Steven Leath, currently the vice president of research at the University of North Carolina System Chapel Hill, has been nominated as a presidential finalist at Iowa State University.

Leath has held several positions in the past, including working as an extension plant pathologist at the University of Illinois, Urbana; a plant pathologist and research leader at North Carolina State University; acting national program leader for grain crops for the United States Department of Agriculture; and most recently the vice president of research and sponsored programs at the University of North Carolina.

According to a news release issued when Leath first took office at North Carolina in 2007, he was hired to help the university “advocate for increased levels of external support from federal, state and private sources and [worked] closely with … administrators to develop research and sponsored program activity.”

Before being named vice president, Leath worked as a professor and assistant director of the North Carolina Research Service and then was named interim associate dean and director of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

According to a release from the University of North Carolina, upon hiring Leath, then-president Erskine Bowles said, “Steve Leath is a proven researcher and administrator who brings a deep-seated understanding of the critical role of university research in improving North Carolina’s quality of life and competitive position in a knowledge-based global economy. Over the past two decades, he has earned the respect and trust of colleagues all across the state, and we are delighted that he has agreed to join our leadership team at General Administration.”

According to Leath’s curriculum vitae, he has helped UNC campuses increase their external funding and now the university attracts nearly $1.4 billion annually in competitive research grants and contracts above state support for salaries and infrastructure across many fields of research.

According to his curriculum vitae, Leath has authored nearly 100 scientific publications.

Leath also helped create the North Carolina Research Campus.