DES MOINES, Iowa — Gov. Kim Reynolds’ appointee to the Iowa Board of Regents, Kurt Tjaden, has been confirmed by the Iowa Senate, the state announced.
Mr. Tjaden held senior positions at several U.S. companies including Procter & Gamble and Gateway, Inc. He also served as chief financial officer and executive vice president of Pure Fishing Inc., and as vice president and CFO of Whirlpool Asia.
After spending more than a decade working in Asia, Mr. Tjaden returned to Iowa and served as CFO and then senior vice president and president-international of Muscatine-based HNI Corporation.
“Kurt is a proven leader with decades of success at the highest levels of business management for numerous companies on an international scale,” the governor said in a statement. “I know he will bring his extensive executive leadership skills in operations and finance to the Board of Regents to ensure we are preparing our students for success as efficiently and effectively as possible.”
“I am honored by this appointment and appreciate the confidence of the Governor,” Mr. Tjaden said in the news release. “I look forward to serving with my fellow board members to ensure our Regent institutions are providing the best education possible for our graduates.”
Mr. Tjaden is an alumnus of Iowa State University, where he recently served as a professor of practice at the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business.
In addition, returning board members David Barker and James “JC” Risewick were confirmed to the nine-member Regents board. Student Regent Lucy Gipple from the University of Northern Iowa also was confirmed.
