Regents choose Leath as next ISU president

AMES - State regents have chosen Steven Leath as Iowa State University's next president.

The regents interviewed Leath and another finalist, Kumble Subbaswamy today in Ames and deliberated in closed session before announcing the decision this afternoon on the ISU campus.

Leath was signed to a three-year contract starting Feb. 1 at a base salary of $440,000, with an additional $75,000 annually in deferred compensation that awards longevity. Outgoing President Gregory Geoffroy, who had announced he would retire from the ISU presidency by next summer, earns $440,249.

Leath, 54, was most recently the vice president for research and sponsored programs at the University of North Carolina system.

Leath has been vice president for research and sponsored programs for the University of North Carolina system since 2007. He's also interim vice president for academic planning. At North Carolina State, he held several positions, including associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the NC Agricultural Research Service. He also was a research leader and plant pathologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service; and extension plant pathologist at University of Illinois, Urbana.

Leath received plant sciences degrees - a bachelor's (1979) from Penn State University and master's (1981) from the University of Delaware - and a doctorate in plant pathology (1984) from the University of Illinois.