Dr. Brian Lenzmeier

  • President

Dr. Brian Lenzmeier became Buena Vista University’s 19th President on Oct. 26, 2020. 

President Lenzmeier, who joined BVU as a Professor of Biology in 2003, has shared his talents in many capacities, going from Professor to Chair of the Faculty Senate to Dean of the Faculty to Provost to Interim President.

The native of Willmar, Minn. earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Colorado State University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minn. He completed post-doctoral research in molecular biology at Princeton University and was a visiting research fellow in molecular medicine at the Mayo Clinic in 2011.

He has been named “Faculty Member of the Year” twice by the BVU Student Senate and was the 2009 George Wythe Award winner. 

President Lenzmeier served the Storm Lake community via the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center Community Advisory Council from 2009-11 and 2015-16, and was a member of the Faith, Hope and Charity Board of Directors from 2009-15. He currently serves on the Iowa Lakes Corridor Board of Directors and the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Task Force.

President Lenzmeier and his wife, Betsy, a volunteer in Storm Lake and member of the Governor’s Iowa Autism Council, are the parents of sons Owen and Matt.

Brian Lenzmeier