When he arrived at UNI as its president, Koob said he was amazed by the sense of community, commitment and success of the students.

“But we didn’t talk about our values explicitly,” said Koob, who retired as president in May, and is taking a one-year leave from UNI. “We couldn’t give a shorthand version of what we thought we were about.”

That changed, following values-based strategic planning and the formal implementation of a “Students First” mentality. “Everyone who visits here now is amazed that we all know who we are and exactly what we’re about,” he said. “We tell them we care about our students and want them to succeed. It’s our culture to make sure students have that success—that they feel welcome and that we want them to learn, to feel stimulated, to have a great social experience. And that’s everywhere. You hear it from the students, the faculty and the staff. Everyone seems to be on the same page.”

Extraordinary campus growth occurred under his watch, including the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, the Freeburg Early Childhood Program, the Center for Multicultural Education and the soon-to-open McLeod Center, and expansions to the McCollum Science Hall, Lang Hall and Maucker Union.

“I didn’t come in here saying, ‘we have to reform everything.’ I wanted to let those things that were going well continue to go well … the university is a living thing that keeps growing all the time, so you’re never really done. But everything I’d hoped to see us doing when I came here is underway. Credit goes to those who have remained flexible and had an open attitude about how we can evolve and do better. That’s been one of the really great parts of this experience. People have been willing partners in the growth of the university.”

Another Koob legacy is garnering greater recognition and acceptance for UNI. “It’s very important to articulate who we are in the context of our community and the state. We’ve helped our community come together and we’re recognized in the state as the truly Iowa university—the one with the most Iowa-rich student body, the fewest out-of-state students. I intentionally involved the university with the broader community. It’s a part of raising consciousness that this is okay, it’s part of our job. We’re here to help these communities grow.”

He personally helped that growth through involvement in community organizations, such as Cedar Valley’s Promise (which he co-founded), Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and the Waterloo Development Corporation. He also served on many state and national boards, receiving numerous honors for his charitable service.

“The institution as it ages, becomes more complex,” Koob said. “One of the things I tried to do was figure out which layers ought to be added. Community involvement was one of them. It seemed that universities want to be an integral part of their communities.”

While Koob dealt with financial struggles through much of his presidency, he worked hard to find the funds to keep the forward momentum, earning the respect of legislators, Regents, taxpayers and other constituencies. For the past several years he donated his salary increases to the UNI Foundation and is taking an unpaid leave rather than burden UNI with his salary.

“UNI has a unique role as a state and regional university, ensuring everyone has an opportunity to get a first-rate education at an affordable rate,” Koob said. “The challenge is there’s less will for public education and we may have to do things that otherwise wouldn’t have been done to finance this service. Hence, the emphasis on private fundraising and the “Students First” campaign and its successors.”

After years of “Students First” and placing the university’s needs ahead of his own, his new role will be spending more time with his family. He and Yvonne have already moved back to California where they will take a break from the demands of the past 11 years.

“There were all kinds of obligations connected to this role, but the real joy, the thing that I’ll miss the most is the energy of being on campus.”