Steven Leath | |
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15th President of Iowa State University |
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Assumed office January 16, 2012 |
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Preceded by | Gregory L. Geoffroy |
Vice President of Research, University of North Carolina system General Administration | |
In office 2007–2012 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Providence, Rhode Island |
July 8, 1957
Spouse(s) | Janet Leath (m. 1981) |
Children | Eric and Scott |
Residence | The Knoll |
Alma mater |
Penn State University University of Delaware University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
Occupation | University President |
Dr. Steven Leath is the current president of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.
Leath was born in Providence, Rhode Island, moving to St. Paul, Minnesota at the age of two. Leath later moved again to central Pennsylvania, where he took up a number of sports, including hunting and fishing.
He obtained his Bachelor's Degree from Penn State University in 1979, studying Plant Science. Two years later he received his M.S. in Plant Pathology from the University of Delaware, and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology and Phytopathology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1984.
Prior to his position at Iowa State, Leath was vice president for research for the 16-campus University of North Carolina system.
A notable event that occurred during Leath's tenure at Iowa State was his decision to permanently end Veishea after 2014. This was due to continued problems with violence that occurred during the festival, especially a series of violent disturbances that led to his suspending Veishea halfway through the festival in 2014.
On March 20, 2017, Leath announced his resignation from Iowa State after being named the new president at Auburn University.
Leath and his wife have two sons, Eric and Scott.
An Instrument-rated pilot, Leath damaged a Cirrus SR-22 owned by Iowa State while landing in gusty conditions in Bloomington, IL. The ensuing controversy about the use of school property for personal travel, and the fact that the school paid for the damage, led to Leath publicly declaring that he would no longer fly state-owned aircraft.