ISU President Geoffroy says stepping down is right thing personally

The longest-serving president among Iowa's three regent universities said Friday stepping down from his post at Iowa State University by July 2012 is the best decision personally, and he feels he's leaving ISU in a good place.

After announcing Friday his decision to leave his position no later than July 31, 2012, Gregory Geoffroy, 64, told The Gazette the decision was a combination of being ready for a change personally and feeling he had accomplished key goals during his nearly 10-year tenure. He said he's been thinking about the decision for the past year.

“I've been thinking about where I am in life … just thinking about the big picture,” he said. “I came to realize sometime in the last couple months that this is what I need to do.”

Geoffroy is a well-respected, dedicated leader who will be missed, a student leader, an ISU booster and the state Board of Regents president said.

“He's done a tremendous job at Iowa State but more than that, when we have important decisions to make, he's always a person that I want to visit with and get his perspective,” Regents President David Miles said Friday. “I think he has great judgment.”

Geoffroy informed the regents of his decision during a closed-session for presidential evaluations Wednesday in Ames.

The regents will discuss the ISU presidential search at their April 28 meeting. Miles said he expects the regents will start the discussion about the search process, talk about how presidential searches are conducted nationally and how they've been conducted in the most recent Iowa university searches. Miles couldn't say for sure a search firm will be used to find Geoffroy's successor, but he said using a firm is very common in presidential searches.

The Board of Regents last hired a president when Sally Mason joined the University of Iowa in 2007. University of Northern Iowa President Ben Allen was hired in 2006. The average tenure of a college president nationally was 8.5 years in 2006, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

ISU students will want a new president similar to Geoffroy, who is open to interaction with and feedback from students, Luke Roling, ISU government of the student body president, said.

“He's really student-centered, student-focused in all of his goals,” Roling said. “That's the biggest thing in my mind.”

Longtime ISU booster Mike Lacey said he'd like to clone Geoffroy for another tenure as president. Lacey and his wife, Karon, are both 1966 graduates of ISU, and Mike Lacey has served as president of the Greater Des Moines Cyclone Club and the Cyclone Gridiron Club, a football fundraising group.

“We've been associated with Iowa State for 50 years and from my perspective he's been the finest leader we've had,” Lacey, of Elkhart, said. “He's just a real down-to-earth person with no pretenses. He wasn't somebody in my mind who was just passing through.”

Geoffroy said he won't seek another leadership role in higher education, but he may consider teaching freshman chemistry at ISU, where he has an appointment as a chemistry professor. But this change also could be a retirement; Geoffroy said Friday that remains to be decided. Geoffroy and his wife, Kathleen, have four children and four grandchildren across the country.

The university has dealt with layoffs and furloughs due to state budget cuts in recent years. Geoffroy said that has been difficult, but this decision is a “life decision” that is bigger than those challenges.

ISU has set records in fundraising, enrollment and external funding during Geoffroy's tenure. He cited the accomplishment of key goals, such as turning around the declining enrollment trend and directing more money to scholarships, as reasons he is ready to step down.

“All around the institution we've had a lot of success,” Geoffroy said. “I'm proud of the leadership team I've put together.”