Remarks as prepared
Good morning, everyone.
Commencement season
Later today and tomorrow, we will have the pleasure of celebrating nearly 4,800 new Spartan Graduates who will receive their baccalaureate or advanced degrees. These are a highlight of our academic year and joyful milestones in the lives of our graduates — and among my favorite events.
I enjoyed hosting several graduating students last week at our Cowles House reception and the Beaumont Tower Climb. On Monday, we treated students studying for finals at the library with muffins and warm coffee.
As we prepare to celebrate our newest graduates, we should be proud to know they come from 42 countries, 38 states and 71 of Michigan’s 83 counties.
I’m thrilled for each one of our graduates, knowing they will carry their “Spartan will” forward into their next phase. They include 274 Honors College students and 2,743 students who have been on the Dean’s List at least once. And very impressively, 51 will march tomorrow with multiple degrees.
Later this morning, I look forward to helping salute the 86 graduating seniors earning the Board of Trustees Award for compiling perfect grade point averages throughout their years here at MSU — what a great achievement!
I’ve been so impressed by the determination of Spartan students to succeed in their degree programs and to make a difference in the world — we are proud of all our graduates.
A highlight is always our guest commencement speakers, who offer our graduates compelling personal examples of perseverance, innovation and lifelong curiosity.
Today, Dr. Joan Rose, the Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research and director of the MSU Water Alliance, will address our advanced degree recipients. As you know, Dr. Rose is internationally recognized for her work in water microbiology and public health.
Tomorrow, another well-known Spartan, Dr. Lee June, will address our first ceremony of the day’s honorees. Dr. June has been an exceptionally engaged scholar, educator and mentor here for more than 50 years.
Kevin Conroy, a distinguished alum and CEO and chairman of Exact Sciences, will address the next group. And another familiar name, former MSU provost and retired chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, Kim Wilcox, will speak at the final commencement of the day.
My thanks to them all.
MSU rankings and accolades
Our graduates will enter the next stage of their life journeys bearing degrees and skills equipping them for careers that will span well into the 21st century.
That they made a great choice coming to Michigan State was validated by higher education writer Jeffrey Selingo in his latest book profiling what he calls 75 American “dream schools.” These are colleges and universities that, like MSU, offer a high-quality education, excellent student experiences and great employment outcomes while remaining more accessible and affordable than blue-blood institutions we could all name.
We were proud to announce just this week that Michigan State ranks No. 9 among U.S. public universities, and No. 34 overall, in employability of college graduates. That Times Higher Education ranking is based on those universities that top corporate recruiters think best prepare students for the workplace.
Michigan State is focused on offering our students career exploration and curricular and experiential learning opportunities to thrive in a dynamic 21st century economy — and for jobs that might not yet even exist.
And there’s more to come, as we look forward in the coming weeks to receiving recommendations from our Green and White Council. Those ideas will help us further strengthen the state’s workforce, connect students to high-quality careers and accelerate innovation across Michigan’s industries.
And to underscore the excellence of the world-class faculty powering our educational programs, eight researchers and professors were recognized recently among the world’s most highly cited researchers. They are literally one in a thousand among their peers, so congratulations to them, their departments and colleges.
I get to meet a lot of impressive students, and I shared a meal with one such group last week — entrepreneurs from our Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
These are incredible students. I always learn more than I contribute when I visit with them. Their curiosity inspires me and stay tuned, because what they are doing is going to have you saying “that's a Spartan!”
We recently learned that MSU now ranks among the top 10 schools for entrepreneurship education, according to the Princeton Review, based on our academic programs, faculty engagement, student experiences and alumni success.
Williams commitment
I’m sure you’ll all agree with me that it’s been a very eventful few weeks at Michigan State, including the exciting announcement of our largest-ever private financial commitment.
People believe and trust in MSU and the innovations we are introducing at every level, and a recent Edelman public opinion survey data supports this. Let’s talk about the way we have engaged donors like Greg and Dawn Williams, who without question believe in Michigan State!
Greg and Dawn are committing $401 million to MSU — an investment that will shape the future of our athletic and academic programs for years to come. Not only is it the largest commitment in our university history — it is one of the largest to any athletics program in the nation.
Most of that will support Michigan State Athletics’ Competitive Excellence Fund, accelerating our ability to compete nationally and build a sustainable foundation for long-term success while supporting the self-sufficiency of our athletics operations.
Our “For Sparta” initiative, part of our “Uncommon Will, Far Better World” comprehensive campaign, will allow us to invest in facilities and programs giving student-athletes optimal spaces to compete and train in, while offering the Spartan community and our fans great gameday experiences.
Eleven million dollars of the Williamses’ commitment will be directed toward academic initiatives, including the Burgess Institute, the Risk Management and Financial Insurance Program in the Broad College of Business, the Sparty Program, supporting student leadership and spirit initiatives and the Spartan Marching and Pep Bands.
Greg and Dawn aren’t Spartan alums, but they are highly engaged community and university supporters, including serving as inaugural co-chairs for our “Uncommon Will, Far Better World” campaign. I know they share our belief in what Michigan State stands for: opportunity, grit and a shared responsibility to lift up one another.
And to add some perspective to our fundraising efforts, $3 billion of the $4 billion goal of our comprehensive campaign supports students, faculty and MSU’s academic enterprise.
I mentioned the $10 million gift from Mike and Mary Lamach for the Engineering and Digital Innovation Center at our last meeting, but we have many others who make academic giving a priority.
Nearly 70% of giving in the campaign has been to support our academic and research programs. While our Top 100 athletic donors prioritize sports, they have still contributed 30% of their lifetime giving to academic units.
In fact, our top 200 donors have directed 92% of their lifetime giving to academic priorities.
They’re people like Chuck and Jackie Frasier, whose continued support to the School of Packaging will modernize one of MSU’s most distinctive and globally recognized programs.
They include Dhaval Bhanusali, a young alum and Spartan M.D. who established the Bhanusali Innovation Scholarship to cultivate the next generation of physician-leaders — a reminder that the will to give back is strong across every stage of life.
And let’s not forget the 2,500 who stepped up earlier this month on Giving Tuesday to support programs and initiatives across the university.
Each of these donors — like Greg and Dawn Williams — saw something in MSU worth investing in. They saw talent, possibility and momentum. And they responded: So far overall, we’ve raised $1.67 billion toward the $4 billion campaign goal, from 131,262 donors.
Saluting Spartans
When you look at all the academic, athletic, innovation and cultural challenges in front of Michigan State, it really takes all of us — working together as one team — to tackle them. One of our key players, Vice President for Research and Innovation Doug Gage, as you know will retire shortly after a distinguished career as a scientist and leader. We’ll have more to say later in the meeting, but I want to thank Doug now for his many contributions to Michigan State.
We have another scholar and leader to reaffirm today, with approval of Glenn Chambers as dean of the Honors College on today’s agenda.
Provost McIntyre recently recommended Dr. Chambers for the permanent dean position, as he’s served as associate dean and, since June, as interim dean.
He’s been active in supporting the renovation of Campbell Hall as a residential community for Honors College students, and I know how much our students value his leadership and mentorship.
We recently welcomed a new Spartan into our global family, and the board today will consider formal approval for Pat Fitzgerald to become Spartan Football’s head coach. He’s a proven leader who understands the full mission of intercollegiate athletics, including academic achievement and the holistic development of our student-athletes — in addition to competitive excellence.
If you saw him firing up the crowd at our Big Ten basketball season opener and dropping the puck at the hockey game, you’ll have no doubt about his enthusiasm for MSU and our excitement about him, so a warm Spartan welcome to Coach Fitzgerald!
It’s an exciting time for Spartan Athletics, and as we look forward to MSU’s fall graduation celebrations, we can take a lot of pride in the latest information on student-athlete graduation rates.
According to the NCAA, our student-athletes posted a four-year Federal Graduation Rate of 81%, which ties the highest in department history and marks the fifth straight year at 80% or better. That puts us third in the Big Ten and eighth among Power 4 conference peers — fourth among public institutions!
And an additional salute to our women’s soccer team, which wrapped up their season in the NCAA quarterfinals — their first-ever Elite Eight appearance after back-to-back Sweet 16’s. Well done, Spartans!
Conclusion
As I wrap up my remarks, I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the individual sitting to my left. This is Chair Kelly Tebay’s final meeting as chair of the board of trustees. Fortunately, Kelly will still be with us for the next, we hope, many years. I couldn’t have had a better partner, and I want to thank you for all you’ve done and I know will continue to do.
And on a seasonal note, and with gratitude to our Spartan community with best wishes for our next semester and for 2026, holiday lights are a great way to brighten up the season, so we added some to Beaumont Tower and asked some campus community members to join us Monday for its first lighting.
I hope you enjoy this look at our inaugural Beaumont illumination, and that will conclude my segment of today’s meeting.