Upfront: Let's Welcome Home An Extraordinary Spartan
UPFRONT: ;ET'S WELCOME HOME AN EXTRAORDINARY SPARTAN
In my line of work, any time I see a Spartan come home, I am very pleased. Whether the occasion is homecoming, or a 50th-year reunion for Patriarchs, or simply an athletic event at Spartan Stadium or Breslin Center, I am tickled to see the faces and heartfelt emotion of returning alumni to our beautiful campus. That's why I am absolutely delighted to see the return of an extraordinary Spartan, one who has demonstrated the vision, experience and managerial and financial skills to spearhead us into the next century.
In M. Peter McPherson, we have a Spartan who has worked closely in concert with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and with the legendary John Hannah, who was one of his mentors, while Peter was the head of U.S. AID. We have someone who has repeatedly returned to campus to give lectures and even a commencement address in 1984, when the university bestowed on him and honorary doctorate. We have a someone who has served as close aides to two U.S. presidents, as head of a multi-million-dollar federal agency, as on of the top executives of the nation's biggest bank--in short, as someone who has handled power politics and solved bigtime financial problems. We also have an internationalist who served with the Peace Corps in Peru, who chaired countless global groups dedicated to economic development, and who, in Hannah's tradition, dispensed tremendous aid to needy nations.
M. Peter McPherson has it made in his current position in San Francisco. But he is so thorough a Spartan that he is willing to take a 60 percent cut in salary for the privilege of serving his alma mater at a critical time.
Peter's Spartan roots run deep and spread out as widely as our huge campus. He graduated from Michigan State, as did both his parents. His seven brothers and sisters also attended MSU. In one of those great ironies of history, Peter's sheepskin was signed by former president John Hannah. It turns out that Peter's grandfather Melville, was among the MSU trustees who voted the legendary John Hannah as MSU president in 1941. Melville's vote unleashed perhaps the greatest era of any public university in American history when you consider the remarkable gains MSU made during Hannah's presidency-- an expansion unmatched by any other institution since. With that background in mind I really look forward to the stewardship of Peter McPherson. But first on behalf of our more than 300,000 alumni around the globe, I would like to say with resounding emphasis, 'Welcome Home President McPherson!'
