Ten months after starting as FSU president, Nancy Niemi gets her formal welcome

Tom Benoit, MetroWest Daily News
·3 min read

FRAMINGHAM — Ten months after she started the job, and with her first academic year nearly complete, Framingham State University President Nancy Niemi finally got her formal welcome.

The college held its inauguration for Niemi on Friday. And while she's been working as the university's 17th president since last July, the inauguration event takes time to plan, a FSU spokesperson explained.

Friday's event was attended FSU faculty and staff, delegates from other Massachusetts higher education institutions, and an audience of about 200 people.

Many of Niemi's closest colleagues attended, including Board of Trustees Chair Kevin Foley and FSU Director of Human Resources David Baldwin.

Nancy Niemi gives the inaugural address as the 17th president of Framingham State University, May 5, 2023.
Nancy Niemi gives the inaugural address as the 17th president of Framingham State University, May 5, 2023.

Mirari Elcoro, vice president of the Massachusetts State College Association, spoke of the event, quoting author bell hooks in saying, "The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy."

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"President Niemi's commitment to leadership is rooted in collaboration, compassion, empathy," Elcoro said. "Our faculty are eager to work together toward inclusive, equitable and progressive education."

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll administered the oath of office to Niemi. Following this, Niemi delivered her inaugural address.

'Celebrating all that is higher education'

Niemi opened her speech with just one word: "Wow!"

"Here we are now, celebrating all that is higher education," Niemi said during her speech. "(Public higher education) has helped most of those same learners find employment, using the skills, the perspectives and the knowledge they gained, weaving what they have learned into lives all their own."

Nancy Niemi, right, is sworn in by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll as the 17th president of Framingham State University, May 5, 2023.
Nancy Niemi, right, is sworn in by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll as the 17th president of Framingham State University, May 5, 2023.

Later, Niemi called for providing hope to communities and explaining the process and pains of higher education, as well as her goals. They include creating and marketing educational opportunities that few others offer; nurturing and supporting a high quality of teaching; refining students' needs and services; developing professional growth and building deep relationships partners in Framingham, MetroWest and New England.

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"Doing this will arise from our courage to embrace the education mission that is public universities' alone, to serve the public good," she said. "By working with and serving others, we nurture their faith in themselves and in humanity, helping us to imagine and create a better future, a more equitable future."

Niemi concluded by saying: "I said it on the first day of my job here, and I believe it now more than ever, our future is extraordinary, Framingham State University. Let's go."

Niemi is FSU's 17th president

Niemi was unanimously selected by the board of trustees in December 2021 to become Framingham State's next president after then-President F. Javier Cevallos announced his impending retirement earlier that year.

Prior to Framingham State, from 2019 to 2022, she was provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Maryland Easten Shore, a historically Black university.

Nancy Niemi, the 17th president of Framingham State University, processes to the inauguration May 5, 2023. At left holding the ceremonial mace is Richard Beckwitt, professor of biology.
Nancy Niemi, the 17th president of Framingham State University, processes to the inauguration May 5, 2023. At left holding the ceremonial mace is Richard Beckwitt, professor of biology.

Niemi holds a Ph.D. in education-curriculum and instruction from the University of Rochester in New York; she previously earned a master's degree in education from Elmira College and a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Rochester.

Following the event, in an interview, Niemi said her first year as president has been remarkable.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," she said.

Nancy Niemi, left, the 17th president of Framingham State University, at her inauguration ceremony, May 5, 2023, with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.
Nancy Niemi, left, the 17th president of Framingham State University, at her inauguration ceremony, May 5, 2023, with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.

On Thursday night, Niemi attended a chocolate chip cookie baking event in conjunction with Framingham State's Food and Nutrition Department. A baking enthusiast, Niemi said one of the school's most notable alumna, Ruth Graves Wakefield, invented the chocolate chip cookie.

Niemi is married to Michael Morris, an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. Niemi said during her inaugural speech that the couple met at a faculty meeting.

She also has three children and one grandchild.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham State holds inauguration for President Nancy Niemi