The Department of Landscape Architecture has a distinguished history at Iowa State University. 

 

ISU, 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 admitting students in 1868.  Women were enrolled in the student body from the beginning.

 

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 1869.  A formal curriculum in Landscape Architecture was established in 1914, as part of the Department of Horticulture.  In 1929 the Department of Landscape Architecture was established offering a 4-year bachelor's degree and a 1-year master's degree, with Philip H. Elwood as head.  In 1930 the Department moved to its own building (a remodeled horse barn).

 

In 1978 Landscape Architecture moved and became part of the new College of Design and, together with the Departments of Architecture, Art & Design, and Community and Regional Planning, forms a unique and innovative interdisciplinary environment.  The curriculum is accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architects and provides the education which, combined with experience, is necessary for professional registration.