Since the opening of classes at The University of Iowa in March 1855, women and men from around the world have been coming to Iowa City to work and study, to raise families, and to build careers. The flow of minds and cultures through this part of Iowa nourishes and enriches the community here in much the same way that the Iowa River winding through town greens the lawns and trees and nearby croplands.

The University of Iowa in the 21st Century is known throughout the country and around the world for a diverse array of academic, medical, and artistic disciplines, from otolaryngology to fiction writing, printmaking to space science, hydraulic engineering to dance. Some 28,000 students, 2,000 faculty, and 15,000 staff members bring to this small midwestern town a rich diversity of interests and passions, filling the events calendar with interesting things to do and see most of the year. It is home to a large university-owned teaching hospital and a vibrant scientific research community which together draw hundreds of millions in federal and private research grants each year.

Iowa City is located 60 miles west of the Mississippi River, at the junction of Interstate Highways 80 and 380, in the middle of some of the richest farmland in the world. A community of some 60,000 people, it ranked the third most educated metropolitan area in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau data reported in 2002.