Sally Mason, who has served as president of the University of Iowa for the past eight years, has announced that she will retire on August 1. In a statement, President Mason said that “the holiday break gave me and my husband time to reflect on how we’d like to spend the next few years. When I returned, I approached the board of regents about retiring. It’s been an honor and privilege to serve as president of this great institution, I’m so proud of the progress we have made.”
Before becoming president of the university in August 2007, Dr. Mason was provost at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Earlier she served on the biology faculty and was dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas.
President Mason received her bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Kentucky. She holds a master’s degree from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in cellular, molecular, and developmental biology from the University of Arizona.