1. Biography

2. President, University of Idaho

3. Personal life

4. Notes

5. External links

Charles Alan Staben (born May 3, 1958) is an American academic and university administrator. He is the 18th and current president of the University of Idaho,^[1] the state's land-grant and primary research university. Selected by the State Board of Education on November 18, 2013, Staben succeeded interim president Donald Burnett on March 1, 2014.^[2][3] He was previously provost at the University of South Dakota and the acting vice president for research at the University of Kentucky.

Biography

Born and raised in Waukegan, Illinois, Staben has two sisters; their father was an engineer and manager at United States Steel, primarily at the wire products plant in Waukegan. Staben attended Waukegan Township High School and graduated in three years; he was a member of the swim and tennis teams, was Outstanding Math Student of the Year, and was valedictorian.

Staben attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and majored in biochemistry. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he graduated with honors, magna cum laude, in 1978. He earned his doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984, serving as a graduate research and teaching assistant. Staben completed an industrial postdoctoral research fellowship at Chiron Research Laboratories from 1985–1986 and a postdoctoral research fellowship at Stanford University from 1987 to 1989.

Moving east to the University of Kentucky in Lexington in 1989, Staben was a professor of biology from 1989 to 2008, serving as the chair of the biology department {{nowrap|(2000–2004).}} He taught microbiology, genetics, bioinformatics, and introductory biology, winning awards including the College of Arts and Science's "Distinguished Teacher Award" from 1997 to 2000, that college's most prestigious teaching award.^[4]

From 2005 to 2008, he was the associate vice president for research at the University of Kentucky, acting as vice president from 2006 to 2007. From 2008 to 2014 Staben served as provost and vice president for academic affairs of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.^[5]

President, University of Idaho

As president of the University of Idaho, Staben has sought to grow its enrollment and more broadly increase college attendance in Idaho.^[6] Working with the State Board of Education, in 2015 he advanced a "direct admissions" initiative that offered automatic admission to the state's public universities and colleges for qualified public high school seniors.^{[7][8][9][10]} Staben implemented additional changes to increase access to education, including free admission processing for all Idaho residents and a "durable admissions" program that allows student to defer admissions for up to four years after initial admission, accommodating students who have post-high school experiences such as religious missions, military service or "gap" years.

Staben maintains office hours where any student, faculty member, staff member, community member, or group is able to meet with him. He and his wife, Mary Beth, participate in the Friendship Families program, hosting international students at their home throughout the year.^[11] Staben has also challenged students to play him in racquetball, offering to buy lunch for the student who can beat him. In November 2015, he lost his first and only student match.^[12]

Staben has emphasized innovation in the university's research mission, updating intellectual property guidelines in 2014.^[13] The revised approach allows industries to retain ownership of intellectual property while the university retains the right to publish and disseminate research results. The university notes that "the change already has generated projects – first among them, electrical engineering professor Brian K. Johnson's research into power systems modeling for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratory (SEL)."^[14] Other agreements under the revised guidelines have included Idaho Power and Micron. Staben has also advanced a new Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) for research that supports the dairy industry in Idaho.^[15] Idaho's legislature appropriated $10 million for CAFE in 2017. University research expenditures have grown 15 percent during Staben's tenure, reaching a new high of $109.5 million in FY2017.^[16]

During Staben's administration, the University of Idaho expanded its law program location in Boise to offer all three years of a juris doctorate education in that city (in addition to a location in Moscow).^[17] In fall 2016 the university moved its Boise Law offerings to the newly renovated Idaho Law and Justice Learning Center at the former Ada County Courthouse.^[18]

Working with the State Board of Education, Staben has also sought to expand the University of Idaho's participation in the WWAMI Regional Medical Education Program. The university received funding for 10 additional slots in the program in 2014 and 2015, with funding for five new positions for a total of 40 added by the Idaho legislature in spring 2016.^[19] WWAMI implemented a new 1.5 year basic sciences curriculum and now houses all 80 students in renovated and new facilities.^[20] In a state without its own public medical school, Staben has called for bolstering all elements of the medical education pipeline – pre-medical education (including a new biomedical science undergraduate major), undergraduate medical education and residency opportunities.^[21]

President Staben helped the university complete its successful “Inspiring Futures” fundraising campaign at $261M in 2015. The university has set new records for fundraising, reaching $42.8M in FY2018. The university has upgraded its facilities under President Staben. The College of Education Building has been completely renovated. A new interdisciplinary research building, the Integrated Research and Innovation Center, opened in January 2017. The University plans to begin construction of a 4,200 seat basketball arena with innovative wood timber construction in Spring 2019. This building engages and honors Idaho’s forest products industry.^[22]

The University of Idaho rejoined the Big Sky Conference in football in fall 2018, becoming the first FBS program to move to FCS. The Vandals have experienced three consecutive away game sellouts in fall 2018: at Idaho State University in Pocatello, at Montana State University in Bozeman, and at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. In 2017 the University of Idaho became the NCAA’s first team to play indoor soccer, moving competition to the Kibbie Dome in Fall 2017.^[23] This innovative move has ensured a safer playing surface for the team into the end of the fall season. More than 4,100 people attended the first match in the Kibbie Dome.^[24]

President Staben has been named “Amigo del Año” (Friend of the Year) by the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs for the work he has done with the LatinX community, including the pre-college “Caminos al Futuro” project.^[25] President Staben was named to the American Council on Competitiveness for Fall 2018.

During President Staben's tenure, the University of Idaho has also seen new program growth in areas such as computer science and online learning.^[26][27]

On May 25, 2018 the Idaho State Board of Education announced that President Staben's contract would not be renewed beyond the 2018-2019 year. Staben "will remain in the president role through June 2019."^[28]

Personal life

Staben enjoys racquetball, bicycling, hiking and skiing, among other pursuits. He is married to Dr. Mary Beth Staben,^[29] a practicing physician in Idaho. The couple have one daughter and two sons and reside in Moscow, Idaho.

Notes

External links

• University of Idaho profile

• Rezidentura
• Rezin Orr High School
• Rezipas
• Reziuan Mirzov
• Rez Kempton
• Rezlansar
• Rezne Wong
• Reznik (rapper)
• Reznor (disambiguation)
• Rezo Chkheidze
• Rezo Dzhikiya
• Rezo Gabriadze
• Rezon the son of Eliadah
• Re-Zoom
• Rezq
• Rezqabad
• Rezqabad, Kerman
• Rezqabad, North Khorasan
• Rezqabad, Razavi Khorasan
• Rezqabad Rural District
• Rezqaneh
• Rezq-e Soleyman
• Rezso Balint (painter)
• Rezso Kende
• Rezso Kokai