The 1959 Rose Bowl was the 45th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1. The heavily-favored and second-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference defeated the #16 California Golden Bears of the Pacific Coast Conference, 38–12. Iowa's star halfback Bob Jeter was named the Player of the Game. Iowa improved to 8–1–1 and California fell to 7–4 for the season. Future Berkeley, California city mayor Tom Bates was a member of the California Golden Bears team.