Monday, March 9, 2015 - Sally Mason, University of Iowa President
Sally Mason became the 20th President of the University of Iowa on August 1, 2007. Trained as a cell developmental biologist, she also holds a full professorship in the Department of Biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.Currently, President Mason is overseeing a historic era of campus transformation, including rebuilding in the wake of the historic 2008 flooding, especially the renewal of an arts campus for the 21st century; the construction of a state-of-the-art children’s hospital and biomedical discovery research center; and the first new residence hall since 1968. At Iowa, President Mason has also spearheaded a sustainable university initiative, making sustainability a central priority of all aspects of the university enterprise. Under President Mason’s leadership, the UI has successfully met current economic challenges through careful planning, strategic prioritization, and increased efficiency.
Other major accomplishments during President Mason’s tenure have been a student success initiative that has led to increased enrollment and student retention, as well as an expansion of partnership agreements with Iowa’s community colleges in order to offer UI degrees to students throughout the state through on-site and distance learning programs. President Mason successfully advocated for a two-year tuition freeze for resident undergraduate students for the 2013–2015 academic years, the first such tuition freeze in nearly forty years.
President Mason received her B.A. in zoology from the University of Kentucky in 1972, her M.S. from Purdue University in 1974, and her Ph.D. in cellular, molecular, and developmental biology from the University of Arizona in 1978. She spent two postdoctoral research years at Indiana University before joining the molecular biosciences faculty at the University of Kansas in 1981, where she received awards for outstanding undergraduate advising and teaching and was awarded a prestigious Kemper Teaching Fellowship.
To read President Mason’s full bio, visit http://president.uiowa.edu/presidents-office/biography.