During his tenure at Iowa State, Iowa State President Steven Leath has boosted enrollment growth to new levels, launched a $1.1 billion fundraising campaign and doubled the size of Iowa State’s Research Park.

With this, however, his name has been plagued with controversies such as his use of Iowa State’s university-owned aircraft and a land deal this past summer with Iowa Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter. 

When inaugurated, Leath said he believed in the future of public universities, the branding of Iowa State and the value of a Cyclone education.

After unanimously being appointed by Auburn University’s board of trustees Monday morning, here’s a look inside his top-five accomplishments, controversies and moments during his past five years at Iowa State University.

1. The ISU Research Park

The Research Park — an innovation community and incubator for expanding business — is something Leath has worked to continually expand during his time at Iowa State. The Park was established in 1987 as a not-for-profit. It has been a hub for start-up companies and entrepreneurial ventures.

Dubbed the Cultivation Corridor, Leath and other Iowa businesses have worked to create growth in agbioscience, biorenewables, biotech and advanced manufacturing industries throughout the I-35 interstate.

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

2. Forever True, For Iowa State campaign

In October 2016, Leath announced a $1.1 billion fundraising initiative for the school, with hopes of raising the funds by June 2020. 

The campaign hopes to rally support for scholarships, faculty, facilities and programs.

“One of Iowa State’s greatest resources is its family of loyal alumni and friends,” Leath said during the campaign announcement. “This degree of loyalty is why the name of this campaign feels so appropriate. Our alumni remain forever true to this university — as Iowa State remains forever true to the principles of innovation, diversity and accessibility on which it was founded.”

Leath has been a president with a strong fundraising drive — launching a “quiet phase” of the campaign in 2012. His previous fundraising initiative, Moving Students Forward, raised roughly $204 million as of October and rallied specifically for scholarships and student support.

“Fundraising is an interesting experience, and it’s not, as many people think, you know like task-orientated,” Leath said in an interview with the Iowa State Daily in October. “I don’t walk up to you and say, ‘Hi, I’m Steve Leath, I’m from Iowa State. I’d like you to give me a million dollars.’ And if I did, you’d think, ‘What is the matter with this guy?’

“It’s about relationships and trust. Donors and people that want to support you have to believe that you are going to use the money the way they want it used.”

3. Leath’s use of university-owned aircraft and land agreement

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. 

In result of the hard landing, among other uses of the aircraft — including using the planes to attend doctor visits and picking up relatives on one of Iowa State’s planes while on the way to an NCAA basketball tournament — the Board of Regents conducted an internal audit. 

Within the audit, it was decided that while Leath’s use of the aircraft entered several shades of gray, “the [plane] use did not violate existing board policy,” and that the regents “agree with President Leath that we can and must do better.”

The regents said board staff and university administrators, moving forward, will work to create clearer policies and will review if ISU’s Flight Services are in the best interest of the university through a comprehensive review currently in progress.

Leath announced during a special meeting in December to review the audit that due to the fact that one of the three university pilots is retiring, the university will be selling the Cirrus SR22. Leath had announced in September that he will no longer fly university-owned aircraft.

“I learned a great deal from this experience and I believe it will make me a much better president and a much more conscientious president,” Leath said.

Leath also ran into controversy in early July 2016 after purchasing land with the help from Summit Farms, a private company run by Iowa Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter.

Leath backed the claim, however, saying there was nothing improper about the transaction and that it is “unfortunate that someone created a story where one didn’t exist.”

In a letter to the Iowa State community announcing his resignation, he mentioned the land purchased saying, “In fact, it was not long ago we bought a farm here and expected to retire here.”

4. Cancellation of Veishea

In a press conference in August 2014, Leath announced that Veishea will be discontinued and the name retired.

The cancellation came after safety concerns with the event, specifically after a riot in Campustown in April 2014 where one student was seriously injured by a falling light pole during the riot. 

“I understand that is very sad and disappointing for most of us to see a 92-year-old tradition come to an end,” Leath said during the press conference. “And there are going to be some that are upset with this decision, but I’m not going to continue to put students at risk so we can observe what to many has become a weeklong party.”

Since the cancellation of Veishea, some activities have been introduced to rebuild the sense of community and tradition Veishea carried – such as Cyclone Market.

5. Record enrollment

Since taking office in 2012, Leath has helped the university reach new heights in its enrollment, with fall 2016 seeing a record enrollment of 36,660 students. 

And while not all credited to Leath, Iowa State student enrollment has increased nearly 44 percent in the past decade, a growth that has both challenged and driven faculty and administration to maintain quality with an ever-growing quantity.

In the past year, Iowa State has grown nearly 1.9 percent since fall 2015.

In the fall of 2012, Iowa State set a record of 31,040 students enrolled at Iowa State.