Dr. Robert F Ashman joined the University of Iowa in 1980 as the founding director of the Division of Rheumatology in the Department of Internal Medicine of the University of Iowa. He quickly established a Clinical Arthritis Research Center which was funded by the National Arthritis Foundation in 1982.  He expanded the Division’s clinical, research and educational footprints so that by the 1990’s the Division was known on the national and international levels.  Simultaneously, Dr. Ashman dedicated a major effort to invest in the training of future immunologists. In the early 1990s Dr. Ashman lead a loosely defined organization at the University referred to as the “Immunology Group” which led to the first Postdoctoral T32 in immunology at the University of Iowa. He served as the Principal Investigator of the Postdoctoral T32 which was renewed several times under his leadership. Several faculty emerged from the “Immunology Group” to establish the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology as a degree granting program which led to application and award of the Predoctoral T32. Dr. Ashman was the Principal Investigator for the initial funding period, 1995 – 1999. In 1998 Dr. Gail Bishop was named the Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology and during the competitive renewal process in 1999 she took over as the Principal Investigator of the Predoctoral T32, which she held until 2021.