University of Iowa President

Barbara Wilson: a new UI President

On April 30, Barbara Wilson was selected to be the 22nd president of the University of Iowa.

Incoming University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson will serve as the newest top Hawkeye starting on July 15. Wilson is the third woman to serve as the UI’s president. According to the UI Presidential Search

Committee Campus-Wide Survey, 80 percent of more than 300 respondents supported Wilson for the position. Respondents said they believe Wilson is well positioned to handle UI challenges and opportunities. She was selected by the state Board of Regents in late April and is set to serve a five-year term unless the regents extend her contract. Her annual salary will be $600,000. Wilson is a lifelong academic with a background in journalism and communication arts. She earned her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison between 1979 and 1985. Wilson then spent 12 years at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a faculty member before she ventured to the University of Illinois system. While there, she served the system in a variety of capacities, including her most recent position as the executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs.

As the 22nd president of the UI, Wilson will oversee 31,730 students, 25,287 employees, a sprawling health care system, and a reputation as a writing university as she prepares to take up office in Jessup Hall later this summer.

While at the University of Illinois system, Wilson served as the primary liaison to the University of Illinois system’s Board of Trustees, and led two diversity and one sexual misconduct committees.

She also led a system-wide initiative to promote leadership opportunities for women in faculty positions and spearheaded a $2 million initiative to celebrate the impact of the arts and humanities. Wilson also focused on recruitment of underrepresented minority faculty members. Colleagues and students at the University of Illinois system touted Wilson as a strong leader who embraces connection building in higher education.

In her first year at the UI, she plans to spend time building relationships and trust with the community. At her forum before she was selected, Wilson emphasized that she will form teams composed of students and work to elevate faculty of color and women to more leadership positions.

Until Wilson comes to campus, John Keller, the former dean of the Graduate College, is serving as interim president of the UI.

Each year, the university president conducts a President’s Leadership class offered to second-year students to develop their leadership skills.

of more than 300 respondents supported Wilson for the position80%

Incoming University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson addresses reporters in the Levitt Center for University Advancement on April 30. Wilson will be the 22nd president for the University of Iowa, coming from being the Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Illinois system. Ayrton Breckenridge/The Daily Iowan