Saba Rasheed Ali, associate dean for research and professor of counseling psychology in the College of Education, and Paul A. Romitti, professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health, have been named recipients of the 2025 University of Iowa Distinguished Chair. 

The UI Distinguished Chair, one of the most prestigious honors granted to faculty members at Iowa, is given to those who are known nationally and globally for their scholarly work and who have made significant contributions to the university, state of Iowa, and beyond. 

“These two exceptional faculty members are highly deserving of the honor of University of Iowa Distinguished Chair,” says Kevin Kregel, executive vice president and provost. “Beyond their impactful research, each exemplifies a deep commitment to teaching and public service that enriches our entire community.”

Saba Rasheed Ali, College of Education

Ali, who joined the faculty at Iowa in 2003, is an internationally recognized scholar whose research and teaching have significantly advanced the fields of career development and counseling psychology. Her research focuses on career and workforce development, particularly in rural areas. She has led and researched successful career education programs, such as A Future in Iowa Career Education and Project HOPE, impacting more than 7,000 students in rural Iowa. 

She further contributed to mental health workforce development in rural Iowa through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grants and youth career development through funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Act. She also earned several accolades for her work, including the Distinguished Professional Award from the Society for Vocational Psychology in 2024 and the Distinguished Achievement in Publicly Engaged Scholarship Award from the UI in 2017.

In her teaching, Ali connects work-related issues to community concerns, enabling future counseling psychologists to address workforce needs. Many of the doctoral students she has worked with stayed in Iowa to teach or practice psychology, addressing the mental health needs of local communities. As an administrator, she supports faculty and staff in their career development, fostering research in education that benefits communities around the world.

Paul A. Romitti, College of Public Health

Romitti, who joined the faculty at Iowa in 2000, is a world-renowned scholar in surveillance and interdisciplinary research of congenital and inherited disorders. Romitti directs the Iowa Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, which investigates environmental factors and gene variants for several birth defects. In addition to funding from the center, Romitti has secured more than $40 million in external funding for his research and authored more than 280 publications. His work was recognized with the National Birth Defects Prevention Network Godfrey P. Oakley Jr. Award for significant lifetime contributions to the birth defects field.

In addition to his scholarship, Romitti has directed several graduate courses at Iowa and mentored more than 40 pre- and post-doctoral scholars. He has represented Iowa on advisory boards, working groups, steering committees, and expert panels for several national and international organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, International Agency for Research in Cancer, and the World Health Organization. 

Romitti also has served as the director of the Iowa Registry for Congenital and Inherited Disorders, the statewide surveillance program for birth defects and other congenital and inherited disorders, since 1999. In this role, he led program expansion to include public health surveillance for stillbirths and muscular dystrophies. The program serves as a model for other states establishing congenital and inherited disorders surveillance programs. 

Previous UI Distinguished Chair awardees

• Amy Colbert, professor of management and entrepreneurship, Tippie College of Business (2024)
• Kenneth Tse, professor of saxophone, School of Music, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2024)
• Mark Blumberg, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences chair and professor, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2023)
• Keri Hornbuckle, professor of engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering (2023)
• Lea VanderVelde, professor of law and the Josephine R. Witte Chair, College of Law (2022)
• Peter Thorne, professor of occupational and environmental health, College of Public Health (2022)
• Stanley Perlman, professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Carver College of Medicine (2021)
• Michelle Scherer, professor of civil and environmental engineering, College of Engineering (2021)
• Corinne Peek-Asa, professor, College of Public Health (2020)
• Caroline Tolbert, professor of political science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2020)