IOWA 500: Meet Angela Walker Franklin, president of Des Moines University

The list includes leaders representing 14 categories, which we believe reflect the scope of business sectors in our state. Angela Walker Franklin's profile introduced the Education category.

Angela Walker Franklin walked an unconventional and long path to become the 15th president of Des Moines University, a private medical school in West Des Moines.

Since taking the helm in 2011, she has helped grow the medical and health sciences institution, adding new degree offerings, expanding enrollment, and designing and moving to a brand new 88-acre campus in West Des Moines. She spearheaded a $50 million capital campaign and then oversaw the purchase, relocation and design of a new campus, which opened in 2023.  

Originally from South Carolina, she earned her bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology from Furman University and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Emory University with the intention of building a psychology practice.

Instead, her first position was working as an assistant professor of psychiatry for Morehouse School of Medicine based in Atlanta, Georgia. “Everything was an evolution,” she said. 

The medical and health sciences school allowed Ms. Franklin to move into administrative roles, including vice dean, associate vice president for academic and student affairs, associate dean for student affairs and director of counseling services.

“It was all working well for me, but it was a question of ‘What’s next?’” she said. “If I want to continue working in administration, where do I fit? I enjoy administration, so maybe eventually a college presidency?” 

She would apply for provost and other administrative positions and get quite far in her search, but then someone else would always get the job, Ms. Franklin said. Until one day, a former student called and asked her to come to Nashville, Tennessee. He was just named the president of Meharry Medical College and needed an executive vice president and provost.

“I always say, ‘Be careful how you treat your students because you never know when they might become your boss,’” she said. 

After a few years at Meharry, she was ready to test the waters again with the goal of moving up to become a president. 

“I would get so far in the process, but then it would become clear that, being an African American woman, I was the candidate they wanted to diversify the pool but the likelihood of me getting the job was pretty slim. I felt it every time,” she said. 

It’s a grueling process, she adds. Candidates have to be nominated, go through several rounds of intense interviews before even touring the campus and meeting with students, staff and faculty. 

She decided to hit pause after several rejections and settle back into her position at Meharry. That is, until a recruiter called her and asked her to consider Des Moines University. “I put this guy off,” Ms. Franklin said. “I was licking my wounds and told him ‘Thanks, but I think I’m OK.’”

Her mentor encouraged her to talk to them and after a conversation with her husband, she decided to apply for the position in September. By December, there was a unanimous vote from the Board of Trustees to be named the next president of Des Moines University.

Today, Ms. Franklin is actively involved in the Des Moines community, serving on the boards of Bankers Trust, the Greater Des Moines Partnership and UnityPoint Health. She also serves on national boards such as the Alliance of Academic Health Centers of the AAMC and the Assembly of Presidents of AACOM. 

She also makes sure to offer mentorship to other female academic administrators as well as her students. 

“All of my mentors were male,” she said. “I had such a desire to have a female college president to lean on, but there were so few, and so few women of color. I said that if I ever got there, I would make sure I’d be there for the next generation.”