Thursday, March 28, 2024

Who's who in MSU administration

July 10, 2015
<p>MSU president Lou Anna K. Simon speaks to the crowd April 3, 2015, during a final four Spartan pep rally at the Indiana Convention Center, 100 S. Capitol Ave., in Indianapolis, Indiana. Erin Hampton/The State News</p>

MSU president Lou Anna K. Simon speaks to the crowd April 3, 2015, during a final four Spartan pep rally at the Indiana Convention Center, 100 S. Capitol Ave., in Indianapolis, Indiana. Erin Hampton/The State News

Photo by Erin Hampton | The State News

University President

Lou Anna K. Simon is the 20th president, and the first female president, of MSU after being appointed by the MSU Board of Trustees to the job 10 years ago. Before that, Simon earned her doctorate at MSU in 1974. After that she worked her way up through a number of administrative roles including assistant provost for general academic administration, associate provost and provost and vice president for academic affairs, according to her bio.

In her time at MSU, she’s navigated the university through difficult financial times, oversaw a number of renovation project and her tenure saw the start of construction on the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, commonly called the FRIB.

In August of 2012, Simon was elected to the NCAA executive committee chair. However, in a controversial movie, the MSU Board of Trustees raised her salary to $850,000 in December 2014.

At Indiana State University, Simon earned her Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and earned a Master of Science in student personnel and counseling before coming to MSU.

On Jan 1. 2014, Simon was seen celebrating in the locker room after the MSU Football team took victory in the Rose Bowl.

June Youatt

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

June Youatt is MSU’s chief academic officer, overseeing the quality of instruction and research at MSU. She began her tenure as provost in April of 2014, previously serving as acting provost, senior associate provost and is also a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. Her teaching and scholarship primarily focused on the design, delivery, and assessment of family-related programs in community and school settings, according to her bio.

Melanie Foster

Board of Trustees

Melanie Foster, who ran in 2014 as a Republican, is currently serving her second non-consecutive term as a board member, having lost her election in 2012. She is the chairperson of the Trustee Finance Committee Previously embroiled in a scandal over use of university funds after a trip with her husband to South Africa. She previously graduated from MSU and lives in East Lansing with her husband.

Dominique Clemons

President of Associated Students of Michigan State University, Michigan State University’s undergraduate student government

A senior majoring in public policy and minoring in theater, Clemons was elected president by the ASMSU General Assembly at the end of the spring semester, succeeding President James Conwell. Clemons previously served as an ASMSU representative, the Vice President for Student Funding and as the Vice President for Student Allocations. As the president, Clemons can be seen with close ties to the MSU administration, present at administration committee meetings including the Steering Committee, University Council and Board of Trustee meetings.

Joel Ferguson

Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Elected on the Democratic ticket to the MSU Board of Trustees in 1986, Ferguson has served as the board’s chairman since 1992. An MSU graduate, he’s long been active in Democratic politics, helping Jesse Jackson win a stunning victory in a presidential primary. A developer, his term ends Jan. 1, 2021.

Paulette Granberry Russell

Office for Inclusion & Intercultural Initiatives

Granberry Russell serves as Senior Advisor to the President for Diversity and as the Director of the Office for Inclusion & Intercultural Initiatives. Under her oversight the office spearheaded the 60/50 Project, a yearlong project to begin a dialogue on diversity at MSU and marking the 60th anniversary of Brown V. Board of Education and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Office for Inclusion, headed by Granberry Russell, was previously the office handling federal investigations in MSU’s handling of Title IX cases before an entirely separate office was created during the spring semester.

Denise Maybank

Vice president for student affairs and services

Maybank is the Vice President for Student Affairs and Services. The office is designed to “create a stimulating and supportive environment that enhances the personal development, learning, educational success and career preparation of all students,” the website says. Maybank was recently on the receiving end of criticism regarding her office’s decision to allow a student expelled for sexual assault back on campus to attend his brother’s graduation. She has yet to grant an interview with The State News to explain the decision.

Mark Hollis

Athletics Director

Graduating from MSU in 1985, and returning ten years later, Hollis became the athletics director in 2008. He had a major hand in hiring Mark Dantonio as head football coach.

“We gather and engage our community to teach, support and celebrate our student-athletes in their quest for excellence,” is the mission statement listed on his page on the athletic department’s website. He has over 25 years of athletics administration experience and is looked at as an innovator.

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