Faculty Research & Outreach

Engaged Teachers, Active Scholars

Drake’s faculty stand out not only as dedicated teachers, but also as accomplished researchers—experts in their fields doing important work on current issues. As you can see from highlights of recent research, faculty interests are widely varied. Drake is home to specialists in fields ranging from theoretical atomic physics to international finance and banking, to the culture of popular music.

Influential Research and Outreach Centers

A sampling of Drake Centers and Institutes reveals an equally broad range of endeavors:

• The Constitutional Law Center studies the development of the U.S. Constitution as one of only four such centers funded by the federal government.
• The Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship explores the cultural, political, and economic aspects of globalization. Through its Global Citizenship Faculty Research and Development Fund and the Global Citizenship Campus Activities Fund, the Center supports faculty research abroad and a range of internationally themed events at Drake, including speakers, panel discussions, films, and cultural events.
• The Center for the Humanities supports creative and scholarly projects across the disciplines ranging from philosophy to literature.
• The College of Business and Public Administration’s entrepreneurship centers run incubators for new ventures developed by students and faculty and sponsor business plan competitions for start-up enterprises across Iowa.
• The National Rehabilitation Institute in Drake’s School of Education, addresses the needs of an important population among our nation’s students and prepares future educators to help meet these needs.
• The Legislative Practice Center in the Law School, combines classroom study and hands-on experience to help students prepare for careers involved in the law-making process.

A Tangible Impact on Iowa and the Nation

Just like learning at Drake, research here has a strong practical focus, whether scholars are helping to promote adult literacy or resolving current issues in agricultural law. In fact, it’s difficult to discern where research ends and service to students and the community begins, because so many projects are about both exploration and application—about generating knowledge and putting it to work. For example:

• In the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, researchers are focusing on areas including cardiovascular medicine, biotechnology, neuroscience, and diabetes in studies with great potential to improve patient outcomes.
• Through the Head Start/Early Head Start program, the School of Education partners in providing comprehensive child development programs reaching more than 1,000 children across the region.
• In the Middleton Center for Children’s Rights, law and social work students gain valuable clinical experience while advocating for children in cases of child abuse and neglect—offering a service requested by Iowa judges, legislators, and teachers.

And that’s just a sampling. Across the University, faculty and students are helping apply the latest and best ideas to important and widespread problems.