A Faster Fax
In 1971, Iowa State electrical engineering doctoral student David Nicholas invented a process to more efficiently convert text into digital information. Facsimile machine manufacturers adopted the...
First Veterinary Medicine College
In 1879, Iowa State University established the first public college of veterinary medicine in the United States. In 1903, Iowa State began offering the nation’s first four-year professional...
First Artist-in- Residence
Christian Petersen was the first artist-in- residence at a university in the United States when he sculpted at Iowa State from 1934 through 1955. Petersen is becoming recognized as one of the best...
Chemical Analysis Innovation
"Pioneering work in inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy at Iowa State led to an analysis tool that's standard in thousands of laboratories worldwide. Developed in 1966 by professor and...
Innovative Baler
Farmers were saved from the backbreaking chore of slinging hay bales in the 1960s when Iowa State agricultural engineering professor Wesley Buchele and a group of student researchers invented...
First Land-Grant Home Economics College
In 1871, Iowa State became the first land-grant institution in the nation to teach "domestic science." In 1872, Mary B. Welch, wife of Iowa State President Adonijah Welch, became the...
Birthplace of Cooperative Extension
In 1903, the nation's first cooperative agricultural extension program was launched when Iowa State professor Perry Holden, a group of farmers in Sioux County, and the county's board...
World's Hardiest Roses
Revered by rose lovers, legendary Iowa State University horticulturist Griffith Buck developed more than 90 rose varieties from the late 1940s to his retirement in 1985. His roses are...
Finest Blue Cheese
Iowa State is home to the process that produces the world's finest blue cheese. In 1937, Iowa State dairy microbiology professors Clarence Lane and Bernard Hammer developed a blue cheese...
First Water Tower West of the Mississippi
The 168-foot-tall Marston Water Tower was the first elevated steel water tank west of the Mississippi River when it was erected in 1897. It is named for Anson Marston, Iowa State's...