MSU Alumni Magazine, Fall 2004 issue - MSU Alumni Association ...

ing events. She is involved with
the annual Parade, the Green and
White Brunch, and is also the
chairperson of the MSU Homecoming
Court Selection Committee.”
She also chairs several
planning subcommittees of the
MSU Sesquicentennial and the
annual MSUAA Kaleidoscope
Committee. As a member the
MSUAA’s National Alumni
Board, she served on the Alumni
Center Committee. Under both
Peter and Joanne, Cowles House
has become a tremendously active
and welcoming place, hosting
some 100 events a year.
Some highlights of McPherson’s
presidency:
☛The “Guiding Principles,”
providing MSU with a renewed
“practical vision.”
☛The Tuition Guarantee that allowed
MSU for seven consecutive
years in the 1990s to hold tuition
to the rate of inflation, something
no other major university in the
nation was able to do.
☛ Affiliating with the then-Detroit
College of Law , now the
MSU School of Law.
☛ Growth in Honors College enrollment
from 1,000 students to
over 2,500.
☛ Declaring Study Abroad a university
priority, resulting in a
tripling of enrolment in the program
as MSU became the nation’s
leader in undergraduates studying
internationally.
☛The largest facilities growth
since the Hannah Era, with major
facilities constructions and expansions
including the Biomedical
and Physical Sciences Bldg,
Agriculture Hall Annex, Beaumont
Tower renovation, Koo International
Academic Center, Eustace-Cole
Hall, Henry Center
for Executive Development,
McPhail Equine Performance
Center, Smith Student-Athlete
Academic Support Center, the
MSU Law School Bldg, and the
new addition to Spartan Stadium
that will house both University
Development and the MSU
Alumni Association.
☛ Establishing the 2020 Vision
Plan, an in-depth campus directive
for space quality, land use, facilities
development, and environmental
sensitivity in
long-range planning.
McPherson, a former Peace
Corps volunteer himself, has consistently
called upon MSU students
“to dream and act globallyto
think beyond yourselves in lives
of public service.” During his
MSU presidency he has set an example.
“He’s a fixer, in the purest
sense of the word,” wrote Detroit
News business columnist Daniel
Howes last June. “He likes to tackle
big problems—famine in Africa
20 years ago for the Agency for International
Development, binge
drinking on campus, meaningful
education for blighted urban areas
or the restoration of Iraq’s economy.”
McPherson was appointed
by President George W. Bush as
chair of the Board of International
Food and Agriculture Development
and serves as co-chair of the
Partnership to Cut Hunger in
Africa. He chaired reform commissions
on Michigan’s charter
schools and Lansing’s public
schools.
Last May, he took a five-month
leave to head the economic reconstruction
of Iraq, at the behest
of President Bush.
As the Lansing State Journal editorialized,
“Whatever the differences
some may have with President
Peter McPherson, there’s no
denying his departure from MSU
will be a significant loss. MSU
will miss McPherson. As will we.”
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE
MCPHERSON YEARS
1998
• Dedication of Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic
Support Center, the first such facility in the Big Ten
• Renovation of Eustace-Cole Hall begins, launching an
ambitious effort to renovate historic “Lab Row”
• MSU receives major backing from the National Science
Foundation to “couple” its two superconducting cyclotrons
1999
• Agriculture Hall Annex is completed
• “20/20 Vision,” a comprehensive master plan for the campus,
is introduced
• Launches “MSU Promise,” a continued focus on undergraduate
education, research, graduate education, globalization, outreach
and diversity.
• MSU wins a national award for its commitment to safety and
responsible drinking
• Lands Jean Chretien, Prime Minister
of Canada, as commencement
speaker
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FALL 2004 MSU ALUMNI MAGAZINE