Michigan State releases names of 29 people on its presidential search committee

EAST LANSING — The Michigan State University Board of Trustees named 29 people to lead the school's presidential search, including trustees, university staff, students and community members.

The university said the Board of Trustees is leading the search with Dennis Denno as chair and Brianna Scott as vice-chair. Trustees Dan Kelly and Renee Knake Jefferson sit on the committee as well, according to a release.

The university hired Boston-based Isaacson, Miller in April to direct the search to replace Samuel Stanley Jr., who resigned in the fall before his contract expired in 2024. Interim President Teresa Woodruff, who was previously provost, has led the university since her October appointment.

“The full search committee is reflective of the diverse voices and perspectives of those who care about Michigan State University,” Denno said in the release. “Our commitment from the onset has been to ensure an inclusive process that leads us to a top candidate for the university’s 22nd president.”

More: MSU hires firm to lead search for new president, says it will hold listening sessions

Those named to the committee include men's basketball coach Tom Izzo; Associated Students of Michigan State University President Emily Hoyumpa; State Rep. Cynthia Neeley, D-Flint; and Director and Principal Investigator of Migrant Student Services and Senior Specialist Luis Alonzo Garcia, among others.

Also on the committee:

• Kate Birdsall, associate professor and director of the Cube in the College of Arts and Letters, president of the Union of Non-Tenure Track Faculty;

• Sid Bogan, chief of security and safety, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department;

• Kendra Cheruvelil, dean and professor, Lyman Briggs College, and co-director of the Data-Intensive Landscape Limnology Laboratory;

• Jim Cotter, MSU alum and former director of admissions;

• Prabu David, vice provost for faculty and academic staff development, interim associate provost for teaching and learning innovation;

• Lupe Dominguez, office assistant, College of Music, and executive board member, Chicano/Latino Faculty, Staff, Specialist and Graduate Student Association;

• Jerlando Jackson, dean and MSU Foundation Professor of Education, College of Education;

• Hannah Jeffery, president, Council of Graduate Students;

• Dan Kelly, MSU trustee;

• Karen Kelly-Blake, chairperson of the Faculty Senate and University Steering Committee, associate professor, College of Human Medicine, and associate director of academic programming, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice;

• Leo Kempel, dean and Dennis P. Nyquist Endowed Professor of Electromagnetics, College of Engineering;

• Renee Knake Jefferson, MSU trustee;

• Christopher Long, dean, College of Arts and Letters and the Honors College, MSU Foundation Professor;

• Dave Porteous, attorney, McCurdy, Wotila and Porteous, PC, and chairperson emeritus of the MSU Board of Trustees;

• Wenona Singel, associate professor and director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center, College of Law;

• Leigh Small, dean and professor, College of Nursing;

• Steve St. Andre, chairperson and founder, Shift Digital, and MSU alum;

• Shawn Starr, Stock handler and president, AFSCME Local 1585;

• Marty Vanderploeg, nonexecutive chairperson, Workiva Inc., MSU alum;

• Lorraine Weatherspoon, professor and associate chair and director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources;

• Sean Welsh, executive vice president/regional president, PNC Bank, and MSU alum;

• Melissa Woo, executive vice president for administration and chief information officer;

• Haitau Yang, incoming treasurer, Council of Racial and Ethnic Students and Council of Progressive Students; student adviser, Hmong American Student Association; and senior adviser, Asian Pacific American Student Organization.

Members represent various parts of the university community, the university said in the release.

Michigan Agri-Business Association President Chuck Lippstreu said he sent a letter to the Board of Trustees Tuesday criticizing the lack of agricultural representation in the search committee. Weatherspoon is the only representative on the committee who works at CANR. Her work and classes focus on food, nutrition and human development.

“To conduct a credible search for the next president of MSU – America’s pioneer Land Grant University – Michigan agriculture needs to be directly represented on the Search Committee," Lippstreu said in a release. "We respectfully ask that the MSU Board reevaluate this serious oversight and include representation from the Michigan agriculture community on this important Committee,” he wrote.

Stanley announced his resignation in October after he alleged members of the university's governing board pressured him to leave. He's the third president at MSU to be forced out since the Larry Nassar scandal.

Previously ousted presidents included Lou Anna Simon in January 2018 during the Nassar scandal and former interim President John Engler, who also served as Michigan's governor and was appointed after Simon's departure.

More: Michigan State trustees name Provost Teresa Woodruff as interim president

Satish Udpa served as interim president for a stint between Engler's ouster and Stanley's 2019 hiring but resigned from the position to pursue research and academic responsibilities at the College of Engineering.

Those on the search committee are expected to review feedback from open forums, compile characteristics and qualities others seek in MSU's present and screen applicants who will then be advanced to the Board of Trustees for consideration.

“I appreciate our fellow committee members for sharing their time, expertise and talents with us so that we may all work together to represent the interests and perspectives of MSU’s key stakeholders,” Scott said in the release. “Each of these individuals brings unique experiences and leadership that will be essential for the next step in our search process.”

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Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at 517-267-1344 or knurse@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State names 29 people to presidential search committee