Regents select Mark Nook as Northern Iowa's next president

The Iowa Board of Regents has named a native Iowan and longtime Midwesterner as the next president of the University of Northern Iowa.

Regents voted unanimously Tuesday to select Mark Nook, chancellor at Montana State University Billings, as the 11th president of the Cedar Falls-based university.

A native of Holstein, Nook described his pending move to UNI as a homecoming for him and his wife, Cheryl.

"This is a university that has done amazing work," Nook told a crowd of hundreds in the Maucker Union on the UNI campus. "You've taken an orphanage and turned it into one of the great public comprehensive universities. And Cheryl and I are very excited for this opportunity to work with you and continue that amazing work to build this university, to help support this state and to continue to educate Iowans to serve Iowa."

Nook will assume his duties as president on Feb. 1, 2017. He will receive a three-year contract that includes an annual salary of $357,110 as well as the option of applying for tenure within the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Previous coverage:

• Profile: Third UNI finalist led universities in Montana, Wisconsin
• Forum: Nook would bring 'multiplicity' of experience to UNI

Members of the UNI community touted Nook's "multiplicity of experience" as an administrator and faculty member in several institutions that match UNI in terms of size, scope and mission.

Nook's resume includes decades of service as an astrophysicist, dean, vice chancellor, chancellor and statewide system senior vice president at regional public universities in Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin.

“The one thing I bring is both breadth and depth of understanding of higher ed and of individual campuses," he said. "I have experience in three different states now. This will be the fourth."

But community members also praised his engaging temperament and personality.

“I liked most his student-centered mentality,” said Regent Rachael Johnson, a UNI student who served on the 21-member UNI Presidential Search and Screen Committee. “He is so genuine and so kind, and just a humble person who I thought would be an incredible fit to lead UNI.”

Bullish on regional universities

Nook began his open forum on campus last week by explaining why — despite the highly crowded landscape of higher education nationally — he remains bullish on the long-term outlook for regional public comprehensive universities such as UNI

"There is no other group (in higher education) that will bring in the same percentage of Iowa students and return those students to their state,” he said. “We create the next group of leaders of Iowans.”

It was that strong, optimistic message that helped Nook beat out a group of finalists that included Jim Wolhpart, UNI's provost and interim president, and Neil Theobald, the former president of the 38,000-student Temple University in Philadelphia.

“He’s very thoughtful, very deliberative, and he understands the system,” said Bruce Rastetter, regents president. "One of the unique things about the search is the excitement of the search committee for all the candidates, but in particular for Mark.”

Rastetter added that the regents remain pleased with the work Wohlpart is doing as interim president at UNI and are encouraging Wohlpart to continue as UNI provost after Feb. 1.

Nook said he isn't looking to change the leadership team after he arrives on campus.

"I don’t have plans to bring anybody or bring a team in," Nook said. "And from what I can see, there is a good team here that is running very smoothly and well."

Overseeing a larger university

UNI will be the largest institution that Nook has overseen directly.

He currently is one of two chancellors and a dean that run the three affiliate campuses of Montana State University, and who report to President Waded Cruzado at the main campus in Bozeman. Enrollment on the Billings campus is about 4,400 and the school participates in Division II athletics.

During the years he served as vice chancellor and interim chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the regional university had an enrollment of about 9,000 and participated in Division III athletics.

Yet Nook also has experienced the opportunities and challenges that come with much larger campuses. From 2011 to 2014, he served as senior vice president for academic student affairs in the 181,000-student University of Wisconsin System. The position oversees 13 four-year and 13 two-year colleges.

There is no position comparable in the Iowa regent system, he said.

Nook grew up about an hour east of Sioux City. He earned his bachelor's degree at Southwest Minnesota State University and a master's degree from Iowa State University before earning a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Praising the search process

Faculty leaders at UNI praised both Nook's selection and the work performed by the search committee.

“I think he’s very well-qualified,” said Michael Walter, an associate professor of biology and vice chair of the UNI Faculty Senate. “We were just really excited to have three outstanding finalists. But I’m not surprised that he was picked.”

The only thing negative about the search, Walter said, is that the list of finalists lacked diversity by including only white men.

Joe Gorton, a professor of criminology, said the three-month search process at UNI managed to avoid the allegations of favoritism that plagued year's search for a new president at the University of Iowa.

“Their methods aligned closely with presidential search guidelines established by the American Association of University Professors, and their decision is consistent with the findings from our survey of UNI professors and instructors," said Gorton, who also serves as president of United Faculty/AAUP, the union that represents more than 550 faculty members at UNI.

Because of the success of the UNI search, Gorton said he intends to ask the AAUP to reconsider the sanctions the national professional organization has placed on UI in response of the 2015 search.

The recent search process at UNI also drew praise from members of the Iowa Legislature who have been critical of the UI search.

"I believe the process has been transparent and credible," said state Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls.

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at jcharisc@press-citizen.com or 319-887-5435. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffCharis.

Past University of Northern Iowa presidents

• James Cleland Gilchrist, 1876-1886
• Homer Horatio Seerley, 1886-1928
• Orval Ray Latham, 1928-1940
• Malcolm Poyer Price, 1940-1950
• James William Maucker, 1951-1970
• John Joseph Kamerick, 1970-1983
• Constantine William Curris, 1983-1995
• Robert D. Koob, 1995-2006
• Benjamin Allen, 2006-2013
• William Ruud, 2013-2016