Biography
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Lou Anna K. Simon was appointed the 20th president of Michigan State University by the MSU Board of Trustees in January 2005. An MSU graduate, she began her career at Michigan State as the assistant director of the Office of Institutional Research (now Office of Planning and Budgets) after earning her Ph.D. in 1974. From there, she moved into a variety of administrative roles, including assistant provost for general academic administration, associate provost, and provost and vice president for academic affairs; she served as interim president in 2003.
As president, Simon has engaged Michigan State University in a strategic and transformative journey to adapt the principles of the land-grant tradition to twenty-first century challenges. She has expanded MSU’s reach in the state and around the world by focusing the university’s strengths on solutions that enhance and protect quality of life: clean and affordable energy, access to education, safe and plentiful food, and health care. She recently outlined these commitments and the philosophy driving them in her monograph Embracing the World Grant Ideal: Affirming the Morrill Act for a Twenty-first-century Global Society.
Simon’s key initiatives, particularly in economic development and international engagement, reflect her commitment to applying knowledge to benefit society and further the global common good. Simon is a member of the Council on Competitiveness, a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization working to ensure U.S. prosperity, and serves on the Blue Ribbon Panel on Global Engagement of the American Council on Education (ACE). She serves on the National Higher Education Security Advisory Board, a group of presidents and chancellors of several prominent U.S. universities that consults regularly with national agencies responsible for security, intelligence, and law enforcement, and has been named the board’s next chairperson.
Simon’s resolute commitment to advancing Michigan’s economic future has been a hallmark of her presidency. She serves on the board of directors of Prima Civitas, mid-Michigan’s economic development foundation; Business Leaders for Michigan; and the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In the area of international engagement, Simon is a member of the executive committee of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa.
Research at Michigan State University reflects Simon’s commitment to advancing knowledge and improving quality of life in the world. Under her leadership, MSU has expanded its research in, among other areas, biofuels and green energy; medicine and medical technology; physics and rare isotopes; safe water; and agriculture to address world hunger. Through nearly $500 million annually in externally sponsored research, Simon is ensuring that Michigan State University makes a significant difference in the region, state, nation, and world.
