Jay Byers. (Simpson College photo)
The trustees of a private college in central Iowa with about 1,200 full-time students have selected a new leader. Jay Byers will be the 25th president of Simpson College in Indianola.
Byers said he’ll focus on the three Rs — recruitment, retention and resources. “We’ve got a lot of exciting momentum that’s happening here at Simpson,” Byers said. “I look forward to building on that momentum with the faculty, with the staff, with the students, with the trustees.”
Byers is a 1993 graduate of Simpson. For the past 18 years, he’s been working at the Greater Des Moines Partnership, an organization representing 24 chambers of commerce in 11 central Iowa counties. Byers became the group’s president and CEO in 2012. “While in many ways I was a non-traditional candidate, in many ways I’ve been preparing for this position my entire career,” Byers said.
“The number one issue facing employers right now continues to be talent and Simpson is a big part of that solution. Simpson has been a talent magnet for this region for many, many years and will continue to do so and will help with our employers across the region to fill their workforce needs of the future.”
Byers spoke to a crowd in Simpson’s campus center on Wednesday. The current president of Simpson College announced in January she would retire this year after about three years in the job. Byers will take over when the next academic year starts. He has served on Simpson’s board of Trustees for over a decade and taught classes at Simpson from 2001 through 2004.
Simpson College was founded in 1860 in Indianola and is affiliated with the Methodist Church. It also operates a West Des Moines campus for students seeking graduate degrees and continuing education credits.