Dear students, faculty, and staff,

When I have looked for clarity as president, I have looked toward my predecessors for guidance—with Sandy Boyd serving as the north star amongst them all.

“I returned to the university with the conviction that old presidents should never be heard and seldom seen,” President Emeritus Willard "Sandy" Boyd writes in his memoir, A Life on the Middle West’s Never-Ending Frontier.

In October, I announced my decision to retire as soon as a successor was appointed by the Board of Regents. I wanted to provide the board and our university as much time as necessary to conduct a search for a new leader.

Thanks to the diligent work and progress of the search committee, they are well into the process six months later, with campus visits scheduled for finalists in mid-April and a Board of Regents meeting to select a new president on April 30. Board President Michael Richards has requested that I remain president through May 16, which will allow the new president the opportunity to begin at a date of their choosing.

Our new president will find a community of scholars, researchers, and students ready to take the next step toward a remarkable future. Each of you has created a university that, by all measures, has improved over the past five years. Student retention is up, and the university is setting new records for national and international scholarships, research and grants, and national academy selections. We have much to be proud of, and I have no doubt the university is headed in the right direction.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible over the next few months on campus and as always – Go Hawks!

Bruce Harreld, president

Board of Regents President Michael Richards issued this statement of appreciation for President Harreld:

 I am incredibly grateful for President Harreld’s service to the University of Iowa and its students, faculty and staff.  As a result of his continued strong leadership, the University of Iowa continues to be one of the top public universities in the nation.

The search for the next UI president is going well and we anticipate hiring the next president on April 30. I am thankful that President Harreld has agreed to remain president through the conclusion of spring commencement. At our April Board of Regents meeting, we will appoint an interim president to fill whatever brief time is needed until the next president can begin his or her duties.