Wayne State University’s Board of Governors has unanimously elected Dr. Kimberly Andrews Espy as the 13th president to succeed Dr. M. Roy Wilson. Dr. Espy will begin her presidency on August 1, 2023 as the first woman to hold the position.
The election took place at a special Board of Governors meeting on Friday, June 30, in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium of the Law School. The meeting was well-attended by members of the university community.
Mark Gaffney, Board Chair, stated that President-elect Espy brings a wealth of experience with values that align perfectly with Wayne State’s role as a preeminent, public, urban research university that brings world-wide connections to a diverse student population and Detroit’s metropolitan community.
Dr. Espy is a nationally recognized and awarded clinical neuropsychologist. She has earned over $22 million in grants to study the health and learning patterns of children. She has served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) since 2018. She was previously senior vice president for research at the University of Arizona and vice president for research and innovation at the University of Oregon.
Her record as an administrator is remarkably similar to that of President M. Roy Wilson’s in his 10-year leadership of Wayne State. She is practiced in building coalitions with external institutions and communities in service to the public. She has improved the opportunities for social mobility of widely diverse student populations and dramatically increased graduation rates. As suggested above, she is an excellent fundraiser.
Dr. Espy accepted her appointment via a remote link at the special meeting of the board. She was enthusiastic, personable and very knowledgeable about Wayne State. All of the board members, irrespective of political party membership, were effusive in their praise of Dr. Espy. As the first candidate interviewed by the board, she set a standard in performance and experience that could not be matched by any of the other candidates.
Dr. Espy’s appointment is the result of an extensive search that started last summer. “Wayne State is a uniquely positioned R1, urban, public university that is nationally recognized and respected for its scholarship, student success and engagement with a resurgent Detroit. When the Presidential Search Committee launched a national search, there was a great deal of interest from a wide range of strong candidates across the country,” Gaffney added.
The search committee was headed by Chair of the Board of Governors, Mark Gaffney, and included three other governors, eight members of the university community, and two representatives from the external community, Eva Garza Dewaelsche, President and CEO, SER-Metro Detroit and publisher of EL CENTRAL Hispanic News, and Alice Thompson, former CEO, Black Family Development and Chair, Board of Visitors, School of Social Work.
