EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University has selected Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D. as its interim president before a permanent one is selected.
Woodruff will be replacing President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D temporarily as he departs from his role. Stanley said he resigned because he “lost confidence in the action of the current Board of Trustees.”
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The Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Woodruff as interim president. Currently serving as the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Woodruff joined MSU in August 2020. The newly appointed interim president will transition into the role in the coming days, according to the university.
The Board of Trustees wrote that they are confident to move forward with their MSU 2030 strategic plan under Woodruff’s leadership. A search committee will seek a permanent president in early 2023.
Woodruff was responsible for about 50,000 students and more than 5,000 faculty and academic staff at Michigan State University during her role as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The new interim president holds honorary degrees from both Bates College and the University of Birmingham School of Medicine. She earned a B.S. from Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois, a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and did her postdoctoral fellowship at Genentech, Inc. in San Francisco.
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