During his tenure at Iowa State, President Steven Leath didn’t want to be the type of president to put his feet up and just relax when all is said and done.

To him, being a successful president is more than accomplishing the goals set before him, but rather knowing that there is always more to be done. The target, he said, is constantly moving.

And to leave Iowa State, Leath said, was a tough choice.

In the midst of lagging state funding, consistent tuition increases and an infrastructure bursting at the seams, Iowa regent universities like Iowa State are trying to make ends meet through tactics such as deferred construction and halted faculty searches.

But through the ebbs and flows of the Iowa Legislature and its trickling relationship with higher education, a lot has been accomplished at Iowa State under Leath’s leadership.

A couple of his biggest achievements? Making Iowa State a more appetizing place to receive an education and increasing the value of an Iowa State degree.

“If you roll it all into a bundle, I think the biggest thing I’ll take away and accomplishment as a group — the faculty, staff, students, especially the alum — the reputation based on substance at Iowa State is really improved in the last five years,” Leath said.

So why then did the 10 years Leath ensured the regents during the original interview process that he could see himself staying at Iowa State transition to five?

In a campus-wide email to the university, Leath said when first approached by Auburn University to serve as its president, he wasn’t looking to leave Iowa State, the campus of cardinal and gold. He said he loved Iowa State and the students, faculty and staff — the Cyclone family is wonderful.

But how could he pass up Alabama? The Heart of Dixie? A chance to be a War Eagle, someone fearless and true?

And with much thought, Leath said, it was an opportunity he and his wife Janet felt they could not pass up. The value of a Cyclone education, the branding of Iowa State and the future of public universities, at least in Iowa, would have to wait.

Leath was onto something bigger, something different. He found a new path to pave, a new destiny to fill.

He was leaving with a promise that saw fruition — ever to conquer, never to yield — the university is better, he said, than when he inherited it.

So in just six months Leath went from 15th president of Iowa State to 19th president of Auburn, from an annual salary of $525,000 to $625,000. He’s saying goodbye to his Cyclone ties, and trading them for ones decorated in orange and blue.

As he stood in front of the podium at Auburn University in late-March, accepting the position, he said he was humbled and honored to be chosen.

“The first thing I’d like to say is War Eagle. I’m going to enjoy getting to say that on a regular basis,” he said.

And like he said about the Cyclones, he echoed this sentiment to the Auburn Tigers — the university is about the people.

“It’s been an enjoyable time. My favorite memories, probably because of my personality, definitely the people — the students, faculty, staff — I really got close to a lot of them … so, I would say the people in general,” Leath said in an exclusive interview with the Iowa State Daily.

Reflecting on his time at Iowa State, Leath said student success is one of the things he’s most happy about looking back.

“When I came here I thought some of the goals I had personally like a 90 percent retention rate and a 75 percent graduation rate were probably almost unrealistic,” he said. “And in just 5 years we’re almost there … we are able to get kids here, move them through school and get them jobs right away.”

During a February 2017 Iowa regents meeting, retention rates were examined at Iowa State, which revealed the university hit a record high of 88.1 percent retention rate after one year of schooling in 2015. This is up from 87.6 percent in 2014.

Among other accomplishments at Iowa State, Leath said he is proud of the development of the Research Park, an innovation community and incubator for expanding business.

During his time at Iowa State, Leath has more than doubled the size of the ISU Research Park, which is expected to employ 5,000 people by 2025.

“To have that much progress in only 5 years frankly surprised even me,” Leath said.

On campus revitalization, Leath said he wished he could have seen the next section of Campustown come to fruition.

“All the way to the Geoffroy Hall to the Kingland building is fantastic, and now we’re making changes up Welch. I’d love to see the next section happen before I left but I’m confident it will happen,” he said.

But apart from his accomplishments, which include launching a $1.1 billion fundraising campaign and record enrollment, Leath’s legacy is not without flaw or misstep.

After a hard landing in 2014 that damaged Iowa State’s single-engine Cirrus, Leath came under harsh criticism for his mixed personal, business use with the airplanes and lack of transparency with the process. The hard landing resulted in roughly $14,000 in damages.

But Leath feels that the ordeal, later dubbed “Planegate” was a “gigantic distraction for [him] and the university.”

“It took away from all the good we are doing. And I don’t think it was ever fully or fairly portrayed in the media which is disappointing,” Leath said.

Another bump during Leath’s tenure included a land agreement between Iowa Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter and Leath over the summer after Leath purchased land from Summit Farms, a private company owned by Rastetter.

On that land, located in Hardin County, Leath said that while they are leaving Iowa, they plan on keeping the land and utilizing it for hunting, etc.

And in part because of the divisive presidential election, diversity and inclusion has been a topic on university campuses that is not omitted or excluded from Iowa State. In fact, Leath added administrative positions to help better understand the issues that many students may be facing.

That is not to say, however, that Leath feels Iowa State should be a place of extreme comfort.

“There has to be a clear understanding across all the student body, and I’m not saying it isn’t there, that there is a First Amendment in this country and to be a truly great house of intellectual thought,” he said.

“You’ve got to have opposing views and this bleeds into the factor that some students are still under the misperception that they’ve got to be comfortable all the time.”

So what will Leath’s legacy leave for his predecessor? For now, former Iowa State provost Ben Allen will fill his shoes as interim. By the first week of October, board interviews with presidential finalists are expected.

Leath said he hopes the next president of Iowa State has the vision to continue to build the community and increase its successes.

“This is a great university and I think it’s better known than it was 5 years ago, but there’s still room to grow,” Leath said, adding that he hopes the next president recognizes what he feels is a culture of caring about undergraduate education.

“I hope the new president gets that and helps keep that culture [and] that brand in place because there aren’t many big schools that care about undergraduate education as much as Iowa State does,” Leath said.

But for now, Leath will fight the battle through, every yard for ISU.