Dr. Robert Kustra is president of Boise State University, the
largest institution of higher learning in Idaho -- with more than
18,000 students and 2,000 faculty and staff -- and the state’s only
metropolitan university. Dr. Kustra took the helm as Boise State’s
sixth president on July 1, 2003.
Dr. Kustra leads Boise State in a transformative period. Long
heralded as an institution devoted to classroom teaching, Boise State
now seeks to add another dimension to its mission – that of a
metropolitan research university of distinction.
His administration has been marked by an emphasis on upgrading
admissions standards, improving the undergraduate experience and
increasing the number of graduate and doctoral programs. University
milestones during his tenure have included creation of the Capital
Scholar and National Merit Scholar Programs, establishment of the
Freshman Success Initiative, and completion of the 2005 Campus Master
Plan. Development activities include the first fully endowed
professor’s chair, more than $40 million in externally sponsored
research grants and programs, and extensive preparations for Boise
State’s first-ever comprehensive campaign. Dr. Kustra has also played
a key role in emerging plans for a locally controlled community
college in the Treasure Valley.
Dr. Kustra previously served as president of Eastern Kentucky
University, a comprehensive residential university of 14,000 students.
This followed a long and distinguished career in public service in
Illinois. He served two terms as lieutenant governor of Illinois,
following a ten-year career in the Illinois Legislature, first in the
House and then in the Senate where he served in leadership. While
Lieutenant Governor, he was appointed by the Governor to Chair the
Illinois Board of Higher Education, responsible for the funding and
oversight of Illinois’ nine public universities.
Immediately prior to joining Boise State, Dr. Kustra fulfilled a
one-year term as president of the Midwestern Higher Education
Commission, a regional compact of ten Midwestern states responsible
for advancing higher education through interstate cooperation.
Before entering elective office, Dr. Kustra held faculty positions
at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Lincoln Land Community
College, and Loyola University of Chicago. At Loyola he also served as
director of the Center for Research in Urban Government. Throughout
his career in government and politics, Dr. Kustra taught at the
University of Illinois-Chicago and Northwestern University.
Dr. Kustra served on the Presidential Task Force on the Future of
Intercollegiate Athletics and is past president of the Western
Athletic Conference’s Board of Directors. He also serves on the board
of the Idaho Nature Conservancy, the Western Interstate Commission for
Higher Education, the Inland Northwest Research Alliance and the
Governor’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology for the State of
Idaho.
Born in St. Louis, President Kustra received his bachelor’s degree
from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, his Masters from
Southern Illinois University, and his doctorate from the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. All of his degrees are in political
science. He and his wife Kathy have three grown children and two
grandsons.
