New University of Iowa president ‘will not seek tenure’

IOWA CITY — The five-year contract given to new University of Iowa President J. Bruce Harreld includes the possibility — subject to faculty recommendation — of a tenured position in the Henry B. Tippie College of Business.

But Harreld did not make tenure a condition of his employment and has said he 'will not seek tenure,' according to UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck.

The state Board of Regents on Thursday unanimously agreed to hire Harreld, who earned a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School before going on to become senior vice president for Kraft General Foods, president and board member for Boston Market Company, and senior vice president of IBM.

He has no academic administrative experience but taught as a senior lecturer with Harvard Business School from 2009 to 2014, the institution confirmed for The Gazette on Friday. He reported serving as an adjunct lecturer for Northwestern University from 1993 to 1994, but the institution's records and verification coordinator told The Gazette he was on the payroll from 1993 to 2002, serving as adjunct professor and on special projects with the Kellog School of Management.

The provision for tenure in Harreld's UI contract was 'simply boilerplate language,' Beck said.

The board on Thursday approved Harreld's employment with the university to become effective Nov. 2, but Regents President Bruce Rastetter told The Gazette he could start sooner.

The contract, which pays Harreld $590,000 annually and provides him a deferred compensation package worth $200,000 a year, requires he live in the president's residence at 102 Church St. Due to upgrades planned for the home, however, temporary arrangements are being made, UI officials said.

The university, according to the contract, will reimburse Harreld for all moving expenses.

On his resume, Harreld said he's currently working out of Avon, Colo., as an adviser for public, private, and military organizations on leadership, organic growth and strategic renewal. Property records show he owns a home in the mountain town near Vail worth $6.3 million.

He and his wife Mary Harreld also own a home in Cambridge, Mass., worth $2.5 million, and a beachfront property near Jacksonville, Fla., worth $2.6 million.

His $590,000 salary is about $64,000 higher than former UI President Sally Mason's $525,828 pay when she left July 31. Iowa State University President Steven Leath was given a 5 percent raise earlier this year, bringing his salary to $525,000, and Rastetter said the board considered that — and the salaries of other like institutions — when decided how much to offer Harreld.