Willard L. Boyd and Susan Boyd

Willard L. and Susan Boyd

Willard: 1927—2022
  • Willard L. Boyd was a Rawlings-Miller Professor of Law at the University of Iowa and President Emeritus of the University of Iowa and The Field Museum of Chicago
  • Professor, The University of Iowa College of Law from 1954 to 1964; during this time he earned his S.J.D. from Michigan in 1962.
  • Beginning in 1964, he served as Associate Dean of the College of Law before becoming Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculties for The University of Iowa, a position he held from 1964 to 1968.
  • From 1969-1981, Boyd served as the fifteenth President of The University of Iowa.
  • Chairman of the American Association of Universities from 1979 to 1980.
  • Following his tenure as a university president, Boyd served as the President of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago from 1981 to 1996. During this time, he was one of the first recipients of the Charles Frankel Prize (now the National Humanities Medal) in 1989, honoring his efforts to bring history, literature, philosophy and other humanities disciplines to general audiences.
  • From 2002 to 2003, Boyd served the UI as interim president
  • He was a Chester Phillips Research Fellow at the Tippie College of Business at Iowa from 2003 to 2006.
  • Longest-serving member on the Carver Charitable Trust board of trustees
  • Susan Kuehn married Willard "Sandy" Boyd in 1954
  • Susan Boyd served as a patient service representative at University Hospitals from 1976 to 1981
  • Susan attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts and enjoyed early success as a guest fiction editor for Mademoiselle; she went on to publish several prize-winning stories and her work appeared in magazines such as Redbook and Harpers
  • The Boyd Law Building was also named for in honor of Willard Boyd
  • Additional information

Building Information

Street Address
601 Newton Road
Year built
1976
Additional building information
Boyd Tower

Located in the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics on the UI Health Sciences Campus.

  • Ambulatory Care Services
  • Health Care Information Systems
  • University Employee Health Clinic
  • University of Iowa Chemical Dependency Services

Aerial View