I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic. In December, I announced to the campus that I will retire in July. I’ve been a faculty member, an administrator, or both for over 35 years now. Thirty of those years have been at the University of Iowa. No doubt, some of my first students now have children attending the university.

Of course, I’ve seen a lot of changes in the time I’ve been here. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least ten brand new buildings, and a number of others that have been significantly renovated. I can remember a hallway conversation some years ago with a friend in Information Technology Services. She told me that the university was considering creating a University of Iowa web page—maybe. I can remember a time before mopeds and before, of course, laptop computers, let alone smart phones. I can remember a time when the state appropriation constituted about two-thirds of our general education fund budget, as opposed to the current one-third.

So, times have changed. But really, the things that make me so fond of and loyal to the University of Iowa are about the same. Students still come here, learn more than they could have imagined they would learn, have transformative experiences, make life-long friends, and discover new passions. Faculty members and staff members are still excited to help students accomplish their goals, including goals they might not have expected to have.

And all around me, absolutely astounding feats of creativity and discovery are taking place every day. One of my regrets—one that I hope to rectify in retirement—is that I didn’t make time to go to as many lectures, concerts, and exhibitions as I would have liked. New, exciting, sometimes challenging, ideas permeate the atmosphere on our campus and I want to know about them.

I hope your memories of your time at the University of Iowa are as fond as mine are. Retiring is a little bit like graduating. It’s a significant ending and, at the same time, a significant beginning. I’ll miss coming to campus every day and working with students and my colleagues. At the same time, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next chapter in my life holds for me.

The university has conducted a national search for my successor. I understand that the search committee has firm plans to bring candidates for the position to campus for interviews before the end of the semester. That should allow the new person to start in July as I step down. I am confident that my successor will value connections with former student leaders as much as I do, and I imagine you can expect to hear from the new vice president next fall.

Keep in touch!

Tom