American Academy of Audiology’s 2023 Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology. Richard Tyner (70BA), an international corporate lawyer, received the UI’s 2024 International Impact Award for his service to the university and scholarship support for students to receive international experience.

1960s

Nancy Myers Leiserowitz (64MFA), a retired registered nurse, artist, and teacher who was a founding member of Hospice of Lansing in Michigan, recently published her memoir, Life Drawing. Jerre Stead (65BBA, 11LHD) received the John Theobald Memorial Community Service Award from the Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium for

his work as the chair of the Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation. Paul Willis (66BA), founding hog farmer of Niman Ranch, received the 2024 Leadership Award for Sustainability from the Specialty Food Association for his work in animal welfare and sustainability.

faculty & friends

Loyce Arthur recently retired after 25 years working as a UI associate professor of design in the theatre arts department. Dave DiIanni, head coach of Hawkeye women’s soccer, has been inducted into the 2024 Athletics Hall of Fame class at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Sherman Dillard, an assistant coach for Hawkeye men’s basketball, has been named to the 2024 class of the A STEP UP Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame. Jenni Fitzgerald retired as special assistant to the head coach after 24 years with the Hawkeye women’s basketball program. Denise Jamieson, UI vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, has been named to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and received Duke University School of Medicine’s 2024 Distinguished Alumna Award. Jared McLendon is assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and experimental therapeutics at the UI College of Pharmacy. Ricky Nicely, a custodian for the Iowa Memorial Union, received the university’s 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for over 30 years of service in the UI Division of Student Life. Aliasger Salem, Bighley Chair and professor at the UI College of Pharmacy, has been named to The Medicine Maker Power List 2024 for his contributions to the field of biopharmaceuticals. Jane Singer, a UI associate professor emerita, has been inducted into the 2024 UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication Hall of Fame for her career as an instructor in digital journalism.

A lways a Hawkeye

In Memory 1940s

V i r g i l C o u n s e l l (49 B S C) of Independence, Missouri, on June 18, 2024. Betty Jane Sherman Selde (48GN) of Walla Walla, Washington, on Nov. 25, 2023. Katherine Robison Shope (49BSCh, 51MS) of Willow Street, Pennsylvania, on June 7, 2024. Jean M. Stamy Sobek (45BA) of Noblesville, Indiana, on April 24, 2024. Rosanna DeWitt Young (4 8BA) of Denver, Colorado, on Nov. 5, 2023.

1950s

Mace N. Braverman (57BA) of Lone Tree, Iowa, on June 23, 2024. Mary Donai Buesing (54BA) of Peoria, Illinois, on June 15, 2024. Ann Fellows Christenson (58BA) of Coralville on March 3, 2024. Kennedy C. Fawcett (54BA, 56MD) of Ames, Iowa, on June 21, 2024. Marvin E. Keefer (57BM) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, on June 9, 2024. Mary A. McMahon Klotzbach (51BA) of Independence, Iowa, on June 6, 2024. William R. Palmer (51BSC) of Conroe, Texas, on March 20, 2024. Jane Mackey Pinkerton (57BSPh) of Burbank, California, on May 28, 2024. J. Carroll Ramseyer (55BA, 57MD) of

Carl Cain (56BA) All-American Carl Cain (56BA) helped lead the Hawkeye men’s basketball program to the national title game as part of the “Fabulous Five.” The Freeport, Illinois, native played for Iowa from 1954-56, during which the program reached back-to-back Final Fours in 1955 and 1956. The Hawkeyes became Big Ten runners-up in 1954 and won two regular season conference championships in 1955 and 1956. Under Coach Bucky O’Connor, the “Fabulous Five”—which also included Sharm Scheuerman (56BA), Bill Seaberg (60BBA), Bill Schoof (56BA), and Bill Logan (56BSC)—advanced to the 1956 NCAA championship game, where they lost to the undefeated defending national champions, the Bill Russell-led San Francisco Dons. Following the 1956 season, Cain won a gold medal with the U.S. National Team in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. He also was selected as the 49th overall pick in the 1956 NBA draft by Rochester, and his No. 21 jersey is retired and hangs in the rafters of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Cain died June 2, 2024, at age 89.

Ventura, California, on April 1, 2024. John M. Wanamaker (53BA, 57MD) of West Des Moines, Iowa, on February 19, 2024.

1960s

Larry D. Barnes (65MA) of Batavia, New York, on June 21, 2024. Robert F. Brodersen (67MA) of Spring Valley, Wisconsin, on May 11, 2024. Mark V. Connelly (69MD, 75R) of La Crosse, Wisconsin, on June 21, 2024. William A. Conzett (62JD) of Dubuque, Iowa, on June 18, 2024. C. Edward Craver (63BA, 69MA) of Talkeetna, Alaska, on June 10, 2024. David A. Drake (67BA) of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Dec. 10, 2023. Jack Hazan (67BBA) of Lakewood Ranch, Florida, on May 21, 2024. Alice J. Ahrendsen Hoffmeier (62MA) of Cedar Rapids on Feb. 4, 2024. Charles S. Klabunde (62MFA) of Easton, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 2024. Robert E. Majeske (67MA, 68MFA) of West Peoria, Illinois, on April 27, 2024. Ronald L. McNally (61BSEE) of Falls Church, Virginia, on June 11, 2024. Gene Meeker (60BA) of Davenport, Iowa, on June 14, 2024. James F. Oeth (69BSCE) of Verona, Wisconsin, on June 18, 2024. Allan L. Pennington (62BBA, 64MA) of Hendersonville, North Carolina, on June 16, 2024. Clair D. Rowe (67PhD) of Cedar Falls, Iowa, on June 18, 2024. Robert B. Sanders (62MS) of Anchorage, Alaska, on June 9, 2024. Andrew W. Wehde (60BBA) of Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 25, 2024. Richard L. Wilson (64LLB) of Pella, Iowa, on June 13, 2024. Hugh C. Yorty (67MA, 67MFA) of Jupiter, Florida, on June 6, 2024.

1970s

JoAnn I. Chadima Bailey (71BA) of Wahpeton, Iowa, on May 9, 2024. Robert J. Bradley (70PhD) of Jefferson City, Missouri, on June 16, 2024. Joe L. Clark (74MS, 74R) of Lynchburg, Virginia, on June 17, 2024. Gerald R. Hill (71BS, 73MS, 74MS, 79PhD) of Huntersville, North Carolina, on June 14, 2024. Doris M. Jensen (71BA) of Rollingstone, Minnesota, on June 20, 2024. M. Colleen Thompson Jones (72BBA) of Lincoln, Nebraska, on June

18, 2024. Emmanuel N. Lillios (75BA, 10PhD) of Baden, Pennsylvania, on June 18, 2024. Terrence L. Scheetz (74BBA) of Oxford, Iowa, on June 13, 2024. Thomas V. Smith (71BA, 79MA) of Cedar Rapids on June 27, 2024. Cheryl L. Weaver (73BA) of Cedar Falls, Iowa, on June 19, 2024. Robert L. Wegman (71MA) of Normal, Illinois, on June 23, 2024.

1980s

Mark W. Harvell (82BS, 89MBA) of Minneapolis on June 16, 2024. Arlene R. Sladek Herlein (80MA) of Urbandale, Iowa, on June 26, 2024. Robert W. Lane (80BS) of Swisher, Iowa, on June 17, 2024. Scott M. Schwartz (80BBA) of Chicago on March 26, 2024. John P. Tamisiea (87BBA) of Wilmette, Illinois, on May 26, 2024. Walter T. Walker (85BLS) of Stayton, Oregon, on June 1, 2024.

1990s

Travis K. Acheson (90BA) of West Des Moines, Iowa, on June 21, 2024. Byron C. Wallace (92BA) of Huntington, New York, on May 4, 2024.

2000s

James L. Van Winkle (02PharmD) of Washington, Iowa, on June 15, 2024.

2010s

Colin J. Groeneveld (13BBA) of Allison, Iowa, on March 28, 2024. Nicholas J. Schlarmann (15BS) of Worthington, Iowa, on June 25, 2024.

faculty & friends

Colleen K. Ernst of Iowa City on June 15, 2024. David W. Sanborn of Tarrytown, New York, on May 12, 2024. Marjorie C. Wade of Nashville, Tennessee, on October 4, 2023.

To honor a recently deceased loved one in the In Memory section of Iowa Magazine, please send their name, University of Iowa degree year, city and state of last residence, and date of death to uimagazine@foriowa.org.

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REF L EC T

Don’t Stop Believin’

Former Iowa football coach Hayden Fry once said that “the sun don’t shine on the same dog’s rump every day.” But that didn’t stop this tailgater in Frylike aviators from catching some rays, turning up his boombox to 11, and scarfing a sack of Hardee’s on a game day in 1987 outside Kinnick Stadium. According to the Hawkeye yearbook, the university launched a campaign that fall for “the best-behaved crowds in the Big Ten” that forbade the practice of bodysurfing in the stands and obscene chants. It’s unclear whether this fan complied. PHOTO: GREG WILLIAMSON/1988 HAWKEYE YEARBOOK

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