Simpson College

Indianola Male and Female Seminary was opened on September 24, 1860, and the name was changed to the Des Moines Conference Seminary in September 1865. On September 21, 1867, the school was upgraded to a college and renamed Simpson Centenary College to honor Methodism's most renowned living bishop, Bishop Matthew Simpson (1811–1884), and to celebrate the centennial of American Methodism. (Simpson is best known as the minister who spoke a eulogy at Abraham Lincoln's funeral in Springfield, Illinois, in 1865; he was known as a great pulpit preacher.) Simpson himself gave the commencement address at Simpson in 1882. In June 1885, "Centenary" was dropped from the name, becoming simply Simpson College.

• Jay Byers (2023–2025)
• Marsha Kelliher (2020–2023){{cite web | url=https://www.simpson.edu/president/about | title=About }}
• Jay Simmons (2013–2019){{cite web | url=https://www.simpson.edu/about-simpson-college/president/past-presidents | title=Past Presidents }}
• John Byrd (2005–2013)
• Kevin LaGree (1999–2005)
• Stephen G. Jennings (1987–1998)
• Robert Edward McBride (1979–1987)
• Richard Bailey Lancaster (1972–1979)
• Ralph Candler John (1963–1972)
• William Edward Kerstetter (1953–1963)
• Edwin Edgar Voigt (1942–1952)
• Earl Enyeart Harper (1936–1938)
• John Linnaeus Hillman (1919–1936)
• James Watson Campbell (1916–1919)
• William Ennis Hamilton (1915–1916)
• Charles Eldred Shelton (1899–1910)
• Joseph Benton Harris (1898–1899)
• Another Simpson (1892–1898)
• Edmund Meek Holmes (1889–1892)
• William Ennis Hamilton (1886–1889)
• Edward Lamay Parks (1880–1886)
• Thomas S. Berry (1878–1880)
• Alexander Burns (1868–1878)
• Samuel Milton Vernon (1866–1868)

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|caption1 = Historic College Hall (formerly Old Chapel)

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|caption2 = Wallace Hall (formerly Science Hall) housed George Washington Carver's first college classrooms

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Other notable construction includes the 55,000-square-foot Kent Family Campus Center, which replaced the old Brenton Student Center as the center of student life.

The {{convert|85|acre|m2|adj=on}} tree-lined campus is bordered on the north by Buxton Park Arboretum. The architecture blends tradition with modernity. The theater building, an example of the Brutalist architecture that dominated American campus construction in the 1970s, was renovated and added on to in 2010–11, softening its features.

Simpson also renovated its outdoor track and football field. In addition to rebuilding the entrances and fences surrounding Bill Buxton stadium, the school invested in what has been dubbed the most innovative artificial turf system in the world, FieldTurf Revolution. A new-era Beynon BSS 1000 running track was also installed for the 2011–12 school year.{{cite web|url=http://www.fieldturf.com/artificial-turf-news/simpson-college-goes-first-class-with-fieldturf-revolution-and-beynon-surfa/|title=FieldTurf: Simpson College goes first class with FieldTurf Revolution and Beynon Surfaces|work=fieldturf.com}} The renovation of Simpson's athletic facilities concluded in 2014 with the construction of a new bi-level weight room in the former pool area. This move was made possible by constructing the Indianola YMCA, which has a 25-yard pool and hosts swimming meets for Simpson College, Indianola High School, and the YMCA Tide swim team.

Simpson offers a variety of residential housing options, including two first-year-only residence halls, other traditional residence halls, apartment-style living, theme houses, and an active Greek system. All Simpson living facilities include air conditioning, lofted beds, carpet, furniture, social lounges, and wireless internet.

The college had an endowment of $78.6 million as of February 10, 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2016-Endowment-Market-Values.pdf|title=U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2016 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2015 to FY 2016|publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215040947/http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2016%2DEndowment%2DMarket%2DValues.pdf|archive-date=2017-02-15|url-status=dead|work=2016 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments|access-date=February 10, 2017}}

{{see also|Simpson Storm football}}

file:Simpson college athletics logo.png

Simpson College athletic teams are nicknamed the Storm. They compete in the American Rivers Conference in NCAA Division III. Simpson fields men's teams in baseball, basketball, cross country, American football, golf, gymnastics,soccer, tennis, track and field, and wrestling. Women's teams include basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Simpson also fields cheerleading and dance squads.

The Simpson College softball team won the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1997 and 1999. Simpson's softball team appeared in one Women's College World Series in 1971.{{cite book|title=A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series|first1=William|last1=Plummer|first2=Larry C.|last2=Floyd|year=2013|publisher= Turnkey Communications Inc.|location= Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States|isbn=978-0-9893007-0-4}}

Simpson ranks among the nation's top 100 colleges in the percentage of students who study abroad, according to U.S. News & World Report.{{cite web |title=Quick Facts |url=http://www.simpson.edu/about/quick.html |work=Simpson.edu |publisher=Simpson College}}

The Simpsonian{{cite web|url=http://www.thesimpsonian.com/|title=The Simpsonian|access-date=1 August 2015}} is the student newspaper, first published in 1870.{{cite web |url=http://www.thesimpsonian.com/site/about.html |title=About Us – The Simpsonian |website=www.thesimpsonian.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002042648/http://www.thesimpsonian.com/site/about.html |archive-date=2011-10-02}} Sequel is an annual Simpson literary arts magazine, assembled from student and faculty contributions including paintings, photographs, drawings, short fiction, and short non-fiction. KSTM, 88.9, is a student-operated radio station.

The Culver Center was established at Simpson College in 2010 to honor the service of John Culver, a former Iowa Senator and Congressman. The program awards four-year scholarships to up to select incoming Simpson students who demonstrate a commitment to public service and civic engagement. The annual John C. Culver Lecture brings a prominent public service or political figure to campus to meet with students and deliver a lecture open to the public. Lectures have included Senator George McGovern, Political Journalist Mark Shields, Supreme Court Reporter Linda Greenhouse, and former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.{{cite web |url=http://culvercenter.org/ |title=Home |website=culvercenter.org}}

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File:Representative women of Colorado - DPLA - db23f05ca711bf918050d89ef58df0ea (page 212) (Ruth Hinshaw Spray) (cropped).jpg|alt=|Ruth Hinshaw Spray

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File:Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner (1896).png|alt=|Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner

• Simpson College was the first college attended by George Washington Carver.[http://simpson.edu/library/archives-special-collections/george-washington-carver/ "George Washington Carver"] Retrieved on 2013-09-18 Carver entered Simpson as an art major, but became interested in the natural sciences after receiving advice from a fellow student. Carver once remarked that his time at Simpson taught him that he was "a human being." Carver left Simpson College to complete his undergraduate education at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). Both schools have buildings named in his honor: Carver Science Hall at Simpson and Carver Hall at Iowa State University.
• Historian Avery Craven (1885–1980), who specialized in the study of the nineteenth-century United States and the American Civil War, received his B.A. from Simpson in 1908. The Avery O. Craven Room of Dunn Library at Simpson holds Craven's personal library of over 2,000 volumes, notes, manuscripts, correspondence, and memorabilia.{{cite web |url=https://simpson.edu/dunn-library/archives-special-collections/avery-o-craven-room |title=Avery O. Craven Room {{!}} Simpson College |website=simpson.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703184353/https://simpson.edu/dunn-library/archives-special-collections/avery-o-craven-room |archive-date=2019-07-03}}
• Nick Ackerman attended Simpson College in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His wrestling performance, in which he won the 2001 NCAA Division III Championships, was named one of the top 25 moments in NCAA history. Nick lost his legs to bacterial meningitis as a baby.Metzger, Sherry. [http://www.oandp.com/edge/issues/articles/2006-06_05.asp "Bilateral Amputee Named in Top 25 NCAA Moments: College Wrestling Champion Nick Ackerman"], The O&P Edge, June 2006. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
• Former Chicago Alderman, 52nd Mayor of Chicago, and current Cook County Clerk David Orr also attended Simpson College for his undergraduate degree. Orr is an American Democratic Politician from Chicago, Illinois. He was Alderman of the 49th Ward in Chicago from 1979 to 1991. In 1987, he served briefly as Mayor of Chicago after the death of Mayor Harold Washington and was recognized for his strong and sensible leadership during one of the most tumultuous periods in Chicago's political history.{{cite web|url=http://cookcountyclerk.com/aboutus/meetyourclerk/Pages/default.aspx|title=Meet Your Clerk|work=cookcountyclerk.com}} Serving his 23rd year as the Clerk of Cook County, Orr is responsible for the third largest election district in the United States (among other duties).{{cite web|url=http://www.davidorr.org/about|title=David Orr Bio and work experience. – David Orr, Cook County Clerk|work=David Orr, Cook County Clerk}}
• Mike Pearson, host of Market to Market on Iowa Public Television, is a graduate of the class of 2010.{{Cite web|url=http://simpson.edu/success-story/mike-pearson-10/|title = Mike Pearson '10}}
• Ruth Hinshaw Spray (1848–1929), peace activist
• Evan Tanner (attended), retired professional MMA fighter, former UFC middleweight champion.
• Malcolm A. Love (1904–1990), former President of the University of Nevada (1950–51) and San Diego State University (1952–71). President Love was a graduate of the class of 1927.
• Nate Boulton received his BA in Political Science and History from Simpson College and is an Iowa state senator and former Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
• Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner (1859–1915), physician, writer
• Chad Buchanan, 1995 graduate, General Manager of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association.
• Wanda Brownlee Paige (born 1956), member of Kansas House of Representatives (2024–present){{Cite web |title=Meet Your Board Members – Kansas City Kansas Unified Schl Dist 500 |url=https://www.kckschools.org/board-of-education/meet-your-board-members |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=www.kckschools.org |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Resnick |first=Matt |date=2024-09-03 |title=Wanda Brownlee Paige on cusp of assuming Kansas House seat after Rep. Marvin Robinson's death |url=https://pro.stateaffairs.com/ks/elections/wanda-brownlee-paige-marvin-robinson-kansas-house |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=State Affairs |language=en}}

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• [https://www.simpsonathletics.com/ Athletics website]

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