First things first: if the app is truly your original work, it's nobody's business how much you charge for the app. On the other hand, if it's basically a thin UI on top of some existing library that you didn't write, I can see how some people might take offense (even if the library's license permits you to do this).
And to answer your second question: I'm not an iPhone app developer, but I don't think being a "prominent leader" immunizes you from the sort of gripes you're describing. There are always going to be people who gripe about paying another 99 cents for an app to run on the device that costs them hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to own and use.
What you might want to consider, however, is what your real goal(s) are for publishing this app. You've already indicated that you don't really expect to make much money off of it. If you're doing this to build up your reputation in this field, and if making the app free causes that many more people to download and use it, it might be worth it to you to just give it away.
