About the Honors Program

The University Honors Program aims to enrich the academic experience of high-ability undergraduates, offering numerous educational and intellectual opportunities and challenges. Honors students can pursue an expansive education, create an individualized program of study, take appropriate graduate-level courses, and become involved in research.

There are 1,400 student members of the University Honors Program and more than 4,000 honors alumni. Current students and alumni alike share the view that, in addition to providing academic enrichment, the honors program helped them grow as leaders and informed citizens, as well as in personal growth and career satisfaction.

Honors graduates receive a special notation on their diplomas and transcripts. However, the honors program is more interested in challenging motivated students through exposure to an extensive spectrum of the best courses and faculty that Iowa State offers.

The program resides in the Jischke Honors Building, which features a computer lab, lounge, kitchenette, several classrooms, wireless internet, and office space. Jischke provides a spacious center for studying, lounging, and team activities, offering 24-hour access to honors students.

A Look Back

Beginning with Don Charles of the Department of Psychology, part-time faculty ran the University Honors Program. In 1966, Edwin Lewis, also from Psychology, became Chair of Honors. Lewis’s interest in educating high-ability students would benefit the program for several years. Credit-bearing honors seminars, developed to encourage intellectual breadth and build interaction across the colleges, continue to be an integral part of the program. Lewis also organized the first Student Advisory Board. In 1967, a permanent honors office opened in Old Botany (now Catt Hall). As the program grew (and Lewis moved to Beardshear) Ann Feyerherm, a recent ISU graduate at the time, became Coordinator of Special Programs.

Momentous events in the honors program's evolution occurred in the 1970s. In 1973, the Freshman Honors Program began, providing a shared honors experience and encouraging group identity. In 1975, relocation to Osborn Cottage (now the site of Gerdin Business Building) gave the program a full-fledged home and identity. In 1977, Elizabeth Beck became the Coordinator of Special Programs. She was pivotal in shaping the future of the honors program.

In the early 1980s, honors curricula developed in the new colleges of Business and Design. The Freshman Mentor Program, a research experience, debuted in 1987. Lewis developed an intensive training program for first-year seminar leaders. Implementation of honors components into courses and poster sessions for presenting Honors Projects began. Also in the 1980s, honors students played a significant role in hosting the Upper Midwest Regional Honors Conference. Through their annual Call-A-Thon, honors students raised money to purchase Osborn Cottage computers and travel to regional and national conferences.

The University Honors Program continued to grow in the 1990s. Enrollment more than doubled, as did participation in the first-year research program, and the first-year program increased two and a half times over. Compensation for faculty teaching honors seminars began in 1991 and established research grants for the Mentor Program in 1993. Iowa State University’s 1996 accreditation report found the honors program to be a notable strength of ISU.

The Honors Program is housed in the Division of Academic Affairs, reporting to Ann Marie VanDerZanden, Associate Provost for Academic Programs. In Fall 2002, the program moved into the new Jischke Honors Building overlooking central campus. This prairie-style building provides a comfortable home for honors students and staff and includes three classrooms, a lounge space, a computer lab, a kitchenette, and a staff office space.

In the new century, Ricki Shine, a faculty member, joined the honors staff. Continuing the faculty member additions, Laurie Smith-Law became Administrative Director of honors, and three faculty, most recently English professor Susan Yager, served as faculty directors. In 2008, honors program alumni established the Honors Alumni Board to enhance the honors student experience well into the future.