Community and Regional Planning-Program History

The roots of planning at Iowa State University are strong and deep. The department grew out of the University's well-established Landscape Architecture Department and the history of that department is thus important to the history of planning education at Iowa State .

Iowa State University , then a college, was authorized by the legislature in 1858. In 1861, it became the first college in the nation to accept the land grant provisions of the Morrill Act. Its research function began at the Agricultural Experiment Station before it actually admitted students in 1868. Women were enrolled in the student body from the beginning. George Washington Carver was admitted as a transfer student two decades later and then served on the faculty at ISU before moving to the Tuskegee Institute.

The Landscape Architecture program at ISU is essentially as old as the teaching activities of the University. The first course in "landscape gardening" was taught by the institution's first president, Adonijah S. Welch, in 1871. A formal curriculum in Landscape Architecture was established in 1914.

In 1921, the Landscape Architecture faculty began offering courses in city planning. The Department of Landscape Architecture, offering both bachelor and master degrees, was established in 1929 by Philip H. Elwood as head. The department moved into its own building (a remodeled horse barn) in 1930. In 1934, it offered its first course in regional planning.

The Master of Science degree with a major in Town and Regional Planning was authorized in 1947. Twenty years later, the Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning was established. In 1978, after long and careful study, the Board of Regents authorized the establishment of the College of Design , bringing together in one academic unit (and one building) departments from several different colleges within the university. In the process, the Department of Community and Regional Planning was created.

Michael Brooks, a planner, was the first dean of the College of Design . Riad G. Mahayni, was named the first department chairman. The department first sought recognition of its two-degree programs from the American Planning Association in 1979; the recognition was granted. The two-degree programs were formally accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board in 1985.

Currently, approximately 130 undergraduates and 30 graduates are enrolled in the Department of Community and Regional Planning. The department has been chaired by six persons: Riad G. Mahayni was the first chair from 1979 to 1983. R. Duane Shinn served from 1983 to 1989. Jerry Knox served as acting/interim chair twice (1987-1988 and 1989-1990). Eric Damian Kelly was then named chair where he served until July 1995. He left the position to become the dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University. Riad Mahayni again served as chair between 1995 and 2002. Beginning with the 2002-2003 academic year, the departments of Community and Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture have shared a single chair starting with J. Timothy Keller, with Associate Chairs to support each department. Douglas M. Johnston was hired from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as chair in 2007.

Updated 08/01/08-11:25 PID:920