CEDAR FALLS - A Florida administrator will become the new executive director of the Iowa Board of Regents.

Robert Donley, 47, was named the new director this morning during a statewide telephone meeting.

Donley has been serving as chief of staff and operations for the Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida.

He will replace Gary Steinke, who resigned Nov. 1 to become president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Steinke served as executive director of the board since 2004. He had been assistant to the president and director of governmental relations at Iowa State University prior to that event.

Donley interviewed last week with the Board of Regents during its regular meeting in Cedar Falls.

He told the board that he wanted to come to Iowa because he admires the way the state handles its universities.

"You are getting it right. You are doing what you need to do. It's refreshing to see a system working and working for students," Donley said.

Donley finds the goals consistent for higher education systems across the country.

"We want to provide quality of education and access to education at the lowest possible cost," Donley said.

Donley would like to see the Iowa universities do a better job of marketing themselves. He said taxpayers have a right to know where their tax dollars are going.

Part of that marketing, he said, would be reaching out to state legislators. He noted how in Florida they sent postcards to lawmakers that showed university graduates and said the system graduated 65,000 students last year and that is the state's talented work force.

"I look at our institutions as the economic engines that are going to move the country forward," Donley said.

Donley grew up in Rhode Island, so he said he's prepared for the climate change in moving from Florida. In response to a question from Regents board president David Miles, Donley said he's been forming new relationships throughout his career and looks forward to doing so in Iowa.

"I would be really happy working for a system that has made a commitment to students. This system gets it and it's hard to find systems that get it," Donley said.

Donley had been a finalist for the position along with John Hayek, an administrator in Kentucky's higher education system.

Contact Jon Ericson

at (319) 291-1461 or

jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.