As President M. Peter McPherson's readies for Iraq, insiders say his appointment will be good for MSU, but not necessarily enough to give the university an upper hand in attaining federally funded projects.
MSU officials are competing with other schools in the nation to bring home projects from Washington, including a $900 million nuclear research project - the Rare Isotope Accelerator, known as RIA.
If awarded, RIA would heighten MSU's status in the nuclear technology field, while creating hundreds of jobs. The U.S. Department of Energy is expected to release a list of priority projects in the near future, officials say.
"RIA is going to be a competition based on both science and technical merit," said Howard Gobstein, associate vice president of governmental affairs for MSU.
"It's not clear to me whether (McPherson's) involvement in the nation rebuilding will help or hurt or have any affect on the RIA decision."
The Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago is MSU's only opponent for the project.
While MSU awaits word from the energy department, Konrad Gelbke, the director of MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, said McPherson's service record "won't hurt" the university's odds.
"We are very fortunate to have a president who is working so hard, and is so supportive to help us get RIA," said Gelbke, who said he expects the project to be high on the department's list.
An advisory committee to the project has been in frequent contact with the department, communicating feedback and reaffirming the priority for the project in the nuclear science community.
Getting a project like RIA would put MSU "on the top of the mountain," he added.
"It will give not only MSU, but the state of Michigan, a world-class facility," he said.
MSU Trustee David Porteous said it's too soon to know how McPherson's departure would affect the university's chances at winning the project - though it would make it stand out among the universities.
"Any time someone from our university has the opportunity to make the global society better, that is good for our nation, good for our world and good for our university," Porteous said.
Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, said it would be nothing more than speculation to assume McPherson's assistance in Iraq would have any influence on the project.
"The public would be outraged if it was thought that decisions were made in that way - unless the public were Michigan State alumni," he said.
But, Ballenger added, McPherson is held in considerable esteem by the Bush administration.
"McPherson has been around the political track for a long time," he said, though he cautioned assuming McPherson's assistance to the government will improve MSU's chances at winning the project is "like comparing apples and oranges."
Sarah Frank can be reached at franksa2@msu.edu.
