EAST LANSING, Mich. — Vennie Gore has been named assistant vice president for housing and food services at Michigan State University, effective Aug. 13. Gore, who is associate director for housing and food services at the University of Washington, will succeed Charles Gagliano, who retired in April.
In making the announcement, Fred Poston, vice president for finance and operations, said Gore’s selection followed a “highly competitive” national search.
“Vennie Gore has the extensive leadership record and management skill required for this position,” Poston said. “He has a special appreciation for the integration of housing and food services into the values and academic mission of the university. His record at Washington has been exemplary. Too, his experience at three other Big Ten universities – Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin – is especially impressive.”
With the exception of two years as the assistant to the director of housing at Wisconsin, Gore has been at Washington in various leadership roles since 1985.A graduate of the University of South Carolina, he had previously served as a resident director at Illinois and received his master’s in college student personnel from Indiana.
“MSU is recognized nationally as among the very elite in housing and food services,” Gore said. “I hope to build upon that reputation to help create a 21st century campus community that is informed by a very impressive and challenging Boldness by Design vision, including the call to environmental stewardship.
“I am particularly motivated by the management challenges of one of the most diverse and complex housing and food services divisions in higher education.”
Gore will administer a residence hall system with a capacity for 17,500 students, apartments housing 2,500 students, faculty, and staff, and a food service program serving more than 50,000 meals daily. Additional auxiliary operations include the MSU Union, Central Bakery, University Concessions, 19 retail outlets, Catering Services, Food Stores, Laundry Services, Conference Services, Jack Breslin Student Events Center, Forest Akers Golf Courses, Indoor Tennis Facility, Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, Brook Lodge, Cowles House presidential residence, and Alumni Chapel.
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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 16 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.