A former University of Iowa president has made a large donation to the University of Northern Iowa. Mary Sue Coleman, now the president of the University of Michigan, and the former president of the University of Iowa, has donated $100,000 to UNI to continue a lecture series in chemistry.
While it might seem strange for the former Hawkeye leader to make a donation to UNI — the lectureship honors Coleman’s father Leland Wilson. Wilson was the first head of the UNI chemistry department in 1968, and stayed in that position until 1975. Wilson retired from UNI in 1979, and died in 1993 at the age of 79.
The lecture series honoring Wilson was started in 1997, with Coleman as the first speaker, and had continued with yearly gifts. Coleman’s gift will endow the lecture series ensuring that it has continual funding.