As searches for a variety of administrative positions at the University of Iowa continue, The Daily Iowan documented the status of those searches.
The departures are only a couple of the many searches that have recently concluded or remain ongoing at the UI — 14 administrative positions have needed to be filled recently, to be exact, not including two people who announced they plan to step down from interim roles.
UI President Bruce Harreld told the DI in March he doesn’t see the departures as a problem, but rather just the continual turnover that occurs in an institution the size of the UI.
“You bring new blood in, they see different perspectives and backgrounds and also, every search, we start off a process that says, ‘What’s the role? Do we want to redesign the role?’” he said. “So we actually go through a self-searching before we start the search as to, do we have the design right, so we have a lot of them, and we’ll probably have a lot more.”
Recently wrapped up
College of Public Health Dean
The UI announced May 1 that Edith Parker will begin her role as dean of the College of Public Health starting June 1.
Parker has been a professor and chair of the UI Department of Community and Behavioral Health since 2010. She leads the UI Prevention Research Center for Rural Health, which is one of 26 applied public health research centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the UI’s announcement.
Parker is also the director of community outreach and engagement for the UI Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, as well as the associate director for community engaged research in the UI Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.
Keith Mueller has served as the interim dean of the College of Public Health since April 2017, replacing Sue Curry, the former dean. Curry took over the UI executive vice president and provost position on an interim basis in the spring 2017 semester until the UI could find a replacement. Mueller will resume his position as chair of the Department of Health Management and Policy.
College of Law Dean
Kevin Washburn, a law professor and former dean at the University of New Mexico School of Law, was named the new UI College of Law dean March 20.
Washburn will replace Gail Agrawal, the current law dean, after she announced in August 2017 she would step down at the end of the 2017-18 academic year after serving in that position since 2010.
In addition to his position at New Mexico, Washburn worked at other law schools around the country, including those at the University of Arizona, Harvard, and the University of Minnesota.
Washburn also served in the Obama administration as the assistant secretary of Indian Affairs from October 2012 until December 2015.
Vice President for Medical Affairs and College of Medicine Dean
The UI selected Brooks Jackson to fill this position in October 2017 after Jean Robillard announced in 2016 he planned to step down from his leadership roles. Jackson was on the clock starting November 2017.
Vice President for Student Life
After Tom Rocklin announced he planned to retire in 2017, the UI announced in May 2017 that Melissa Shivers would take his place. She started June 30, 2017.
College of Nursing Dean
Julie Zerwic, executive associate dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago, assumed the role in August 2017, replacing Rita Frantz, who retired from the position.
Searches in progress
Executive Vice President and Provost
In March 2017, P. Barry Butler headed to Florida to serve as the next president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Since Butler’s departure, Sue Curry has been filling his role on an interim basis.
The UI announced March 1 that Gail Agrawal, dean of the College of Law, and Teresa Mangum, director of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, will be co-chairs of the search committee for a new executive vice president and provost.
Faculty senators were told Isaacson, Miller has been selected as the search firm. Campus visits are expected to occur in January 2019.
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean
Curry has selected David Ryfe, the director of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and Sarah Gardial, the dean of the Tippie College of Business, to serve as co-chairs for a search committee that will help select the new dean for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
Current Dean Chaden Djalali announced in 2017 he planned to step down from the role once the 2017-18 academic year finished. Curry previously told faculty members she had planned not to hire a new dean before a new provost could be selected, but she switched course in the fall 2017 semester after hearing from faculty.
UI faculty members expressed concerns about the university conducting its 2020 initiative without starting the search process for a new Liberal Arts dean. The results of the 2020 initiative, they feared, might result in the breakup of the school, the largest college on campus.
Curry will select an interim dean this spring, and the UI expects to invite candidates for the position to visit the campus in the fall.
Museum of Art Director
After Sean O’Harrow stepped down from the position in 2016, Jim Leach, former Iowa Congressman and visiting professor of law at the UI, stepped in to serve as the UI Museum of Art’s director on an interim basis starting January 2017.
Curry selected John Culshaw, university librarian, and Steve McGuire, professor and interim director of the School of Art and Art History, as co-chairs of the search committee.
The UI announced April 12 that Leach will return to teaching and McGuire will assume the role of acting director for the Stanley Museum of Art until a replacement is found. Three candidates visited the UI in April.
Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Vice President
Since Georgina Dodge left the UI in July 2017 to become the associate provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion and an adjunct English professor at Bucknell University, Lena Hill has been filling her role on an interim basis. Monique DiCarlo is permanently serving as the Title IX coordinator, a role Dodge previously held.
The UI announced April 6 that Hill’s last day at the UI will be May 25, as she will soon leave the UI to become dean of the College at Washington and Lee University in Virginia.
Vice President for Student Life Melissa Shivers will retain her current role while also serving as interim chief diversity officer. The UI will launch a national search later this semester or early summer.
Associate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for UI Health Care
Ken Fisher retired from the position in June 2017. Doug True has filled the role as an interim since June 30, 2017.
Vice President for Research and Economic Development
The UI announced in September 2017 that Dan Reed would step down from the role. The UI announced Reed is headed to the University of Utah where he will serve as the University of Utah’s Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs on July 1.
John Keller, dean of the Graduate College and associate provost, has been filling the role in his place since October 2017 while remaining the Graduate College dean. Faculty members David Gier and Aliasger Salem are serving as the co-chairs of the search committee.
Recommendations for changes to the structure of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development are being considered as the committee looks to select a new leader for the office.
Dean of Students
In January, the UI announced Lyn Redington will head to Idaho State University as the new vice president for Student Affairs on July 1. So far, three candidates have visited the UI campus, with a fourth visit scheduled for May 3.
UI Health Care Associate Vice President and UI Hospitals and Clinics CEO
Kenneth Kates will retire this summer, the UI announced in January. Patricia Winokur, the executive dean of the College of Medicine, will lead the national search for Kates’ replacement, and a search committee is being formed.
Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of University College
