Larry Dietz

Farm Life

Larry Dietz (1948- ) is the nineteenth president of Illinois State University. Raised on a dairy farm outside of DeSoto, Illinois, Dietz earned his bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University and his masters and PhD in higher education administration from Iowa State University. Dietz has served in a variety of administrative positions including at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Iowa State University, and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He came to ISU in 2011 as vice president for student affairs and as a professor in the Department of Education Administration and Foundations. In 2013, Dietz was a finalist for the presidency at ISU. In 2014, after the resignation of Flanagan, the ISU Board of Trustees named Dietz the permanent president.

Weathering the Storm

Dietz is a familiar face on campus, attending events and stopping to say hello to students who ask for a handshake or a “selfie”. Dietz led the campus through one of the longest budget stalemates in state history and ISU was one of only two campuses in the state to not implement furloughs during that period. In 2017, Dietz launched the capital campaign Redbirds Rising: The Campaign for Illinois State with the goal of reaching $150 million by 2020.