Kaveh Akbar, m.s. RedCherries, and Deborah Jackson Taffa are finalists for the prestigious National Book Award.

The University of Iowa again tied for the No. 1 spot in undergraduate nursing programs among public universities, while continuing to offer the best public writing program in the country, according to the latest rankings published by U.S. News & World Report.

As a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at the University of Iowa, Mavis Gyesi researches the educational experiences of African immigrants in U.S. high schools and their transition to college. In a working paper, Gyesi interviewed 13 African immigrant students in Iowa high schools who come from different cultures and speak different languages. She found that many of them take advanced courses in high school and aspire to go to four-year colleges, busting what research has shown to be stereotypes about African students as academically unmotivated or likely to fail.

The University of Iowa wants to build on its existing reputation for excellence in three key areas where there is significant opportunity for growth across multiple academic disciplines and areas of patient care. Called Distinctive Collaborative Opportunities, these three areas are writing and communication, brain science and mental health, and cancer research and patient care.

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.

David Dowling, a professor in the UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has written one new book and edited another.

University of Iowa alumna Jayne Anne Phillips has won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and three other Iowa graduates were named finalists for Pulitzer literary awards, which were announced May 6.

Darius Stewart, a University of Iowa graduate student pursuing a PhD in English, is a 2024 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellow.

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop director is the recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters award and a MacDowell Fellowship to support and encourage her creative work.

Two University of Iowa faculty are among those selected for the 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship.