Lou Anna Simon | |
---|---|
![]() Simon in 2014 | |
20th President of Michigan State University | |
In office January 1, 2005 –January 24, 2018 | |
Preceded by | M. Peter McPherson |
Succeeded by | John Engler (interim) Samuel L. Stanley |
In office April 25,2003 –September 30,2003 | |
Personal details | |
Education | Indiana State University (BA) Michigan State University (MS,PhD) |
Lou Anna Kimsey Simon is an American academic administrator who served as the 20th president of Michigan State University (MSU). Simon was appointed interim president of the university in 2003,then served as president from 2005 until her resignation in 2018.
Since December 2017,Simon has been John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in the College of Education at MSU. From 2012 to 2014,Simon served as chair of the executive committee of National Collegiate Athletic Association. She also served as chair of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch. [1] She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2016. [2]
Simon received her Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Indiana State University in Terre Haute in 1969. [1] She earned a Master of Science in student personnel and counseling from Indiana State University in 1970. [1] In 1974 Simon earned a PhD in higher education from MSU. [3] She is married and lives in East Lansing. [1]
Simon was hired by MSU to be a faculty member. Over the following years,she served in a sequence of increasingly-senior administrative positions:Assistant Director of the Office of Institutional Research,Assistant Provost for General Academic Administration,Associate Provost,Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs from 1993-2004,and interim president from April 25,2003 to September 30,2003 while then-President M. Peter McPherson served as a representative of President George W. Bush in the reconstruction of Iraq. [4] [5]
On June 8,2004,the MSU Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Simon as President with a three-year,US $340,000-a-year,contract effective January 1,2005. [6]
In January 2006,the Board of Trustees increased Simon's salary to US $425,000 although President Simon and her husband Roy Simon donated that year's increase back to the university's capital campaign.[ citation needed ]
In 2006,Simon decided to add Michigan State University to the list of institutions opposing the passage of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative,an initiative that ended affirmative action in the state of Michigan.[ citation needed ]
In 2018,Michigan State's role in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case led to criticism from students,faculty,state legislators,alumni and others,including calls for President Simon to step down. Nassar,a sports physician at MSU from 1997 to 2016,pleaded guilty in a Michigan court to seven charges of sexual assault and faces accusations of sexual assault from more than 150 young girls and women. [7] The Detroit News reported that 14 MSU representatives,including Simon,had been told of sexual misconduct by Nassar across two decades. [8] While the MSU trustees initially voiced support for Simon,public pressure continued to grow until January 24,2018,when the Michigan House of Representatives approved a resolution calling on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees to fire Simon. [9] [10]
On January 24,2018,Simon announced her resignation from the presidency. [11] Simon signed her resignation letter with her title "John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor," a prestigious professorship most were unaware she had been awarded the previous December. The appointment then received criticism from numerous faculty members across the University,due to Simon's career being strictly in administrative roles with virtually no faculty experience,and on the basis of it having been a direct appointment by the trustees bypassing usual academic procedure. [12] Following her resignation,Simon's contract allowed for a 12-month research leave at her full presidential salary,after which she could officially assume her faculty position in the department of educational administration. [12]
On November 20,2018,Simon was charged with two felonies and two misdemeanor counts for lying to the police about her knowledge of sexual abuse committed by Nassar. [13] MSU interim President John Engler announced that Simon would be taking an immediate leave of absence from the university,without pay. [14] On May 13,2020,Eaton County Circuit Court Judge John Maurer dismissed the charges against Simon Stating,"The prosecution did not provide evidence sufficient to give a reasonable person probable cause that Dr. Simon knew during her 2018 interview that her purported knowledge in 2014 of Dr. Nassar’s name and the ‘nature’and ‘substance’of the complaint against him". [15] Simon's attorney Lee Silver released a statement stating,"The Court’s ruling completely vindicates Dr. Simon and confirms what we have been saying from the day these charges were brought,namely,that there was not a shred of credible evidence to support these charges." [15] Attorney General Dana Nessel appealed the ruling but a panel of 3 appellate judges upheld the ruling 3-0,with Nessel being highly criticized by the judges with Judge Elizabeth Gleicher stating that Nessel's investigation was a "Sham." [16]
In August 2012,while president of MSU,Simon began a two-year term as chair of the NCAA's executive committee. Elected to the position one week after the committee's sanctions of Penn State for the university's part in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case,Simon said her goal was to "build trust and confidence back in the system." [17]
John Mathias Engler is an American politician,lawyer,businessman,and lobbyist who served as the 46th governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. Considered one of the country's top lobbyists,he is a member of the Republican Party.
Michigan State University is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing,Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan,the first of its kind in the United States. After the introduction of the Morrill Act in 1862,the state designated the college a land-grant institution in 1863,making it the first of the land-grant colleges in the United States. The college became coeducational in 1870. Today,Michigan State has rapidly expanded its footprint across the state of Michigan with facilities all across the state and one of the largest collegiate alumni networks with 634,000 members.
The Michigan State University College of Law is the law school of Michigan State University,a public research university in East Lansing,Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law,it was the first law school in the Detroit,Michigan area and the second in the state of Michigan. In October 2018,the college began a process to fully integrate into Michigan State University,changing from a private to a public law school. The integration with Michigan State University was finalized on August 17,2020.
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Samuel L. Stanley Jr. is an American educator and biomedical researcher. He was President of Michigan State University from 2019 to November 2022,and President of Stony Brook University from 2009 to 2019. Stanley is one of the founding directors of the Midwest Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research.
Thomas L. Leonard III is an American attorney and politician. He is a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House from 2017 to 2019. Elected in 2012 to succeed term-limited Paul Opsommer,Leonard represented the residents of Clinton and Gratiot County. Prior to that,he worked as a prosecutor. Leonard unsuccessfully ran for Michigan Attorney General in 2018 and was nominated by President Donald Trump to be the United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan.
Kim E. Schatzel is an American academic administrator who is the 19th president of the University of Louisville. She joined Eastern Michigan University in January 2012 as provost and executive vice president of academic and student affairs,and became interim president on July 8,2015,following the resignation of Susan Martin. Schatzel was previously dean of the college of business at University of Michigan–Dearborn. On November 30,2022,she was announced as the next president of University of Louisville and began her tenure on February 1,2023.
Stephen D. Penny Jr. is an American businessman and sports administrator. He was president and CEO of USA Gymnastics (USAG) from 2005 until 2017,and is a key figure in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.
Elizabeth H. Simmons is an American theoretical physicist,and Executive Vice Chancellor at University of California San Diego. Formerly,she was a distinguished professor of physics at Michigan State University,the dean of Lyman Briggs College,and the associate provost for faculty and academic staff development. She has also held positions at Harvard University and Boston University. Simmons is married to fellow physicist,R. Sekhar Chivukula. Together they have two children.
The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of hundreds of gymnasts—primarily minors at the time of the abuse—over two decades in the United States,starting in the 1990s. More than 500 athletes alleged that they were sexually assaulted "by gym owners,coaches,and staff working for gymnastics programs across the country",including USA Gymnastics (USAG) and Michigan State University (MSU). It is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history.
Lawrence Gerard Nassar is an American former sports medicine physician,convicted sex offender and serial child molester. For 18 years,he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team,where he used his position to exploit and sexually assault hundreds of young athletes.
June Youatt is an American university professor and former administrator,holding the posts of Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies as well as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Michigan State University (MSU).
Events from the year 2017 in Michigan.
Events from the year 2018 in Michigan.
Rachael Joy Denhollander is an American lawyer and former gymnast. She was the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar,the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor,of sexual assault. Denhollander is 2018 Glamour Woman of the Year and was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018. She is the recipient of the 2021 Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life.
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