Bruce Harreld

Harreld was born and raised in Gallipolis, Ohio. His father, James Sr., grew up on an 80-acre farm in Marion, Indiana, and spent the bulk of his career building power plants across the Midwest for the United States Atomic Energy Commission. His mother, Ann, was from Indianapolis. Her parents had emigrated from Romania and managed a grocery store that suffered during the Great Depression. Ann later earned a master's degree in education and became a teacher.{{Cite web |title=Getting to know the new UI president|first=Kathryn|last=Howe|work=The University of Iowa |date=November 2, 2015|accessdate=November 16, 2015|url=https://now.uiowa.edu/2015/11/getting-know-new-ui-president}}

Harreld graduated from Purdue University in 1972 with a degree in industrial engineering, followed by a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School in 1975.

Following his graduation from Harvard, Harreld participated on consulting teams at Boston Consulting Group and aided in opening additional offices in Chicago and Munich, eventually serving as vice president and board member until 1983. He then worked as senior vice president and division president at Kraft Foods until 1993, overseeing the frozen food unit.

From 1993 to 1994, Harreld was an adjunct professor at Northwestern University. He was also president and board member at Boston Market from 1993 to 1995, a time of massive expansion for the company. Harreld later served as senior vice president at IBM from 1995 to 2008, overseeing strategic restructuring of the organization.

From 2008 to 2014, Harreld was an adjunct professor at Harvard Business School in both the entrepreneurial and strategy units. He then briefly pursued freelance business consulting. In September 2015, the Iowa Board of Regents offered him the role of president at the University of Iowa. His term began November 2, 2015. Harreld's contract was renewed until 2023 in a process described as "opaque", but he retired in 2020.{{cite news |last1=Kelderman |first1=Eric |title=Bruce Harreld Holds On at the U. of Iowa. Does That Mean He's Succeeded? |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/bruce-harreld-holds-on-at-the-u-of-iowa-does-that-mean-hes-succeeded/ |access-date=September 28, 2021 |work=Chronicle of Higher Education}}

Harreld's appointment to the presidency of the University of Iowa was a controversial one, with his faculty objecting to the fact that he does not possess a doctorate, had limited publications to his name, and had minimal experience working in higher education.{{cite news |last1=Whitford |first1=Emma |title=Iowa President Ending Difficult Term With Early Retirement |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/02/university-iowa-president-will-retire-early-capping-five-year-tenure-started-rocks |access-date=September 28, 2021 |work=Inside Higher Education |date=October 2020}} A survey undertaken in 2015 showed that fewer than 5 percent of university faculty felt that Harreld was qualified for the position.{{cite news |last1=Payne |first1=Marissa |title=Regents recount secret meetings held prior to hiring Harreld as UI president |url=https://dailyiowan.com/2017/09/26/regents-recount-secret-meetings-held-prior-to-hiring-harreld-as-ui-president/ |access-date=September 28, 2021 |work=The Daily Iowan}} In September 2015, the Faculty Senate voted no confidence in Iowa Board of Regents as a result of Harreld's appointment.{{cite news |title=No confidence |url=https://dailyiowan.com/2015/09/09/no-confidence/ |access-date=September 28, 2021 |work=The Daily Iowan}}

The exclusion of standard faculty input from the selection process by the Iowa Board of Regents led to the University of Iowa being formally sanctioned by the American Association of University Presidents.{{cite news |last1=Brennan |first1=Paul |title=UI President Bruce Harreld says he'll step down in May, Board of Regents will appoint interim president |url=https://littlevillagemag.com/ui-president-bruce-harreld-to-step-down-in-may/ |access-date=September 28, 2021 |work=Little Village}} Other irregularities in the hiring process, such as the Regents' efforts to circumvent Iowa Open Meetings Law to meet secretly with Harreld on numerous occasions before his hiring, led to a lawsuit.{{cite news |last1=Payne |first1=Marissa |title=Timeline of events: UI 2015 presidential-search process |url=https://dailyiowan.com/2017/10/06/timeline-of-events-ui-2015-presidential-search-process/ |access-date=September 28, 2021 |work=The Daily Iowan}}

Harreld's stance on public health and classroom safety during the COVID-19 pandemic was also a source of controversy.{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Zachary Oren |title=Fact check: 'If you don't feel comfortable, stay home,' University of Iowa president writes student |url=https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/education/university-of-iowa/2020/08/11/covid-19-iowa-university-president-bruce-harred-emails-fact-check/3339984001/ |access-date=September 28, 2021 |work=Press Citizen}} Critics claimed that Harreld's actions increased the risk of disease transmission among the university community.{{cite news |last1=Kelderman |first1=Eric |title=Iowa Universities Are Caught Between Covid-19 and Politics |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/iowa-universities-are-caught-between-coronavirus-and-politics?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in |access-date=September 28, 2021 |work=The Chronicle of Higher Education}}

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Category:1950 births

Category:Living people

Category:American people of Romanian descent

Category:Harvard Business School alumni

Category:Purdue University College of Engineering alumni

Category:Presidents of the University of Iowa

Category:People from Gallipolis, Ohio

Category:American academic administrators