Michigan State University gathered to celebrate faculty excellence and chart the road ahead.
- The Investiture for Endowed Faculty honored newly named chairs, professors, and distinguished scholars whose work is powered by philanthropy.
- The State of the University then set that celebration in context, showing how donor-funded professorships, strategic partnerships, and a refreshed plan are advancing research, student success, and outreach across Michigan and beyond.
State of the University
President Kevin Guskiewicz highlighted a year of momentum powered by record-breaking fundraising efforts and purposeful collaboration. MSU entered the new academic year with strong enrollment and nationally-ranked programs, advanced key research and outreach initiatives, and refreshed its 2030 strategic plan to focus on bold action and broader impact.
Michigan State’s $4 billion comprehensive campaign, Uncommon Will, Far Better World, is fueling this progress. Every dollar goes toward people, progress and potential - advancing research, driving student success, and strengthening its outreach across Michigan and beyond.
Investiture for Endowed Faculty
The State of the University set the stage for the Investiture for Endowed Faculty, a celebration of how endowments create the conditions for world-class teaching and research. At MSU, an endowed professorship is not simply a title; it is a catalytic engine — funded by donors — to:
- Recruit scholars of international distinction who might otherwise choose industry or peer institutions.
- Retain top performers by equipping their labs, supporting their teams, and allowing them to chase bold ideas.
- Mentor the next generation of Spartans — undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs whose training ripples into Michigan’s workforce and global research community.
When donors endow professorships, they endow progress. Their generosity fuels cancer breakthroughs, expands experiential education, builds collaborations across disciplines, and safeguards Michigan’s orchards and food supply chains against climate volatility.
Provost Laura Lee McIntyre — herself newly named an MSU Research Foundation Professor — reminded the audience that these appointments not only recognize individual achievement, but also create “opportunities for synergy and connection that might not happen otherwise.”
2025 Investiture Honorees
Endowed Chairs
Dalen W. Agnew — Albert C. & Lois E. Dehn Chair in Veterinary Medicine
Esther Belin — Audrey and John Leslie Endowed Chair
Robert Charles Fowkes-Gajan — Albert C. & Lois E. Dehn Chair in Veterinary Medicine
James McCusker — Joseph Zichis Chair of Chemistry
Annette Maree O’Connor — Albert C. & Lois E. Dehn Chair in Veterinary Medicine
Janeen Salak-Johnson — Meadowbrook Farm Animal Chair Endowed Professor
Lucas Pozzo-Miller — Mall Family Endowed Professor in Genetic Autism Research
MSU Research Foundation Professors
Charles Hong — Department of Medicine
Jiying Ling — College of Nursing
Laura Lee McIntyre — Counseling, Educational Psychology & Special Education
Red Cedar Distinguished Professors
- Kristen Cetin — Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Michael P. Dease — College of Music
- Marisa Helene Fisher — Counseling, Educational Psychology & Special Education
- Aline Godfroid — Linguistics, Languages & Cultures
- Jacqueline Goodway — Kinesiology
- Kristen Renn — Educational Administration John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor
- Jeffrey Barrick — Microbiology, Genetics & Immunology
Honoring Scholars and Stewards
Each medal placed on a faculty member’s shoulders honored years of inquiry and discovery; each also honored the donors whose generosity sustains that work. Every named chair, professorship, and distinguished title carries with it a story of philanthropy — of a family, a foundation, or an alumnus who believed in the transformative power of knowledge and chose to endow that belief for generations to come.
Together, the State of the University and Faculty Investiture made one message clear: philanthropy fuels possibility. It empowers faculty to dream bigger, students to reach further, and Spartans everywhere to shape a far better world.