CEDAR FALLS -- Benjamin Allen, vice president of academic affairs and provost at Iowa State University, was officially appointed president of the University of Northern Iowa by the Iowa Board of Regents at a special meeting this afternoon.

The regents unanimously approved a motion to appoint Allen, made by regent Jenny Rokes.

Allen will begin work June 5 at an annual salary of $275,000 plus benefits.

Allen, 59, has been with ISU university since 1979 and served in his current administrative role since 2000.

He began his Iowa State career as an associate professor in the School of Business. In 1984 he became chair of the Department of Transportation and Logistics, but left for one year to serve as a visiting McKinley Professor of Economics and Public Utilities at the University of Illinois.

In 1988 Allen became director of the Midwest Transportation Center, a research consortium joining Iowa State and the University of Iowa. He helped write a proposal for a federal grant that with state matching funds totaled $4 million for the center. It was one of the first joint efforts for the state's two research institutions.

He left Iowa in 1990-91 for the University of Arkansas, where he spent a year as the Oren Harris Chairholder and professor in the Department of Marketing and Transportation. He returned to ISU the following year and spent time in the classroom before being named the Interim Dean of the College of Business in 1994.

Allen earned his bachelor's degree in business economics at Indiana University and his master's and doctorate degrees in economics from the University of Illinois.

He was one of three finalists for the UNI position. He replaces retiring Robert Koob and is the ninth president in the school's 130-year history.

Read Saturday's Courier and online updates for more details.