Written by: Gloria Kosir
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and neither does the corn from the stalk. In 1972, Lowell E. Dendinger graduated from Iowa Law and began a 43-year career as an attorney in Tipton, Iowa. In 2003, he returned to campus when a second Dendinger received his hood and diploma from Iowa Law—his son, Matt.
Different paths, same foundation
Jokingly referring to himself as the “foundational lawyer,” the senior Dendinger came to Iowa Law in 1969 after a brief career at Northwestern Bell Telephone Company.
“I didn't know what the LSAT exam was, so I just showed up one day at Drake University and took it without any preparation. I guess my undergraduate grades were just enough to get me into Iowa Law,” he said.
After graduating, Lowell began working at a two-lawyer firm in Tipton where he had interned during his 2L summer. At the firm, he primarily represented farmers and agricultural institutions. Even after a move to Iowa City in the early 1990s, Lowell continued to work in Tipton until his retirement in 2015.
Despite his close relationship with his father, Matt never felt pressured to follow his dad’s career path. What changed? “I was getting towards the end of my undergraduate degree in theater performance and realized I basically had qualified myself to starve to death,” he joked.
Matt graduated from Northwest Missouri State in 2000 and started at Iowa Law that fall. While Matt knew he didn’t want to practice the same area of law as his father, he credits his dad’s career as a major influence.
“Had my dad not been a lawyer, I don't think the idea of going to law school would have occurred,” he said.
After graduating from Iowa Law in 2003, Matt moved to Chicago and worked at the Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon law firm. He followed his now-wife, Jen, to Washington, D.C. in 2005, where he spent 14 years in private practice. The younger Dendinger has spent the last six years in Vermont with National Life Group, a 178-year-old life insurance and annuity company, and is currently Vice President and Assistant General Counsel.
Sharing connections at Iowa Law
Both father and son share a rare, intergenerational connection through their time at Iowa Law. Despite attending decades apart, their experiences intersected through Professor Emeritus William Glen Buss, who left a lasting impression on them both.
“[Buss would] say, ‘I know you know what you’re talking about—you’re just not saying it.’ So contrary to my son’s abilities on the Iowa Law Review, I was struggling with getting a concise written explanation approved by Professor Buss,” Lowell said with a laugh, noting the differences between him and his son. Lowell worked with Buss to improve his own legal writing, with Matt experiencing the same dedication three decades later.
“One of my distinct memories is that [Buss] had rotator cuff surgery, and he was teaching class with this big pillow under his arm and still managing to do a fantastic job,” he said. Matt had Buss for constitutional law and described him as a “fantastic professor who knew his stuff backward and forward.”
The pair emphasized that Buss’s 43-year career at Iowa Law reflects the college’s culture and quality. Their stints at Iowa Law also overlapped with many other faculty members including Arthur E. Bonfield, N. William Hines, and Alan Widiss.
Legally learned life lessons
For the Dendingers, Iowa Law provided more than technical training—it fostered adaptability that they carried throughout their careers and lives. Matt highlighted how remaining open to unexpected opportunities during and after law school ultimately shaped his path, even when it differed from what he originally envisioned.
“I guarantee that when I was a student at Iowa Law, becoming an in-house life insurance lawyer in Vermont was definitely not on the bingo card. It is a great example of how life spins us all in different directions that we never could possibly have anticipated,” Matt said.
For the senior Dendinger, Iowa Law also brought valuable opportunities, including great professional achievements and the nurturing of a passion for the law that spread not only to Matt, but to Lowell’s other son, Mark Dendinger, who earned a JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law. “They can both have pride in the fact that they have succeeded in life and dedicated themselves to the practice of law,” Lowell said.
The family’s generational commitment to legal work boasts a collective 84 years of experience across several practice areas. The Dendingers now live on the East Coast, each with lives and careers that sprouted from Lowell’s attendance at Iowa Law 57 years ago.