The Iowa Board of Regents has begun the process of finding the next president of the University of Northern Iowa, setting in motion a national search that is expected to bring finalists before the board in April 2027.
Regents approved the first steps unanimously during their Nov. 12 meeting. The action follows President Mark Nook’s announcement that he plans to retire at the end of the 2026-27 academic year. Nook has said he will remain in office until a successor is selected and arrives at the Cedar Falls campus.
A search process begins with outside partners
With the board’s approval, staff will begin seeking potential search-firm partners Friday, according to Board Counsel Aimee Claeys. Board staff also will start developing a search committee, which will help guide the process and establish a timetable for identifying candidates.
Claeys said she will lead the effort with Chief Academic Officer Rachel Boon and Senior Communications Director Josh Lehman. The group will work with the chairs of the search committee as the process takes shape.
“We fully anticipate that this search will follow the cadence and process that we have used quite successfully in recent searches,” Claeys said.
The approach is expected to resemble the process used to select David Cook as Iowa State University’s president in 2025. The regents’ plan gives the board and university time to identify candidates, conduct finalist reviews and complete the selection before Nook’s contract period ends.
Target date set for a new leader
The board’s stated goal is to have a new president on the UNI campus by the end of Nook’s contract period on July 1, 2027. To meet that goal, finalist selections are expected to come to the regents during their April meeting, which will be held at UNI.
| Milestone | Timing |
|---|---|
| Regents approve search steps | Nov. 12, 2026 |
| Search-firm applicant outreach begins | Friday following approval |
| Finalists expected before the board | April 2027 |
| Target for new president on campus | By July 1, 2027 |
That schedule leaves Nook in place during the transition. His planned retirement comes after nearly a decade leading the Cedar Falls university. By the time he leaves, he will have served as UNI’s president for 10 years.
Nook’s tenure enters its final academic year
Nook announced his retirement plans Oct. 23. In that announcement, he described his service to UNI and Iowa as “one of the greatest privileges” he has had. His decision establishes a leadership transition at a university whose next president will be chosen through a process overseen by the statewide governing board.
Board President Robert Cramer acknowledged Nook’s work during the Nov. 12 meeting and said regents would have another opportunity in an upcoming meeting to recognize the outgoing president. The comments came as the board formally shifted from acknowledging Nook’s tenure to organizing the search for his successor.
For UNI, the coming months will focus on building the structure of the search rather than naming candidates. The board has not announced a search firm, a completed search committee or a final list of applicants. Those decisions will develop as Claeys, Boon, Lehman and the committee chairs establish the process.
What happens next
The initial work includes two parallel tasks: identifying a firm that could assist with the national search and creating the committee that will help organize the review of candidates. The board has framed the effort as a familiar process, drawing on the recent presidential search at Iowa State.
- Board staff will seek potential search-firm partners.
- A search committee will be developed with board staff and committee chairs.
- Finalist selections are targeted for the regents’ April 2027 meeting at UNI.
- The board hopes to have the new president on campus by July 1, 2027.
The transition will therefore unfold over the remainder of Nook’s contract and the 2026-27 academic year. Until the board selects a successor and that person comes to campus, Nook is expected to continue serving as president.
The regents’ unanimous vote does not select the next UNI president, but it formally starts the search that will determine who leads the university after Nook’s retirement. The next major developments will be the selection of a search-firm partner, formation of the search committee and publication of a timeline for the national candidate search.
