Barbara J. Wilson, executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs for the University of Illinois System, will become the 22nd president of the University of Iowa on July 15, 2021. The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, announced Wilson as its unanimous selection at its meeting in Iowa City on Friday, April 30.

“I am delighted to be part of the next phase of the University of Iowa,” Wilson says. “This is a very exciting moment. I said during my forum, and I meant it, that in many ways this is my dream job. I was born and raised in the Big Ten and I’m a Midwesterner at heart. I’m all in and excited to be here. I’ll be cheering for the virtues and fortunes of this university. Count me in.”

Michael Richards, president of the Board of Regents, says Wilson has had a long and distinguished career in higher education.

“She has the intellect, vision, and experience to be the University of Iowa’s president,” Richards says. “We are thrilled to start this relationship and see how she can move this university forward.”

Wilson says her first goal is to begin building relationships.

“I hope I lay my head down every night exhausted from meeting with people,” Wilson says. “I want to make sure there are lots of voices in my ear and lots of ways for me to understand and learn about Iowa. I want to get to know people here and understand what their passions are and what kinds of things they want to work on.”

Sandy Daack-Hirsch, associate professor and interim executive associate dean of the College of Nursing, and John Keller, dean of the Graduate College, served as co-chairs of the 21-member search committee charged with recruiting and vetting applicants for the position. 

“Our faculty, staff, and students make up the heart of our great research university,” Daack-Hirsch says. “We expect that Barbara Wilson will bring her unique experiences and skills to forge partnerships that will make a lasting impact on the lives of everyone on campus and across the state.”

Wilson brings rich experience in higher education

Wilson brings extensive leadership experience to her role as UI president. Since 2016, she has served as executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs for the University of Illinois System, which enrolls more than 90,000 students across three main campuses and includes a 462-bed hospital. Before that, she served one year as interim chancellor for the Urbana-Champaign campus, a top-ranked land grant research institution with more than 45,000 students and nearly 2,000 tenure-track faculty.

Wilson’s other administrative roles at Illinois have included two years as the university’s Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, two years as executive vice provost for faculty and academic affairs, three years as vice provost for academic affairs, and seven years as head of the Department of Communication.

Wilson’s research interests include the social and psychological effects of the media. She is co-author or co-editor of four books and has authored more than 80 research articles, book chapters, and technical reports.

Before joining the Illinois faculty in 2000, Wilson was an assistant professor at the University of Louisville for three years and a faculty member at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) for 12 years. She also spent eight years as director of graduate studies in UCSB’s Department of Communication.

A native of Appleton, Wisconsin, Wilson earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, a Master of Arts in communication arts, and a PhD in communication arts, all from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

She is married to John Lammers and they have two grown daughters.

Wilson, 63, will succeed Bruce Harreld, who served as Iowa’s president from November 2015 to May 2021. Harreld announced in October 2020 his intent to retire. Keller will serve as interim president after Harreld’s last day on May 16 until Wilson begins.

About Iowa

The University of Iowa is one of America’s premier public research universities. Founded in 1847, it is the state’s oldest institution of higher education and is located alongside the picturesque Iowa River in Iowa City.

A member of the Association of American Universities since 1909 and the Big Ten Conference since 1899, the University of Iowa is home to one of the most acclaimed academic medical centers in the country, as well as globally recognized leadership in the study and craft of writing. Iowa is known for excellence in both the arts and sciences, offering world-class undergraduate, graduate, and professional academic programs in a wide variety of fields.