CLICK TO HEAR MAX STEVENS’ INTERVIEW WITH MSU PRES. STANLEY
Michigan State University President Sam Stanley visited the Upper Peninsula on Tuesday this week to tour the university’s research stations and meet with staff. In an interview with RRN News, Stanley also spoke about the work of the MSU Extension Service in the U.P., and how the role of extension has changed in recent years.
“We now do extension work with our College of Medicine, and our College of Nursing is doing some extension work as well,” Stanley said. “The College of Osteopathic Medicine has programs up here, and in each of our colleges, we think about ways that we can translate the scholarship and research on campus into communities in ways that makes a huge difference.”
Stanley’s trip to the U.P. is his first since taking office in 2019.
“There’s a real sense that I have of the Upper Peninsula as a place that has extraordinary potential,” Stanley said. “(It has) a committed population that really cares about it, and keeping it pristine, but also finding ways to help it economically grow.”
Perhaps MSU’s best-known person from the Upper Peninsula is men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo. The university has just offered the Iron Mountain native a contract extension worth $6.2 million that will make Izzo a “Spartan For Life”. That’s a lot of money for a university in tough economic times, but Stanley says it’s money well-spent.
“Coach is an extraordinary asset for Michigan State, as for the State of Michigan as a whole,” Stanley said. “I would argue that he is probably one of the most-recognized citizens in the State of Michigan. That’s because he has had extraordinary success in basketball, but he’s also a genuine fan of the state and of the university. That shows, I think, in everything he does. So, I’m really glad that we were able to extend his contract.”
The MSU Board of Truestees is expected to give final approval at its September meeting.
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