Iwama becomes IUN’s 7th chancellor
‘This man is crazy about education,’ daughter says
Bathed in a cream and crimson backdrop on a theater stage, Ken Iwama finally enjoyed his formal installation Friday as the seventh chancellor of Indiana University Northwest.
The ceremony, which included passages from “Romeo and Juliet” and “Hamlet” read by Iwama’s actress daughter Midori Francis Iwama, took place 17 months after the New Jersey native was named chancellor in April 2020.
Iwama, 54, said the enduring coronavirus pandemic had one positive effect.
“In the grand scheme of things as I stand before you now, I’m convinced it’s the way it was supposed to be,” he told the audience assembled in the new Arts & Sciences Building Theater. “Instead of speaking in front of strangers … there’s been a year of relationships. It’s a gift.”
The IU Board of Trustees plucked Iwama from the City University of New York, College of Staten Island, where he oversaw economic development as a campus vice president.
He follows William J. Lowe, who stepped down as chancellor last year after a decade at IUN.
Iwama proudly introduced his parents, saying his father immigrated to the U.S. in 1949 and was guided by his great uncle, Frank Iwama, who spent World War II in an Arizona internment camp.
Despite losing everything during the war, Iwama said his great uncle still believed in the promise of America.
The move to Northwest Indiana from the East Coast, with wife Joanne, a social worker, marks the first time Iwama has lived in the Midwest. He said his wife was rooting for a university in the Florida Keys or the Bahamas. The couple lives in Ogden Dunes near Lake Michigan.
Susan Sciame-Giesecke, interim executive vice president for university academic affairs and chairwoman of the search committee, said Iwama came prepared when he arrived for his IUN interview in Gary.
“He came a few days early and ate at local restaurants, visited businesses and walked the campus,” she said. Iwama told the committee he did the preliminary work to be sure his leadership style would be a good fit at IUN, Sciame-Giesecke said.
“There was no question he was the right person for the job
at this time,” she said. She cited the more than 100 remote meetings Iwama held with IUN faculty and staff before his arrival last August, gaining him the nickname “the Zoom chancellor.”
She said since then, Iwama has met every faculty and staff member. “His level of energy is contagious … he has a compelling vision for this campus.”
IU President Pamela Whitten, community leaders and students agreed Iwama was the right choice.
“He’s already shown he’s prepared to roll his sleeves up and get to work,” said Gary Mayor Jerome Prince, a member of IUN advisory board.
Prince called IUN “an anchor institution” in the city helping residents get an education, prosper in business and hold leadership roles.
Garrett Wolf, a senior and president of the IUN Student Government Association, said Iwama leads the campus with a student perspective at the forefront.
“I don’t think we could have found a better leader,” he said.
Lake Ridge Schools Superintendent Sharon Johnson-Shirley, chairwoman of the IUN advisory board, said Iwama connects well with IUN’s diverse population.
“It’s imperative that we stand beside our new chancellor to be a part of the solution,” she said.
It took his daughter to sum up her dad: “This man is crazy about education,” she said.
During her freshman year at Rutgers University, she found herself struggling, but relied on her father’s steady support.
“He was there encouraging me to stay and follow my goal, just like I have no doubt he’ll be there for you.”