The Iowa Board of Regents held two public forums on Wednesday and Thursday for the presidential search for Iowa State University. Originally, there were three finalists; one of the candidates withdrew from the process.
The two finalists are Benjamin Houlton, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, and David Cook, the current President of North Dakota State University.
During his forum, Houlton identified six of his top priorities for the university, which focus on recruiting world-leading talent, AI research, and partnerships.
In response to a question on the challenge of the university’s state funding, Houlton said, “Institutions have to develop significant philanthropy for scholarships, endowed professorships as a fundamental piece of an institution, and that’s something I have a track record of doing.”
Additionally, Cook says one of his priorities would be building strong relationships with the Board of Regents as well as legislators.
He says another priority would be identifying other forms of funding. Given universities are losing federal money for research, he says ISU should lean more on private sector partnerships.
President Wendy Wintersteen announced her retirement earlier this year.
