(Radio Iowa) – The second finalist to take over as the president of Iowa State University made his visit to campus Thursday and held a public forum. David Cook is an Ames native and I-S-U graduate. He became the president of North Dakota State in 2022 after 14 years in administration at the University of Kansas Medical Center. “That for me really was my first entree into to what a land grant is about, getting out in the rural community, serving the state, caring about workforce, providing in that case, access to desperately needed health resources,” Cook says.

Cook says he took the opportunity to become a president at North Dakota State and loved it and the people, but says I-S-U is a unique situation. “This opportunity, it’s the only one I probably would ever even consider, but it’s home, it’s deeply personal,” he says. “Our family are here, it’s where we grew up. It’s where education opened my eyes to what it can do and what it can do for generations of people and how important that is…. I mean, it’s coming home.” Cook says he understands that agriculture and engineering are top priorities at I-S-U, but he says you have to understand the environment education is currently in. “We’ve got to have our graduates better prepared. They’ve got to learn how to write, they’ve got to learn how to communicate, they have to work in teams, they have to have critical thinking skills,” Cook says. “Those are all hallmarks of a liberal arts education, so we can’t forget that.”

He says I-S-U has and influence in all of the state’s 99 counties, and that too is a big responsibility. “What can we do to impact all those small business owners that are out there across the state of Iowa, that’s our job and our responsibility. I stumbled across this report that talks about the brain drain. Our college graduates in this state who have four-year degrees, they’re leaving. What’s our role and responsibility to do better?,” he says. Cook has a series of other events while on campus.

Cook and the other finalist, Benjamin Houlton will be interviewed by the Board of Regents next Tuesday and the Board is then expected to announce its choice. The new president will replace Wendy Wintersteen who is retiring.