Iowa Ledger (2022) - Tippie College of Business

FEATURE
BY • AMANDA MAY
Legacy
A WEIGHTY
Dan Collins retires from
the Tippie College of Business
To illustrate Dan Collins (BBA68/PhD73) on the occasion of his retirement, we wanted it to be more
than a simple photograph. We wanted his portrait to somehow communicate the breadth of his
45-year career. We wanted him rooted strongly in Iowa. We wanted viewers to know he was not just
a professor, but a formidable researcher. And we wanted his dozens of Ph.D. students represented.
So, we enlisted the help of artist and Iowa alumnus Lucas Underwood (BA03/MFA15) for this
Herculean task. While Collins was teaching his last two semesters of classes, we were busy layering
as much meaning as we could into this portrait. The longer you look, the more you’ll see!
DETAILS EMBEDDED IN THE ARTWORK
The gold stripes of Collins’
tie feature Marshalltown,
Iowa (where he went to
high school) and Iowa City.
His Ph.D. students from
1982 to 2021 in golden
metal leaf calligraphy on
books of collaged Iowa
maps spanning from
Marshall County (top
left) to Johnson County
(bottom right).
All eight editions of
“Financial Reporting and
Analysis,” the widely used
accounting textbook
Collins co-authored.
3-D bookshelves made
from layered maps where
Michigan State University,
Northwestern, and Duke
are located. (Representing
his limited time away from
the University of Iowa
when he began his career/
was a visiting professor).
A Financial Accounting
Standards (FASB)
textbook represents the
countless hours he spent
in the classroom as an
accounting professor. He
used to tell his students
that the proper way to
carry the FASB tome was
under their arm with the
title facing out so that
everyone would know they
were “elite accounting
students.”
The deep blue fields at the
bottom corners are made
of indigo-coated maps of
the Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans representing the
pull of the coasts. In the
portrait, as in life, Collins
remains solidly in the
middle of the frame (and
country). A loyal Hawkeye,
through and through.
Journals where Collins’
research has been
published (shades of blue)
and served as a referee
(shades of tan leather).
The University of Iowa
presidential seal as a
lapel pin.
The 1968 and 1973
yearbooks (the years
in which he got his
bachelor’s and doctoral
degrees in accounting
from the University of
Iowa).
DYK?
The Hawkeye yearbook
was produced from 1892
to 1992—except for a brief
interruption in the 70s,
which included 1973. So
there was actually no
yearbook produced the
year he received his Ph.D.
Collins’ jacket is made of
Iowa maps. While painted
a traditional “Hawkeye
Black,” you can still
see details of the maps
underneath if you move
in relation to the piece.
As the light catches it at
different angles, county
lines appear in gold and
warm hues.
Composition generated
from a medium-format
photograph taken by
Underwood, a former
assistant at the famed
Lasansky Gallery and
Studio in Iowa City.
His face was made using
an ink transfer process
utilizing a flipped inkjet
print of his photograph,
transparent matte medium,
and Iowa maps. Through
pressure, the ink detaches
from the paper it’s printed
on, adhering to the matte
medium instead.
A weighty legacy.
The framed piece tips
the scales at roughly
23 pounds. •
16 IOWA LEDGER 2022