PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 20, No. 7, Oct. 5, 2000

Stanley Ikenberry plans return to UI faculty

Photo by Bill Wiegand Stanley O. Ikenberry

Former UI President Stanley O. Ikenberry has announced he will return to the Urbana campus next year to teach, write and consult. He has expressed interested in teaching for the College of Education.

Ikenberry served as president of the UI from 1979 to 1995. He is currently president of the American Council on Education, the umbrella association for the nation’s colleges and universities.

"I’m absolutely delighted that he’s coming to the University of Illinois, and in particular that he’s indicated an interest in participating as a faculty member in the College of Education," said Susan Fowler, dean of the College of Education.

"We chatted during his recent visit to the UI and he told me that he would like to be involved with educational policy analysis, given his national perspective from the American Council on Education. He also is interested in lecturing and working with students and collaborating with faculty," Fowler said. "He would like to have an active role."

Fowler said Ikenberry’s knowledge and experience would be a valued resource to the college faculty and students.

"His experience with the American Council on Education, and his familiarity with the private as well as public colleges and universities around the country will be invaluable," Fowler said. "He knows what the issues are with Congress, and he has shown an ability to work on increased research funding and increased student loans. He has made incredible connections through his national role and his work with Congress and other national organizations."

Ikenberry said in his letter of resignation to ACE that this was an appropriate time for a transition in leadership, and that he hoped a successor could be named by June 2001.

"From a personal standpoint," Ikenberry continued, "Judy and I sense the time is right for us as well. I will remain professionally engaged and will be looking for opportunities to continue to serve the community. Still, we both seek more flexibility in our lives and time for family, writing and other interests."

Among Ikenberry’s accomplishments as UI president was the transformation of the Chicago campus by consolidating the university’s medical center and the UI at Chicago Circle into the largest, most comprehensive research university campus in the Chicago area. He instituted such major academic initiatives as the $50 million Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, both at the Urbana-Champaign.

Ikenberry served as chair of the ACE Board of Directors in 1990-91, and also chaired the board at the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (1987-88), and the executive committee of the Association of American Universities (1994-95). He chaired the board of directors of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching from 1994 through 1997.

Ikenberry currently serves on the boards of directors of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, the Pfizer Corporation, and UtiliCorp United of Kansas City.