Iowa’s universities are not alone in looking to administrators with STEM backgrounds to lead their academic efforts. The same week ISU named Wickert provost, the University of Illinois named its College of Engineering dean to the same job. Leading research universities like Iowa, Iowa State and Illinois — those that belong to the prestigious 61-member Association of American Universities — have selected 23 provosts since 2010, according to a Des Moines Register review of university websites. Of those, only five had backgrounds outside of STEM fields.
http://www.indystar.com/article/D2/20120520/NEWS02/305200033/More-universities-pick-engineers-provosts-including-ISU-U-I
