Spartan Alums, Donors and Friends,
Phew! Where have the last 100 days gone?
My wife Amy and I have felt the warmth of Spartan Nation since joining this illustrious university on March 4, 2024, including from alums, donors and friends like you.
As I observe my hundredth day on campus, I’m taking a moment to extend my appreciation for your support and steadfast love for Michigan State University. You are part of what makes this university feel like home.
This time of year, after the students have largely returned home, is often one of reflection and celebration for me. And I thought what better way to mark this milestone on MSU’s next chapter than highlighting 100 moments worth celebrating?
Watch Video: President Guskiewicz's First 100 Days
- Honoring 38 faculty on my first day and celebrating their accomplishments during our 2024 Investiture for Endowed Faculty.
- Celebrating two Big Ten Championship Titles in one day for Women’s Gymnastics and Men’s Hockey.
- Achieving a record-breaking cumulative GPA for student-athletes of 3.3744.
- Welcoming more than 10,000 new Spartans into our alum community during our spring commencement ceremonies.
- Recognizing the generosity of alums like MaryLou Moore who supported the MSU Debate Team on Give Green Day, and Joan Secchia who contributed to a new era of Spartan Tennis.
- Talking with Spartan government and business leaders during the Detroit Regional Chamber 2024 Mackinac Policy Conference.
- Making 48 stops on our listening and learning tour to hear from our world-class students, faculty and staff.
- Keeping 64% of our graduates in the state of Michigan for employment!
- Tallying up the collective impact of more than 23,500 hours of community service by 130 students.
- Honoring 242 students who graduated this spring with a 4.0 GPA.
- Raising $1.55 million in support for students on a single day in March, making this year’s Give Green Day the second-most successful in history.
- Welcoming renowned genetic autism expert Lucas Pozzo-Miller as the inaugural Mall Family Endowed Professor in Genetic Autism Research.
- Celebrating Women’s Health Month in May with a $1 million gift from Ward and Mari Margaret Walstrom to bolster education and research in women’s health in the College of Human Medicine.
- Honoring six Spartans and valued partners as Crain’s Newsmakers.
- Meeting former MSU President Clifton Wharton, his spouse Dolores Wharton and son Bruce Wharton in New York City while attending the annual Wharton Series event.
- Attending the dedication of the Tom Izzo Football Building that took shape thanks to gifts from many deeply loyal supporters of MSU and Athletics.
- Attending the groundbreakings for a state-of-the-art Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center and a much-needed renovation to the Plant Sciences Greenhouses.
- Earning a top-50 ranking among U.S. patent-granting universities, maintaining an 11-year streak on the list of top-100 universities worldwide for patents granted.
- Celebrating the Spartan statue’s 79th birthday!
- Witnessing Spartans take part in the iconic Michigan Central Station restoration in Detroit.
- Rededicating a 105-year-old campus landmark that honors Spartans who served in World War I.
- Watching our varsity Esports teams finish their season with the highest win percentage in the Big 10 and multiple awards from the Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup EsportsU awards, including a “Director of the Year” award for MSU Esports director Chris Bilski.
- Earning recognition as a top 10 university for producing Peace Corps volunteers, as more than 2,000 alumni from MSU have volunteered with the program since its founding in 1961.
- Learning about great work being done by faculty who hold donor-funded endowed positions, and meeting students whose lives have been changed by donor-funded undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships.
- Celebrating the appointment of Kimberly Dodd as the new dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine.
- Cheering on both our Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams during their NCAA Tournament. appearances—Tom Izzo’s 26th as head coach of the Men’s team, and Coach Robin Fralick’s first, in her first year as head coach of the Women’s team.
- Visiting the MSU Broad Art Museum to see the recent art works produced by internationally recognized MSU faculty.
- Starting a new tradition for graduating seniors called the Beaumont Tower Climb.
- Celebrating students from the MSU College of Law once again securing a No. 1 ranking among 100 law schools in the country for their outstanding performance in Moot Court competitions.
- Celebrating WKAR being named the 2023 Michigan Public Station of the Year at the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Broadcast Excellence Awards Gala.
- Recognizing the 25 years of impact of the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center.
- Congratulating the College of Education on earning its 30th straight No.1 ranking in the nation for elementary and secondary teacher education—the longest-running No. 1 designation in any field at MSU.
- Adding seven faculty to the roster of Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Supporting student entrepreneurs like Alexander and Austin Pollock in the creation of successful startups.
- Watching the Spartan Stadium falcons return and give life to a new generation of falcons.
- Honoring Melanie Cooper, a professor of chemistry and Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education in the College of Natural Science and College of Education, on being elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Education.
- Celebrating the distinguished service of 31 outstanding faculty, staff and graduate students at the All-University Awards ceremony.
- Recognizing Kaylin Casper, a humanities-pre-law and sociology student, who became MSU’s 14th Udall Scholar.
- Ranking No. 1 for best supply chain graduate program eight years running by U.S. News and World Report.
- Anticipating the arrival of David Souder as the next dean for the Eli Broad College of Business.
- Unveiling the 3T MRI system at the MSU Veterinary Medical Center.
- Recognizing James Luyendyk on being named vice president-elect by members of the Society of Toxicology – the tenth MSU scientist to earn this distinction.
- Celebrating Carolina Restini on being accepted as a member of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics’ Fellows – the first member at MSU.
- Receiving a $25 million grant to address Michigan’s critical shortage of direct care workers in health care.
- Seeing the research efforts of over 1,000 students at the 26th annual University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum.
- Honoring Tom Dietz, retired University Distinguished Professor of Sociology, who was elected to the esteemed National Academy of Sciences in April.
- Lacing up my shoes alongside more than 5,000 fellow Spartans for the annual Izzo Run/Walk/Roll to support charitable programs in the community—shoutout to my running buddies from the Spartan Marching Band!
- Embarking on a renovation project in historic Campbell Hall that will eventually foster a new living-learning community for Honors College students.
- Congratulating William Taylor, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Global Fisheries Systems, on being named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Unveiling the MSU Collective for NewProductWorks, a new resource for packaging design, product development, marketing, education and research.
- Celebrating 10 years of forest-climate solutions with the Forest Carbon and Climate Program, founded in the Department of Forestry to address educational needs and knowledge gaps surrounding forests as climate change solutions.
- Receiving part of a $1.3 million grant to the MSU Community Music School in Detroit for jazz music education.
- Celebrating 2x Spartan Kelley Cusmano as the Michigan Teacher of the Year.
- Earning the No. 1 public university ranking for Study Abroad by U.S. News and World Report.
- Spending a day with one of MSU’s most active alumni communities outside of the state of Michigan at the Orange County Golf Scholarship Fundraiser in Huntington Beach, California.
- Welcoming Earvin “Magic” Johnson home and thanking him for inspiring so many students and helping propel their futures!
- Participating in the 2024 MSU César Chávez & Dolores Huerta Commemorative Celebration!
- Honoring U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow for her years of public service and leadership as a Spartan.
- Extending our outreach to audiences that are neurodiverse through MSU Theatre’s presentation of “What if Wilhelmina.”
- Introducing the family dog, Koda, to plenty of new Spartan friends.
- Kicking off opening day highlighting Major League Baseball’s first female head groundskeeper Heather Nabozny (’93).
- Demonstrating agricultural collaboration and celebrated alums Jim and Laurie Isley (both ’79), who have made their farm available for MSU sustainability research.
- Navigating our way around campus road closures; we’re excited for what’s to come!
- Pushing the boundaries in plant breeding to adapt to future food production needs.
- Meeting some of the great Spartans leading our alumni groups across the nation at my first Alumni Volunteer Leader Summit.
- Watching the Spartan baseball team win 3 out of 4 against Michigan.
- Marking the weekend of October 18 on my calendar for Homecoming 2024!
- Cheering on Engineering alum Marissa Beatty (’17) in her quest to move the chemical industry toward carbon-neutral manufacturing alternatives.
- Watching Beal Botanical Garden come to life in the spring.
- Learning that internationally renowned jazz icon and director of MSU’s Jazz Studies program Dr. Rodney Whitaker was named to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- Reading The State News, which was named “College Newspaper of the Year” by the Michigan Press Association, with individual State News student journalists also taking home awards for photography, editorial, and news writing.
- Celebrating our “Capital Green” singers becoming the first competitive a cappella group in MSU history to win first place in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella semi-finals.
- Wearing my “researcher hat” for a day and presenting my academic research into sport-related concussions at the College of Human Medicine’s Ambassador Peter F. Secchia Lecture Series.
- Learning that the Master of Science in Nursing program jumped 15 spots in the U.S. News & World Report rankings to No. 58. (And the Doctor of Nursing Practice program maintained its rank at No. 49!)
- Celebrating Zhichao Cao, of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and AgBioResearch, who was named the recipient of a National Science Foundation Career Award.
- Providing master’s students with a commitment to working in behavioral health in the state upon graduation with a $30,000 stipend, thanks to a $498,358 award from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
- Cheering on our student-run radio station 89FM for its 3 national awards.
- Recognizing the indelible impact of the life and legacy of Bob Burgess.
- Receiving $1M to create a center for cybersecurity training, to assist local police departments across Michigan.
- Enjoying Beaumont Brownie Bliss at the famous MSU Dairy Store.
- Celebrating the first class of graduates to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from our new African American and African Studies major in the College of Arts & Letters.
- Experiencing the College of Engineerings’s Spring 2024 Design Day where students showcased their creativity and innovation.
- Learning about the five new isotopes, never before seen on Earth, created by scientists at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.
- Meeting students like Alina Morse, an undergrad who started the fast-growing ZolliCandy Company.
- Welcoming River, MSU Police and Public Safety’s new comfort dog, to the Spartan community of pups.
- Sending two students to New York Fashion Week to learn about the global fashion scene and gain industry insights.
- Congratulating Connor Williams on a job well done serving as our beloved mascot, Sparty.
- Appointing Jennifer Johnson, MSU’s first public health researcher in Flint, to become the founding chair of the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health.
- Honoring the dedication of six hardworking staff members with the Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award.
- Enjoying the creative and talented performances of our students and faculty at the annual Summer Circle Theatre, now celebrating its 62nd season of free on-campus productions!
- Engaging key business leaders across the state to better understand how MSU can make even greater contributions to our state’s and region’s economic priorities through research, entrepreneurship, innovation and talent supply.
- Congratulating Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Timothy Grotjohn on his election as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors for his work on diamond process and device research and development.
- Seeing the blackberry potato—one of the latest creations in potato breeds that resist disease and have high yields developed at MSU by Dave Douches and his team.
- Naming Jun-Hyun Kim, a leader in landscape architecture and the impact of environments on human health and community resiliency, the director of the School of Planning, Design and Construction.
- Congratulating the student startup team of Protein Pints for their first place and grand prize win at the Rice Business Plan Competition.
- Welcoming five startup businesses to incubator facilities in East Lansing and Grand Rapids.
- Reporting on a promising vaccine candidate to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a breakthrough by the research team of Xuefei Hang in the Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering.
- Setting new standards for the treatment of patients with neurodegenerative disorders like MS, ALS or Parkinson’s disease, thanks to new findings on the use of nanoparticles to deliver medicine by the Precision Health research team of Morteza Mahmoudi.
- Congratulating RedoBlox, a company founded on technology developed at MSU to expand renewable energy sources, for their Startup of the Year Award at MSU’s Innovation Celebration.
- Welcoming Heidi Hennink-Kaminski just this week as the new dean for the College of Communication Arts and Sciences.
I’m grateful for this opportunity to work alongside such an open-hearted community to continue to strengthen MSU – and solidify our place as Michigan’s state university, for any student, from any background, who has the desire to pursue a degree and a better tomorrow. Together, we are one team, strengthening one another, and I look forward to the great work we will accomplish ahead.
In green and white,
Kevin M. Guskiewicz
President