Describing himself as “a bit of a joiner,” alumni leader, donor and friend to MSU, Greg Hauser may be a bit self-effacing.
He remembers well his first trip to campus. A native of Rochester, New York, he arrived after a particularly heavy snowfall to undertake the Alumni Distinguished Scholar test.
“We all have a mental image of what college is,” he said. “I looked around at the beautiful blanket of white all across campus and I realized this was the place I always imagined myself being.”
Greg (’75 B.S., Honors College/Natural Science; ’77 M.S., Zoology) aced the test, received the scholarship and began his MSU journey intending to become a zoologist. Along the way he discovered an affinity for law over science, completed his J.D. at New York University, and found a unique niche utilizing his MSU minor in German. As an attorney, he represents German, Austrian and Swiss corporations with disputes in the U.S.
A life member of the MSU Alumni Association, Greg is in his tenth year of service as president of the New York City MSU Alumni Club, and will soon finish a stint as a member and head of MSUAA’s National Board. He has remained committed to his fraternity as well, highlighted by a presidency of the North-American Interfraternity Conference, the umbrella group for all national and international men’s college social fraternities.
A devoted New Yorker, he believes his love of the Big Apple has a common thread with his love for Michigan State. With both, he enjoys being a part of something big, dynamic and very accomplished. “No matter how much I think I know about MSU, every time I go there I learn something new that is jaw-dropping,” he said.
During his tenure as president of the NYC alumni club, membership has grown tenfold, an exciting phenomenon he credits to the rise of MSU’s Broad Business College that dovetailed with university engagement efforts in the region. “It has been a bit like riding a bucking bronco,” Greg said.
A member of MSU’s Kedzie Society, he has been a consistent contributor to the club’s scholarships and many other MSU initiatives. Greg has remembered MSU in his estate plans through a charitable bequest directed to support the MSU Libraries, the Department of Zoology within the College of Natural Science, and the Joseph John Hauser Endowed Alumni Distinguished Scholarship, named in tribute to his father. Greg is honoring a promise he made to himself “to pay MSU back.”
“When I think of how much MSU did for me and the other ADSers (Alumni Distinguished Scholars), it underlies my certainty that this institution is essential to the world.”