(An Iowa Capital Dispatch report) – David Cook has been named the new president of Iowa State University. The Iowa Board of Regents announced Tuesday afternoon that Cook, North Dakota State University president and one of two finalists for the Iowa State University presidency, has been chosen to lead ISU after President Wendy Wintersteen’s retirement in January.

Cook told ISU community members during a public forum last week that returning to ISU would be like coming home, as he grew up in Ames and completed his undergraduate education at the university. He said at the time he would not come back just to “reinvent the wheel” if selected, but to build on the legacy Wintersteen left and bring ISU to new heights.

David Cook has been named president of Iowa State University. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Wintersteen announced her plans to retire in May, after which the board of regents contracted with AGB Search and formed a committee to review candidates. Working with a timeline described by AGB Search Managing Principal Rodrick McDavis as “very, very, very tight,” the presidential search committee spent the summer creating a presidential profile and going through applicants, eventually narrowing down a pool of 78 people to eight semifinalists.

Of the four finalists selected for in-person interviews and public inquiry through forums, only two ended up coming to campus last week — Cook and Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Benjamin Houlton.