Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon began a one-year term as chairperson of the Association of American Universities Oct. 20. She was elected to the post by its board of directors at the association’s semiannual meeting in Washington, D.C.
AAU is a nonprofit organization of 62 leading public and private research universities in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1900, its primary missions are to maintain the productive partnership between research universities and the U.S. government and to advance university research and higher education. The 60 AAU universities in the United States today award nearly one-half of all U.S. doctoral degrees and 55 percent of those in the sciences and engineering.
“Research universities today face rising societal expectations for cutting-edge discovery and life-enhancing innovation, and for developing the next generations of talent that will tackle humanity’s big challenges,” said Simon. “I feel truly privileged to chair the association supporting this impressive group of world-renowned research universities.”
Simon served the past year as AAU’s vice chairperson and succeeds University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann as chairperson. The association today also elected David W. Leebron, president of Rice University, to serve as vice chairperson.
Simon will be a spokesperson for the AAU, particularly on issues of special concern to research universities. She will represent AAU in meetings with national policymakers, help to develop national policy positions and play a significant role in determining the association’s direction during the coming year.
“Lou Anna Simon will be a terrific chair for AAU,” said AAU President Hunter Rawlings. “She has a deep understanding of the economic and other vital roles research universities play in their communities and states, and in the country. She has played an important part in the extraordinary success that Michigan State, the University of Michigan and other research universities have had in articulating the value of these institutions to their state and gaining public support for them. We expect her to help AAU do the same thing on the national level.”
In addition to her activity with the AAU, Simon is a member of the American Council on Education and of the Council on Competitiveness, a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization working to ensure U.S. prosperity. She chairs the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, a group of presidents and chancellors of several prominent U.S. universities that consults regularly with national agencies responsible for security, intelligence and law enforcement. She sits on the National Commission on Financing 21st Century Higher Education, a nonpartisan organization exploring policy proposals aimed at providing long-term sustainable finance models for U.S. higher education. And as immediate past chairperson of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Executive Committee, she serves as an ex officio administrative committee member.
Simon has led the university as president since 2005, prior to that serving as provost, vice president for academic affairs and in other capacities. She began her career at MSU in 1974 after earning her doctorate here in higher education. A native of Indiana, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana State University.