How to Plan an Iowa Alumni Reunion


A few years may have passed since your college days, but the memories can make it feel like yesterday. Reunions are a great way to gather Iowa alumni from the same graduating class, but they can also be a broader celebration of Hawkeyes with like-minded interests—such as members of alumni communities, Greek organizations, athletics teams, and more.

Planning and executing a reunion takes time. It can take four to six months to plan an informal gathering, and nine to 16 months to organize a larger reunion. Download the reunion guide and checklist to get started.

Reunion Committees

A successful alumni gathering depends on a dedicated reunion chair and committee of volunteers who start planning early, work throughout the year, and share in the coordination and promotion of the event. The committee is also responsible for providing programming and activities that balance the interests of the group, while also including time for catching up with old friends.

General duties for the committee chair include:

  • Research, organize, and implement the reunion
  • Recruit and work with a committee of at least five others
  • Schedule meetings and coordinate the committee
  • Create and finalize a budget
  • Welcome attendees and volunteers during the event
  • Act as a liaison for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement
  • Support the mission of the University of Iowa

As you give your time and energy to planning a reunion, know that you are helping to strengthen the connections of proud Iowa alumni and friends.

For more information, email alumni.engagement@foriowa.org.

Looking for other ways to get involved as an alumni or friend of the University of Iowa? Check out upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

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Learn how one University of Iowa physician is saving lives by sharing his groundbreaking expertise in stroke treatment and care with the world. PHOTO: UI CEREBROVASCULAR & NEUROINTERVENTIONAL LAB UI surgeon Santiago Ortega-Guti?rrez, pictured at right, has treated more than 50 critically ill South American patients on his international service and training trips. Diana Gradert's youngest daughter went for a run one day in 2010 and never came home. Leah Maurer was only 42 when she collapsed in the street from a brain aneurysm and died at the hospital. This devastating loss led her mother to connect with a renowned University of Iowa physician whose groundbreaking work is helping spare other families such pain. Santiago Ortega-Guti?rrez, clinical associate professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and radiology, is a neurointerventional surgeon who operates without making incisions and is an expert at using minimally invasive treatments and imaging equipment to guide procedures. He's on a global mission to develop and perfect new techniques for treating life-threatening conditions of the central nervous system, including strokes and cerebral aneurysms. PHOTO: UI HEALTH CARE Santiago Ortega-Guti?rrez That's why Gradert, former CEO and current board chair of WTC Communications, her family-run telecommunications firm, chose to invest in Ortega-Guti?rrez's efforts through donations totaling $100,000. "I believe more attention should be spent on making the public aware of the signs of stroke?and this includes physicians in Iowa and around the world," says the Wilton, Iowa, native. "I believe in Dr. Ortega's vision, and I want to help him grow this program." The Spanish surgeon?whose training in the United States included prestigious fellowships at Columbia University and Mount Sinai?joined the UI Department of Neurology in 2014 with the same goal. He saw an exciting opportunity to expand Iowa's neurointerventional radiology program, which was still in its infancy, and build upon the university's strong tradition of stroke research. Not only has Ortega-Guti?rrez done so, introducing new treatments, research, and therapies, but he's also established a cerebrovascular and neurointerventional lab, a fellowship program for educating other physicians, and an international service and training program. "It's my duty, as a clinical scientist, to pass on as much knowledge as I can?and to share my personal experiences with new generations," says Ortega-Guti?rrez. So far, thanks to Gradert's financial support, he's been able to help more than 50 critically ill South American patients through frequent trips to underserved countries, where he performs surgeries and educates local doctors in his advanced techniques. Ortega-Guti?rrez?who sits on the board of directors of the Society of Vascular Interventional Neurology?also provides highly specialized training for the physicians in his UI fellowship program. Cynthia Zevallos, of Pirua, Peru, was one such fellow. She first met Ortega-Guti?rrez as a young medical resident in Lima, when he visited her hospital on a mission trip. "He talked about the University of Iowa, but to be honest, I never thought I'd come here," says Zevallos. PHOTO: UI CEREBROVASCULAR & NEUROINTERVENTIONAL LAB Before-and-after images of a 16-year-old Peruvian patient with a neurovascular malformation causing a forehead deformity. The patient's family had consulted with local physicians but was told there were no therapeutic options available. The left image shows the baseline presentation, and the right is the outcome after Ortega-Guti?rrez performed a non-invasive neurointerventional surgery. However, she stayed in touch with Ortega-Guti?rrez throughout her career and ended up joining the fellowship program in 2018. She'd lived in the rain forest with indigenous communities during her residency and saw many patients suffering from stroke damage. This has inspired her to learn as much as possible at Iowa, with the goal of eventually returning to Peru to establish a network for improving endovascular stroke care. Zevallos currently works in Ortega-Guti?rrez's lab, where the research they're doing is transforming the field?and even shaping American Heart Association treatment guidelines. For example, they played a central role in lengthening the approved window of time in which doctors can use mechanical thrombectomy?the process of threading specialized instruments through the arteries of a patient with acute onset of stroke to extract a blood clot from the brain?from six to 24 hours. Ortega-Guti?rrez, who will be principal investigator on two upcoming international clinical trials, plans to expand upon such groundbreaking research in hopes of eventually receiving significant National Institutes of Health funding. "We want to be the ones creating and running these trials," he says. "Diana's support helped put us on the map?and build Iowa's reputation?and now we want to do even more to change the world." Support the Mission Learn more about Ortega-Guti?rrez's international service and training program and how to donate to his life-saving work. Donate Now

On this web page you'll find information to help connect you with other Hawkeyes, in addition to resources to help advance your career and further your education at Iowa.

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