An historical account of the creation and development of the University of Iowa is presented. Organized by presidental administration, this institutional history concentrates on the period when the university established its place among the major U.S. universities, and follows the school's struggle to establish (through three distinct stages) a major public university in an agricultural state. Among the historical events presented are: (1) how George MacLean introduced the institutional forms of the modern university and oriented the school toward the major state universities of the upper Midwest; (2) how Walter Jessup succeeded in strengthening the faculty and laying the foundations of the modern physical plant; and (3) how Howard Bowen's attempt to revivify the school was cut short by the campus uprising of 1968 to 1970. A chapter is devoted entirely to the efforts to find an effective organizational pattern for the university's College of Medicine, the one area of the university that has undergone the most striking changes over time. Finally, in the area of undergraduate education, the study outlines the struggle to define and implement a successful general education program. Contains an index and 651 references. (GLR)