After 37 years in higher education, Don Beggs (PhD ’66) still refers to his years at Iowa as “a utopia of opportunity.” After graduation, he returned to Southern Illinois University, where he had earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and spent the next 32 years as a faculty member, dean of the College of Education, and Chancellor.

Eventually he decided it was time to retire, but as his website bio says, he is “now doing what he wants to do in retirement”—serving as the 12th president of Wichita State University. As an experienced educational administrator, Beggs says he looks at his current job much differently than he might have in mid-career.

“I’m not worried about how my decisions might impact my own career,” he says. “That frees me up to make certain choices for the long term that I might have thought about differently if I were worried about staying employed.”

Wichita State Director of Governmental Relations Eric Sexton says that “can do” attitude inspires staff and faculty at all levels and “empowers them to take responsibility for their jobs.”

Like thousands of other educational institutions across the country, Wichita State has had to face budget deficits as state legislatures wrestle with weak economies. Despite difficult times, the Wichita State faculty and students respect Beggs’s leadership and understand that he’s making decisions for the right reasons.

“Beggs’ legacy,” Sexton said, “will be a reconnection between the university and the larger state and local communities.”

Beggs says that his approach to leadership springs not from formal administrative training but from his experience as a teacher. “I try not to demand anything of my faculty that I wouldn’t have wanted to do as a teacher,” he says.

He adds that the training and examples he achieved from College of Education professors Al Hieronymus (MA ’46/PhD ’48), Leonard Feldt (PhD ’54), and Paul Blommers (MS ’36/PhD ’43) shaped his philosophies of teaching and administration. Beggs, whose time at Iowa was supported by a fellowship, says studying educational measurement and statistics instilled a discipline that carried over into his professional life.

“In my work, there’s a tremendous need to understand and interpret data,” he said. “Faculty members, legislators, and fellow administrators know that when they put statistics out there, I’ll understand them. I’ll also challenge people to use numbers responsibly and then help me to apply statistical research in a way that improves the university.”

Southern Illinois University Professor and Associate Dean of Education Patricia Elmore says that forthright approach to decision making is a Beggs hallmark. “Whether he’s tackling a research problem or a policy decision,” she says, “Don is analytical and fair.”

Elmore earned the first Ph.D. in educational measurement and statistics at Southern Illinois University, a program Beggs founded more than 35 years ago. He modeled the program on The University of Iowa’s, and Elmore says that more than once colleagues who have read her professional papers have asked her if she earned her degree at Iowa. She tells them, “No, but I studied with someone who did.

“Don’s impact has been huge,” Elmore adds, “because my generation is now passing along the analytical tools he taught us to yet another generation of education scholars and practitioners.”

In addition to guiding a school of more than 15,500 students, Beggs just completed the second of a four-year term as a member of the NCAA Executive Committee and the NCAA Division I Board of Directors. As collegiate athletics faces a number of crucial issues, including the use of school mascots, the tightening of eligibility requirements, and the interpretation of Title IX, Beggs is helping to shape an important dimension of American education.

“My time at Iowa set the tone for my professional life,” Beggs says. “My professors were committed and genuine, and they set high expectations for me and all their students.” –by Jean Florman