Iowa’s New Health Sciences Academic Building Opens Doors

PHOTO: JUSTIN TORNER/UI OFFICE OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION Students studying communication sciences and disorders take a class inside the Health Sciences Academic Building.

Earlier this year, the University of Iowa’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders marked the start of a new chapter when it moved into the six-story, $249 million Health Sciences Academic Building. The expansive, light-filled facility gives Iowa’s renowned speech-language pathology and audiology programs a world-class setting to train future clinicians, advance research, and serve patients.

PHOTO: JUSTIN TORNER/UI OFFICE OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION Exterior of the new Health Sciences Academic Building

At the same time, the new building stands as a testament to the department’s storied past, says Eric Hunter (01PhD), department executive officer and the Harriet B. and Harold S. Brady Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences. “We’re standing on the shoulders of remarkable people—faculty, alumni, and the state itself—who built something extraordinary here,” he says. “Our job now is to honor that legacy by continuing to push the boundaries of what communication science can do for people’s lives.”

The field of speech and hearing science grew up at Iowa. Human communication research began at the Iowa Psychological Laboratory in 1897, and by the 1920s, experts in psychology, speech, and medicine were collaborating to study speech disorders scientifically. In 1925, a meeting between Iowa colleagues led to the founding of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association—an organization that gathered again in Iowa City this past year to celebrate its centennial. Iowa has been a national leader in the discipline ever since. In the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings, Iowa ranked second in the nation for audiology and fifth for speech-language pathology.

PHOTO: JILL TOBIN Professor emerita Patricia Zebrowski and assistant professor Naomi Rodgers hold a painting of Wendell Johnson outside the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders' former home at a commemorative event.

The department bid farewell to its home of nearly six decades, the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center, with a commemorative ceremony this past August. It will be joined in the Health Sciences Academic Building—located on the west side of campus at the corner of Melrose and South Grand avenues—in 2026 by two other thriving programs: the Department of Health, Sport, and Human Physiology, as well as the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science.

The building features a soaring central atrium with an interconnecting stairway that links the programs together, as well as sweeping windows that provide outdoor views and natural light on each level. The rooftop will include an adaptive play space for children—a focal point for the annual Communication Explorers summer camp, which helps children with hearing loss build communication skills. 

Hunter says bringing together several health science programs under one roof, along with the new building’s proximity to the main campus and UI Health Care Medical Center, will create innovative collaborations across the disciplines and help attract top talent to Iowa.

“The new building isn’t just about space—it’s about connection,” says Hunter, who was the first hire of the university’s Transformational Faculty Hiring Program in 2023. “It brings together students, faculty, and collaborators across health sciences in ways that spark innovation and improve lives. We’re in the middle of two faculty searches right now, and when candidates see this facility, they recognize it as a reflection of our energy and the university’s commitment to leading the field for years to come.”