When Dr. Skorton was tapped as Iowa's president, in 2003, his appointment was widely favored by faculty and staff members. Unlike most academics who give up their day jobs when they become college presidents, Dr. David J. Skorton 55, kept his when he took the reins at Iowa two years ago. A cardiologist by training, he still sees patients with congenital heart disease and genetic disorders twice a month in a university clinic and makes time to take their telephone calls. Even while serving as president, he holds academic appointments in internal medicine, electrical and computer engineering, and biomedical engineering. And despite that background, he actively promotes the arts and humanities. At a time when many college presidents seem like corporate chief executives, and jump from institution to institution, Dr. Skorton -- who has spent almost his entire career at Iowa -- stands out as an intellectual in an administrative job who continues to do scholarly work. While he appears at ease in both roles, he sometimes seems to prefer the life of the mind: On a recent trip to Washington, he wanted the university's lobbyist to ensure that there was enough time on the schedule to visit two art galleries after appointments with members of Iowa's Congressional delegation. Dr. Skorton never planned for a career as an academic -- or for that matter, in medicine. He wanted to be a musician almost since the time he started to play the alto saxophone at age 9. David Skorton studied comparative religion and philosophy at the University of California at Los Angeles before transferring to Northwestern University to major in psychology. While there he played tenor saxophone in an otherwise all-black blues band that worked small Chicago clubs. "He sees the entire range of a university, as opposed to only one portion of it," says Katherine Tachau, a history professor and immediate past president of the Faculty Senate. "He understands why the arts and humanities are critical to humankind, understands engineering, is conversant in medicine, and is the kind of physician who doesn't think that nursing and pharmacy are second-rate. There's no such thing as a perfect president, but I tell my colleagues around the country that we picked the best."