Lou Anna K. Simon (President - Michigan State University)
Lou Anna K. Simon was appointed the 20th president of Michigan State University by the MSU Board of Trustees in January 2005. An MSU graduate, she began her career at Michigan State as the assistant director of the Office of Institutional Research (now Office of Planning and Budgets) after earning her Ph.D. in 1974. From there, she moved into a variety of administrative roles, including assistant provost for general academic administration, associate provost, and provost and vice president for academic affairs; she served as interim president in 2003.
As president, Simon has engaged Michigan State University in a strategic and transformative journey to adapt the principles of the land-grant tradition to twenty-first century challenges. She has expanded MSU’s reach in the state and around the world by focusing the university’s strengths on solutions that enhance and protect quality of life: clean and affordable energy, access to education, safe and plentiful food, and health care.
Simon’s key initiatives, particularly in economic development and international engagement, reflect her commitment to applying knowledge to benefit society and further the global common good. Simon is a member of the Council on Competitiveness, a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization working to ensure U.S. prosperity, and serves on the Blue Ribbon Panel on Global Engagement of the American Council on Education (ACE). She serves on the National Higher Education Security 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.
Research at Michigan State University reflects Simon’s commitment to advancing knowledge and improving quality of life in the world. Under her leadership, MSU has expanded its research in, among other areas, biofuels and green energy; medicine and medical technology; physics and rare isotopes; safe water; and agriculture to address world hunger. Through nearly $500 million annually in externally sponsored research, Simon is ensuring that Michigan State University makes a significant difference in the region, state, nation, and world.
Pat McRae (Director – International Programs, Prima Civitas Foundation)
Patrick McRae has recently joined the Prima Civitas Foundation as the Director of International Programs. He brings deep global experience to the position; most recently as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service.
While at Commerce, Patrick spent his first year in New Orleans spearheading a global inbound investment initiative for reconstruction and investment in the post-Katrina Gulf Coast Region. He then spent six months at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute in the Spanish Language & Regional Studies Immersion Program, then served at Commerce headquarters in Washington, D.C. before accepting an assignment as an International Trade Specialist at the Grand Rapids, MI Export Assistance Center.
The majority of Patrick’s career has been in the private sector and includes 18 years of international business experience ranging from global aviation management to security and business consulting in the former Soviet Union to international market development in the construction and building materials sector. Countries of primary experience include Russia, Hungary, S. Korea, Turkey, Mexico, The Philippines, The U.K., New Zealand and Japan. As a deputy leader of the International Trade Administration’s Global Design & Construction Team, Patrick has also focused on developing projects for U.S. firms in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.
Born and raised in Michigan, Pat has a B.A. in Russian & East European Studies and a varsity letter in wrestling from The University of Michigan and an MBA in International Management from The Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, AZ. He has recently retired (semi-intact) from a 20-year rugby career, which included playing for clubs in London, Washington DC, Traverse City, Phoenix, New Orleans and Midland, MI.