After University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld announced his intent to retire in late September, the state Board of Regents named Sandy Daack-Hirsch and John Keller co-chairs of the UI Presidential Search Committee on Tuesday.

Daack-Hirsch, who is an associate professor and Interim Executive Associate Dean of the College of Nursing and Keller, who is the dean of the Graduate College are tasked with establishing the committee and selecting committee chairs to find Harreld’s successor.

As previously reported by The Daily Iowan, the regents approved Harreld’s retirement and set the presidential search in motion on Oct. 5.

Daack-Hirsch has been a part of the faculty at the UI since 2007. Her current field of study is in genetic disorders and families. She has also previously been a member of the UI Faculty Senate and served as its president for the 2019-20 academic year. She chaired the UI’s American Association of University Professors Sanction Removal Committee.

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“We will work to form a committee that follows the best practices document developed with the Board of Regents,” Daack-Hirsch said in a statement from the regents. “As the committee is put together, we will strive to ensure that it is diverse, inclusive and representative of the University of Iowa community.”

Keller has been on UI’s faculty since 1988 as an associate professor at University of Iowa’s College of Dentistry. He helped connect the UI Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to collaborate with the UI Graduate College.

“As we select membership, we will be sure to include members including faculty, staff, students and alumni,” Keller said in the statement. “They must each have a voice in this process. We will work together to find our next president, and do so in a way that is as open and transparent as possible.”

The regents plan to award a contract to a search firm to conduct the process of finding the next UI president by Nov. 13.