The University of Northern Iowa’s Wilson College of Business and department of finance has

established the Arthur T. Cox Real Estate Champion Award that will recognize UNI alumni who have given back to the real estate program and helped it become a fixture in the industry. UNI, located in Cedar Falls, has Iowa’s only four-year real estate program. The award is named for Art Cox, the longtime director of the UNI Center for Real Estate Education. Cox worked at UNI for more than 25 years before retiring in 2021. Cox was known for his extensive connections in the real estate industry and with alumni, a strength he used to grow the program, according to a news release. “It’s not hard to see the influence [Cox] had on the real estate program,” Brett Olsen, head of the UNI’s department of finance, said in a prepared statement. “You go anywhere in the state and talk about UNI’s real estate program, 90% of them say Art Cox. He’s one of those people who knows everyone, and everyone knows him. This is a testament to what he’s meant to the program and to real estate throughout the Midwest.” The creation of the Arthur T. Cox Real Estate Champion Award will be commemorated at the upcoming UNI Real Estate Alumni Reception and Award Presentation, hosted at the DMACC Urban Campus in Des Moines on Thursday. The inaugural recipient of this honor will be selected in 2025.