Executive Bios - Deans
Carole Ames
College of Education
501 Erickson Hall
(517) 355-1735
cames@msu.edu
In addition to serving as dean of Michigan State University’s College of Education, Carole Ames is a professor of educational psychology. Previously, Ames served as department chairperson and professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois and acting director of the Institute for Research on Human Development in the College of Applied Life Studies at the University of Illinois. Ames is interested in the development of social and academic motivation in children. Her research focuses on the effects of classroom structure, competition, and teaching practices on children’s motivation to learn, and on school and family relationships and specific strategies for increasing parental involvement in children’s learning. Her areas of expertise include disadvantaged and urban children and youth, motivation, motivation and learning in family/community/schools, motivation and social development, and parental involvement in family, community, and schools.
Jeffrey Armstrong
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
102 Agriculture Hall
(517) 355-0232
armstroj@msu.edu
In addition to serving as dean of Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Jeffrey Armstrong is a professor in the Department of Animal Science. Previously, he was head of the Department of Animal Sciences at Purdue University and served in a number of capacities at North Carolina State University, including professor of animal science and assistant director of academic programs and director of the Agricultural Institute in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Armstrong is an internationally known researcher in the area of reproductive physiology and is active in the area of food-animal well-being. He chairs the United Egg Producers’ Welfare Advisory Committee and is a member of the McDonald’s Welfare Advisory Panel. Armstrong is the past president of the American Society of Animal Science.
Marietta Baba
College of Social Science
203 Berkey Hall
(517) 355-6675
mbaba@msu.edu
Marietta Baba is the dean of Michigan State University’s College of Social Science. Prior to this appointment, Baba was a professor in and chairperson of the Department of Anthropology at Wayne State University. Further, she has served in several senior administrative positions in the Offices of the Provost and Vice President for Research at Wayne State University and as a program director at the National Science Foundation. A prolific and widely published scholar, Baba has concentrated her recent research on the role of information technology in various organizational contexts. Baba is a well respected anthropologist who has extensive experience in the business world and in practical applications of traditional disciplines.
Christopher Brown
College of Veterinary Medicine
G100 Veterinary Medical Center
(517) 355-6509
browncm@msu.edu
Christopher Brown was appointed dean of the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine in September 2006. No stranger to MSU, Brown served on the College of Veterinary Medicine faculty from 1979 through 1994 in a variety of positions, including head of the Equine Medicine and Surgery Section in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and acting head of the hospital’s Radiology Section. From 1994 to 2002, Brown was professor and chair of the Iowa State University Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences and director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. In 2002, he was named chairperson of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies at the University of Guelph, Ontario Veterinary College and also was acting director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Stephen Esquith
Residential College in Arts and Humanities
524 South Kedzie Hall
(517) 355-0210
esquith@msu.edu
Stephen Esquith was appointed dean of the Residential College in Arts and Humanities in fall 2006. Prior to this appointment, he served as chair of the Department of Philosophy from 2000 to 2005. Esquith has been researching ethical problems in developing countries since 1990, when he was a senior Fulbright scholar in Poland. He has also been involved in numerous civic engagement projects in the public schools, including an exchange program between local elementary school children in the United States and schoolchildren in a community school in Kati, Mali. He led a study abroad program focusing on ethical issues in development in Mali in the summers of 2004 and 2006, and he spent the academic year 2005–06 teaching and working with colleagues at the University of Bamako as a senior Fulbright scholar.
Jim Forger
College of Music
104 Music Building
(517) 355-4583
forgermsu@msu.edu
In addition to serving as dean of the College of Music, James Forger is a professor of saxophone, an active performing saxophonist, and an award-winning recording artist. He was appointed as director of the School of Music in 1990, and since then the school (now college) has been recognized as a nationally ranked program. Forger is member of the Commission on Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Music and has served as an evaluator and consultant to music schools and nondegree-granting community music programs across the country. In 1994, he founded a new nondegree-granting division of the College of Music, the Community Music School, which enrolls 1,200 individuals each year. Forger has performed throughout South America, Europe, Asia, and the former Soviet Union. He has been the guest saxophonist in residence at the International Chamber Music Festival of the Mayan Highlands in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico. He has appeared as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Sinfonica de Vientos in Tunja, Colombia.
Sherman Garnett
James Madison College
367 South Case Hall
(517) 353-6753
garnetts@msu.edu
Sherman Garnett is the dean of Michigan State University’s James Madison College. Previously, Garnett was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he directed projects on security and national identity in the former Soviet Union and Russian–Chinese relations. He worked for more than a dozen years on arms control and post-Communist security policy questions in a variety of positions in the U.S. government, finishing his government service as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Garnett’s interests include the former Soviet Union, especially Russian foreign and security policy; Ukraine; and comparative political and security issues for the post-Communist world. His current research interests include contemporary global security problems, political and security trends in Eurasia, and Russian intellectual and literary history.
R. James Kirkpatrick
College of Natural Science
104 Natural Science Building
(517) 355-4473
cnsdean@msu.edu
James Kirkpatrick is dean of Michigan State University’s College of Natural Science. He has more than 20 years of experience in college administration and served as executive associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champagne (UIUC) before joining MSU in 2007. He received his Ph.D. in geology from UIUC in 1972 and has authored more than 200 research publications. His research focuses on the application of high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and computational molecular modeling in geochemistry, mineralogy, and materials chemistry.
Elvin Lashbrooke
Eli Broad College of Business
N520 Business College Complex
(517) 355-8377
lashbro1@msu.edu
Elvin Lashbrooke is interim dean of the Eli Broad College of Business and Eli Broad Graduate School of Management effective July 1, 2008. Lashbrooke served as dean of the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, from 1997–99 and as associate dean of the Broad School from 1993–97 and again from 1999–2001. He also served as director of Study Abroad and e-Learning Initiatives in MSU-CIBER after leaving the dean’s office. He is currently the director of the Summer Business Program at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge in England. He received his Ph.D. in finance from MSU.
Mary Mundt
College of Nursing
A219 Life Sciences Building
(517) 355-6527
mundtm@msu.edu
Mary Mundt is dean of Michigan State University’s College of Nursing. Mundt received her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Marquette Univeristy, a master’s degree in public health nursing from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a B.S.N. from Marquette University. Previously, she was dean and professor of the School of Nursing at the University of Louisville and has also served on the boards of several organizations, including the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the American Cancer Society. Mundt is recognized for her leadership in building university–community partnerships as well as her commitment to education practices and research.
Marsha Rappley
College of Human Medicine
A110 East Fee Hall
(517) 353-1730
rappley@msu.edu
Marsha Rappley is dean of Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, having been appointed in September 2006 after serving as the college’s acting dean for more than a year. An MSU faculty member since 1988, Rappley is a 1984 graduate of the College of Human Medicine. Prior to serving as acting dean, Rappley was the college’s associate dean for academic affairs. Other administrative positions she has held at MSU include interim chairperson of the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development and interim associate dean for academic affairs of the College of Human Medicine. She is recognized nationally for her expertise in problems of learning and behavior in children, especially attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Jeffrey Riedinger
International Studies and Programs
209 International Center
(517) 353-5921
riedinge@msu.edu
Jeffrey Riedinger was appointed dean of MSU’s International Studies and Programs in 2007, having served as the program’s acting dean from 2005 to 2007, as director of MSU’s Center for Advanced Study of International Development from 2000 to 2007, and as associate dean of International Studies and Programs from 2000 to 2004. He is also a professor in the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies. His research applies theories of political economy and state–society relations to problems of economic development. Riedinger has worked on issues of rural development, land tenure, and agrarian land reform as well as the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the formulation and implementation of development policies. His research is intended to guide policymaking through applied policy analysis.
Charles T. Salmon
College of Communication Arts and Sciences
291 Communication Arts and Sciences Building
(517) 355-3410
salmon@msu.edu
In addition to being dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Charles T. Salmon also holds the Ellis N. Brandt Professorship in Public Relations in the Department of Advertising. His prior positions within the college include senior associate dean, associate dean for graduate education and research, director of the mass media Ph.D. program, and director of the M.A. program in health communication. He has been a Fulbright Fellow in Israel, a visiting lecturer at the Norwegian School of Management, an external examiner for Universiti Sains Malaysia, and a UNICEF consultant in Kazakhstan. His former academic positions include serving as codirector of the Center for Health and Risk Communication in the School of Public Health at Emory University, head of the public relations sequence in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin, and visiting associate professor of communication at the University of Iowa.
Elizabeth H. Simmons
Lyman Briggs College
27 East Holmes Hall
(517) 353-6480
esimmons@msu.edu
Elizabeth Simmons is dean of the Lyman Briggs College and a professor of physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Prior to joining the MSU faculty in summer 2003, she spent ten years as a professor at Boston University. Simmons is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a general member and officer of the Aspen Center for Physics. In 2005, she won the ACE Michigan Network’s Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award. A particle theorist, her research focuses on the origins of the masses of the elementary subatomic particles, particularly that of the top quark.
William Strampel
College of Osteopathic Medicine
A308A East Fee Hall
(517) 355-9616
strampe3@msu.edu
In addition to serving as dean of Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, William Strampel is a professor of internal medicine. Previously, Strampel served as the college’s interim dean and the college’s senior associate dean. He also is the lead medical director of MSU HealthTeam. Before coming to MSU, Strampel was a special assistant to the U.S. surgeon general for operations and readiness; he also served as chief medical officer for the Tricare Management Activity and as director of quality management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Strampel was commander of the Brooke Army Medical Center and Great Plains Regional Medical Command, and was chief of the Quality Assurance Division, Department of the Army, Office of the Surgeon General. He also served in a number of capacities at hospitals in Colorado, Kansas, and Korea.
Cliff F. Thompson
MSU College of Law
368D Law College Building
(517) 432-6993
cliff.thompson@law.msu.edu
Cliff F. Thompson joined the MSU College of Law in February 2007 as acting dean. He also serves the University of Wisconsin Law School as dean emeritus and was formerly dean and professor at the University of Idaho and the University of Hawaii. Internationally, he was the dean of the Haile Sellassie University School of Law in Ethiopia and cofounded the faculty of law at the University of Zambia. Dean Thompson served full-time as the legal education advisor for the government of Indonesia from 1993 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2004. Dean Thompson’s research interests revolve primarily around lawyers, law, and social change in developing countries.
Satish Udpa
College of Engineering
3410 Engineering Building
(517) 355-5114
udpa@egr.msu.edu
Satish Udpa is the dean of Michigan State University’s College of Engineering. He served as acting dean of the college from June 2005 through June 2006, having joined the MSU faculty as chairperson of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2001. Prior to joining MSU, Udpa was the Whitney Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. He also served on the faculty of Colorado State University. His research interests span the broad area of materials characterization and nondestructive evaluation. Udpa has authored or co-authored more than 250 scholarly publications. In addition, he is the recipient of more than 50 external research grants and holds several patents. Udpa is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, and the Indian Society for Nondestructive Testing.
Karin A. Wurst
College of Arts and Letters
320 Linton Hall
(517) 355-4597
wurst@msu.edu
Karin A. Wurst is dean of Michigan State University’s College of Arts and Letters. Prior to her appointment as dean, Wurst was a professor of German in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages. She served as acting chairperson of the department in 2005 and has been chairperson of the University Graduate Council since 2005. She is a founding member of the Global Literary and Cultural Studies Research Cluster and is recognized nationally for her expertise in graduate student mentoring and engaged learning. She is past president of the Society for German Renaissance and Baroque Literature and active in the American Association of Teachers of German and the Modern Language Association. She joined MSU in 1988. Her research interests include eighteenth- and nineteenth-century German literature and culture.