The Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is a public land-grant and space-grant university located in Ames, Iowa, USA. Iowa State has produced a number of astronauts, Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and a variety of other notable individuals in their respective fields. The January 2004 edition of The Economist ranked ISU as the 19th-best public university in the nation and 48th best public university globally for 2003. Until 1959 it was known as the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.