Iowa State University (ISU) is a public land-grant university and space-grant university located in Ames, Iowa. The full official name is Iowa State University of Science and Technology. It was previously Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, a school created through the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act.

The Iowa General Assembly in 1858, prior to the passage of the Morrill Act of 1862, enacted legislation to establish an agriculture college and model farm. This college was named the State Agricultural College & Model Farm. The location of Story County was chosen on June 21, 1859 after the state selection board received proposals from Johnson, Kossuth, Marshall, Polk, and Story counties. The University is one of 60 elected members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

ISU is best known for its degree programs in science, engineering and agriculture. ISU is also home of the world's first electronic digital computing device, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer.

It consists of the following colleges:

Agriculture
Business
Design
Engineering
Human Sciences
Liberal Arts and Sciences
Veterinary Medicine
In addition to these seven colleges, the Graduate College oversees graduate study in all fields.

The sports teams are nicknamed the Cyclones, a name which dates back to 1895. That year, there were many occurrences of cyclones, or tornados. Also that year was when the Iowa State football team went to Northwestern University and defeated its team 36-0. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed "Iowa cyclone devastates Evanstontown."

The school colors are cardinal and gold, with occasional blue trim. The mascot is Cy the Cardinal, who was introduced in 1954. This is likely a reference to the original nickname, the Cardinals. The Iowa State Cyclones play in the NCAA's Division I-A as part of the Big 12 Conference.