Leadership sparks transformation of the campus and surrounding community

Tenure marked by devotion to the university mission of teaching, research and service

Wayne State University Board of Governors Chair Eugene Driker confirmed today the resignation of Irvin D. Reid, the ninth President of Wayne State University. Reid will soon celebrate his 10th anniversary as President of the university, and his resignation will be effective at a date to be named in 2008.

According to Governor Driker, “President Reid will leave us with a great deal of positive momentum, and his impact is evident throughout our campus, the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. Among his most important accomplishments are: a significant growth in student enrollment—more than doubling the number of residential students; the strengthening of both our teaching and research missions; establishment of the Perinatology Research Branch of the National Institutes of Health; expansion of our Honors Program; the launch of TechTown, home to dozens of high-tech businesses that are bringing new jobs and investments to the city; major improvements in the university\'s technological infrastructure; and the addition of many new buildings to the campus, making it the linchpin for the remarkable revitalization of Midtown Detroit.”

Of great importance to the university was the establishment of Wayne State University’s first capital campaign, which to date has been highly successful. “This campaign has far exceeded our ambitious original goal of $500 million,” Driker said. “A recent capstone of this campaign has been Wayne State University’s selection as a PACE (Partnership for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education) institution, one of an elite group of universities worldwide. Announced just last week, this achievement resulted in an in-kind gift of nearly $408 million, which is the third largest such contribution in the world, the second largest in the U.S. and the largest to a public university.

“On this strong foundation the capital campaign will continue on its present course, with the goal of supporting several important initiatives. The President has devoted an enormous amount of his personal time to this successful development effort, and his ambassadorship has helped build the university\'s reputation across the country and around the world. We have benefited greatly from President Reid\'s vision and tireless devotion to the university. We wish him and Pam the very best in their future activities.”

President Reid is formulating plans for the next phase of what has been a remarkable career. From humble beginnings, Reid followed the path of higher education, eventually rising to its highest ranks. He earned master’s and PhD degrees in business and applied economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in general/experimental psychology from Howard University. He also holds a certificate in educational administration from Harvard University.

Dr. Reid began the most significant years of his academic career at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where his positions included: dean of the School of Business Administration, John Stagmaier Professor of Economics and Business Administration, head of the Department of Marketing and Business Law, and Alan Lorberbaum Professor of Marketing. He also has held positions at Howard University, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Drexel University, the Philadelphia College of Art and St. Joseph’s University.

Prior to assuming the Wayne State University presidency, Dr. Reid was president of Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., where under his leadership 17 new facilities were built or initiated and the institution’s first capital campaign was begun and completed. At Montclair he also was a tenured full professor in management in the School of Business Administration.

Dr. Reid has received many honors and awards including the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award, the Austrian-American Council of North America’s Austrian-American Medal (1995) and Howard University’s Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement Award in Education and Administration (1999). In 2000 The Detroit News placed him among its 12 Michiganians of the Year. In 2002 he received the Michael P. Malone International Leadership Award from the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, and was named a Newsmaker of the Year by Crain’s Detroit Business. In 2003 he received an honorary degree from Montclair State University; in 2006 Dr. Reid was chosen Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the Central Great Lakes Region for his leadership in supporting spin-off businesses from university research while nurturing existing businesses in Detroit’s Midtown area.

He sits on the boards of Detroit Renaissance, Handleman Company, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Mack-Cali Real Estate Trust. He is married to Pamela Trotman Reid, provost and executive vice president of Roosevelt University in Chicago.

“I have enjoyed a wonderful career so far, and am extremely proud of my time at Wayne State,” Reid said. “We have accomplished a great deal in my tenure with the university, and it is gratifying to note the impact and progress we continue to make. Last week alone we broke ground on the new Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., Medical Education Commons, and became a PACE institution, taking our College of Engineering to an even higher level, but those are just the latest in a long line of accomplishments. The university is strong and moving in a positive direction. And now with our capital campaign goals assured, I believe it is an excellent time to step down from the presidency sometime in 2008.”

Dr. Reid will continue working prior to his departure on many pending projects, among which are capital campaign fundraising activities and the effort to secure state appropriations cut from the budget earlier this year. “There is still much work to be done, and while I am still here I will be totally engaged in moving Wayne State University forward,” said Reid.

The Board of Governors, under the leadership of Chairman Driker, plans to launch a national search for a new president beginning immediately.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to nearly 33,000 students.