Barbara J. Wilson (born November 27, 1957) is an American academic who has served as the 22nd president of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

since July 15, 2021. She previously was provost of the

University of Illinois system The University of Illinois System is a system of public universities in Illinois consisting of three universities: Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign. Across its three universities, the University of Illinois System enrolls more than 9 ...

Early life and education

Wilson was born on November 27, 1957, in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

. She earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1979 studying journalism at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. She went on to receive a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1982 and a

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in communications in 1985 from the same university while working under the direction of Joanne Cantor.

Career

After receiving her doctorate degree in 1985, Wilson became an assistant professor at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

where her research was focused on the developmental differences in children's cognitive and emotional reactions to mass media. After three years at Louisville, Wilson left for a position at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

in 1988 and remained there for 12 years. In 2014, Wilson was appointed dean of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. In 2015, Wilson was named acting chancellor for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign while the campus searches for a replacement for outgoing chancellor Phyllis M. Wise. In 2016, Wilson was appointed executive vice president for the University of Illinois System.

References

Presidents of the University of Iowa 1957 births Living people University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Appleton, Wisconsin University of Louisville faculty University of California, Santa Barbara faculty University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty University of Illinois System {{Academic-administrator-stub