June 6, 2002

BOARD OF REGENTS, STATE OF IOWA

Contact: Owen J. Newlin, President
Gregory S. Nichols, Executive Director
515/281-3934

EDITORS: Willard "Sandy" Boyd can be called by news media before 7 p.m. at his home: 319-339-5948, and in his office Friday at (319) 335-9004.

Photo: Willard "Sandy" Boyd speaks at a news conference Thursday afternoon. Click here for a higher resolution image.

Former University Of Iowa President Boyd To Be Selected As Interim University President By Board Of Regents

Owen J. Newlin, President, Board of Regents, State of Iowa, announced this afternoon his intention to recommend Willard “Sandy” Boyd as Interim President of the University of Iowa. The Board, which has the final authority to make the appointment, will consider the recommendation at their next meeting, scheduled for June 19-20 in Ames.

Boyd, in addition to his status as President Emeritus of both the University of Iowa and of Chicago’s Field Museum, is currently a Professor of Law, and is a founder of the Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center at the University of Iowa. His previous service as President of the University of Iowa spanned the time period from 1969-1981. Prior to his presidency, he served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculties from 1964 to 1969. He received his B.S.L. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Minnesota, and his LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees from the University of Michigan.

As Interim President, Boyd will lead the University during the period of time after the departure of Mary Sue Coleman this summer until the new President assumes office. It is anticipated that the Board of Regents will try to complete the search and selection process late in 2002 or very early in 2003.

“Sandy Boyd is clearly a strong choice for this position,” commented Newlin. “It was striking to me as I consulted with individuals in the campus community, with other leaders, and with each individual Regent, that his knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, and other personal qualities are held in high regard. I have no doubt he will receive the approval of members of the Board of Regents, and will be warmly accepted on campus. We very much appreciate his willingness to take on this demanding, albeit temporary, assignment.

Background

Willard L. Boyd is a lawyer and an educator. He is Professor of Law at the University of Iowa and President Emeritus of The University of Iowa and The Field Museum of Chicago. He teaches courses on the legal and operational aspects of nonprofit organizations. He is one of the founders of the Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center, an interdisciplinary program at the University of Iowa.

Boyd received his B.S.L. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Minnesota and his LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute.

He has served as Chairman of the American Association of Universities, Chairman of the National Museum Services Board, Chairman of the Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar of the American Bar Association, Chairman of the Center for Research Libraries (Chicago), Chair of the Harry S. Truman Library Institute, Chair of Imagine Iowa 2001, President of the National Commission on Accrediting, and as a member of the National Council on the Arts, the Advisory Board of the Metropolitan Opera, the Advisory Committee for the Getty Education Institute for the Arts, and the Board of Directors of Americans for the Arts, Elderhostel, and Humanities Iowa.

Boyd became a professor of law at the University of Iowa in 1954, was named Vice President of Academic Affairs in 1964, and served as President from 1969-1981. He was President of the Field Museum from 1981-1996.

Boyd was one of the first winners of the Charles Frankel Prize awarded in 1989 by the National Endowment for the Humanities, honoring five Americans for their efforts to bring history, literature, philosophy and other humanities disciplines to general audiences. In 1996 he was selected as a Laureate by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois and received The Thomas & Eleanor Wright Award given by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations for individuals whose human relations efforts and activities have spanned all interest lines and for making The Field Museum a place where people of different backgrounds come together for a common reason. The Field Museum received the National Award for Museum Service in 1996 from the Institute of Museum Services. Boyd was the 1998 winner of the Award for Lifetime Services to the Public Humanities given by Humanities Iowa, the State Humanities Council.