Angela L. Walker Franklin, who became Des Moines University’s 15th president in the spring of 2011, is a native of McCormick, South Carolina and a Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate of Furman University. A licensed clinical psychologist, she completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Emory University, followed by a year-long clinical internship at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Angela L. Walker Franklin has worked in higher education for more than 25 years. Prior to her arrival at DMU, she held faculty and administrative positions at both Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dr. 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 has received numerous awards throughout the state of Iowa and the nation, including being honored as a Woman of Influence by the Des Moines Business Record in August 2014, receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Furman University in May 2021, and being inducted into the Iowa Business Hall of Fame in the spring of 2022. Dr. Franklin was also most recently honored with Furman University’s Carl F. Kohrt Distinguished Alumni Award in February 2024.
Dr. Franklin has worked collaboratively with her team to establish institutional goals and priorities for the future by launching Purple & Proud, a $50-million-dollar fundraising campaign that is the largest in the University’s history. Dr. Franklin saw her transformative vision to design an entirely new campus on 88 acres of land in West Des Moines come to fruition in the summer of 2023, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of the founding of the University. The new campus will have substantial positive impacts on the economic growth of surrounding communities and the region.