Politics Kustra served in both houses of the
Illinois General Assembly. He served in the
House of Representatives, representing the 4th district, from January 14, 1981, to January 12, 1983, when he began representing the 28th district in the
Senate, which he did until he resigned to become the
Lieutenant Governor in 1991. While in the Senate, he served as Assistant Minority Leader. He was voted Best Freshman Legislator during his first year in each house. He was elected
43rd Lieutenant Governor of Illinois as
Jim Edgar's running-mate, and served from January 14, 1991, to July 1, 1998, when he resigned to become president of Eastern Kentucky University. Kustra held a
pro-choice position on the issue of
abortion He sought the Republican nomination for the
United States Senate in 1996 to succeed
Paul Simon but was defeated in the primary by Illinois Representative
Al Salvi. Salvi's victory was considered a major political upset. Kustra before the primary was considered a heavy favorite to defeat Salvi, a relatively unknown conservative state representative, and Chicago area attorney.
Academics Kustra served as a member of the faculty at
University of Illinois Springfield,
Loyola University of Chicago, the
University of Illinois Chicago, and
Northwestern University. Kustra served as president of
Eastern Kentucky University from 1998 until 2001. From 2003 to 2018, he was president of
Boise State University and is a member of the board of the
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. He also hosted the radio show ''Reader's Corner'' on
Boise State Public Radio. He has also served in the following university organizations: • Midwestern Higher Education Commission (president) •
Illinois Board of Higher Education (chairman) •
NCAA Division I (executive committee and board of directors) • Presidential Task Force on the Future of Intercollegiate Athletics While Boise State University saw enormous growth during Kustra's tenure there, his leadership was not without criticism. Congressman
Raúl Labrador in August, 2017 suggested that it might be time for Kustra to leave Boise State University. Kustra and Labrador have been critical of each other. Kustra retired from his position of President of Boise State in the summer of 2018, having announced his pending retirement in November 2017. == References ==