University of Iowa Hawkeye yearbook, 1938. https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/719.
The First Director of the School of Religion
M. Willard Lampe (August 4, 1883–September 23, 1969) was the first Director of the School of Religion at Iowa, where he served from 1927 to 1953. Under Dr. Lampe’s leadership, the department sought to integrate the study of religion into the public university curriculum and, at the same time, build an interfaith coalition that would link the school and the university to Iowa’s major religious denominations. In the early years, professors of religion at the State University of Iowa had responsibilities not only for teaching classes and pursuing research, but also for assisting with campus religious education programs. Faculty expertise initially centered on Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish traditions.
In 1963, he wrote The Story of an Idea, in which he discussed the department's history.
Kent, Frederick W. (Frederick Wallace). First Faculty of School of Religion, The University of Iowa, 1920s. https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/373468.
The photo on the left is of the first faculty of the School of Religion, c. 1920s. Pictured left to right: M. Willard Lampe (director), Maurice H. Farbridge, Charles Arthur Hawley, and Henry G. Takkenberg.