Hunter
02/26/21
After an uproar over free speech issues last fall, the dean of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry has announced that he’s retiring.
David Johnsen had previously announced plans to step down after the Spring 2022 semester; he’ll retire at the end of this semester instead.
Johnsen drew the ire of Republican legislators when he and Associate Dentistry Professor Michelle McQuistan sent an email to students, faculty and staff condemning then president Donald Trump’s executive order banning diversity training that involved race and sex stereotyping, and scapegoating at institutions that are federally funded.
Student Micahel Brase pushed back on the mass e-mail, and was summoned by the UI Collegiate Academic and Professional Performance Committee for a misconduct hearing. Brase contacted Republican lawmakers, and the hearing was canceled.
The current state legislative session is seeing bills that are aimed at addressing free speech at Iowa’s public universities.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that a UI announcement of Johnsen’s retirement doesn’t mention the incidents, and Johnsen’s statement said that he has recently come to realize that the pieces are in place for him to step away a year earlier. He said, “After more than 25 years, I am ready for a change of pace.”
Johnsen will remain on campus as a dentistry professor with tenure.