[ad_1]
Michigan State University is preparing for a new era with academic leader, neuroscientist and stress researcher Kevin Guskiewicz as its next president.
During a special executive session, the MSU Board of Trustees unanimously agreed Friday to hire Guskiewicz, 57, of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, as MSU’s 22nd president.
Guskiewicz will be MSU’s sixth president in as many years.
After years of leadership instability at MSU, trustees expressed optimism for the future under the tenure of Guskiewicz, who served UNC-Chapel Hill for 28 years. including the past four as managers. He starts his job on March 4.
“This is a new chapter for Michigan State University,” said MSU president Rema Vassar. “We have selected the most qualified candidate to lead Michigan State University forward.”
“Dr. Guskiewicz didn’t know it, but he was still a Spartan in spirit,” Vassar added. “He has always demonstrated the values I hold dear: equality, honesty, integrity, transformational leadership, accountability and transparency.”
Vassar said Guskiewicz also demonstrated many of the qualities the MSU community told the search committee needed in the university’s next president — someone who would advance MSU’s education. , research and outreach missions; there is a commitment to diversity; value shared governance, service leadership and a deep sense of community.
Guskiewicz, who attended the meeting virtually, said he saw the changing power of higher education to prepare the next generation of leaders to meet the challenges of the present and future. He added that MSU is doing this well and he looks forward to working with the community to continue building the university through its many foundations and a diverse community.
“I look forward to supporting Michigan State University’s mission and mission as a public research university focused on giving back to the people of Michigan and the world,” the said Guskiewicz.
“As president of MSU, I pledge to build on the university’s storied legacy of excellence in teaching and research through a culture of collaboration and servant leadership.”
Guskiewicz said he was particularly encouraged by MSU’s commitment to the success of its students.
“I often say that my favorite places on a college campus are in the classroom and with the students,” Guskiewicz said. “I have so much respect for the exceptional faculty and staff who support them in their journey to reach their full potential.”
He said he also appreciates MSU’s history of research and innovation, and said he is proud to have made research contributions on controversial policies that have affected the NCAA and NFL.
“As an administrator, I’ve always maintained my research to remind myself that research and scholarship work hand-in-hand with great teaching and learning,” Guskiewicz said.
He said he believes that the humanities, arts and social sciences, are “important to help us understand how people relate to the results of our research.”
He said he was aware of the challenges facing MSU but couldn’t wait to start university.
“I look forward to working with all members of the university and partners, the board … (and) committed to working with all of you,” Guskiewicz said.
His salary and contract were not immediately available.
Guskiewicz is a native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a town of 8,000 outside of Pittsburgh. He began his career in 1995 at UNC-Chapel Hill as an assistant professor in the Department of Exercise and Sports Science, according to his account. LinkedIn profile.
Since then he has risen to many roles, including dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, director-director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center and director for the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes.
His work was promoted in 2011 under the name of a MacArthur Brothers, a prestigious award also known as a “genius grant,” for his research into sports concussions, which influenced the National Football League’s policies League, National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations. In 2013, Time magazine named him a Game Changer, one of 18 “innovators and problem-solvers who are driving change in America.”
Word spread that Guskiewicz would soon be inaugurated as president.
Emily Hoyumpa, president of the Associated Students of MSU, said the university’s student government, “is pleased to welcome Dr. Guskiewicz to the Michigan State community and the Spartan family.”
“I hope that Dr. Guskiewicz can bring Michigan State to new heights, and I look forward to a close relationship between students and our new President,” Hoyumpa said in a information. “I truly believe that Dr. Guskiewicz will make the Spartans proud in his new role, and I look forward to what the future holds for Michigan State.”
John Preyer, chairman of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, issued a statement thanking Guskiewicz for “his long and distinguished service to the university.”
“Our board has worked closely with Chancellor Guskiewicz on many important initiatives, including campus budget reform, student advocacy, career services, free speech, academic freedom, and the new School of Civic Life and Leadership,” Preyer said.
Before the MSU board voted to hire Guskiewicz, several members of the search committee explained why he was the top candidate.
Trustee Dennis Denno, who chaired the presidential search committee, said Guskiewicz was an exceptional leader and cited many of his accomplishments while at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Trustee Brianna Scott, who chaired the search committee, said she has an active and transparent leadership and believes in working closely with the board. He added that he is an excellent leader and he praised him for building a special organization.
“We’re all looking forward to working with him,” Scott said. “We’re looking forward to building a culture of collaboration.”
Guskiewicz is MSU’s sixth president since the scandal involving Larry Nassar, a former doctor in prison for sexual assault.
MSU launched a national search after President Samuel Stanley resigned in October 2022, saying he had no confidence in the Board of Trustees. Interim President Teresa Woodruff has served since November 2022 and has said she will not seek the job of president permanently. At first, Woodruff did not say whether he would return to that position, the MSU faculty or another option.
Guskiewicz became the lone candidate left in MSU’s presidential search last month, when the other finalist for the job was University of Texas at San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy. , get awayas reported by MSU’s student newspaper, The State News.
In the six years since then, MSU has struggled with a number of high-profile issues including the dismissal of the men’s and women’s swimming teams, allegations of sexual misconduct against former football coach Mel Tucker, which has been released since then, and the leak is in the name. the woman who accused him, who is currently being investigated by an outside law firm.
Conservatives continue to demand the release of thousands of documents related to the convicted sex offender Larry Nassar that MSU is keeping under attorney-client privilege and that MSU is providing a commemoration of the first anniversary of the February 13 terrorist attack that claimed lives. three students and five others were seriously injured.
During Guskiewicz’s time as an administrator at UNC-Chapel Hill, he launched several initiatives, including Carolina Across 100, an effort to partner with communities in each of North Carolina’s 100 counties; the Institute for Convergent Science, which conducts UNC research; and the History, Race and a Way Forward Commission, which is examining the university’s history on race and finding ways to deal with the past.
He and his wife Amy have four children.
kkozlowski@detroitnews.com