GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz is continuing a tradition he started as chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The inaugural Spartan Bus Tour brought together a group of MSU faculty and administrators, along with Guskiewicz, to visit locations throughout the western Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
“It’s a way to take our faculty and administrators out across the state to see the impact that their research and outreach has, engagement has for the citizens of Michigan,” Guskiewicz told News 8.
Grand Rapids was the 11th stop on the tour. Participants on Wednesday visited the MSU Grand Rapids Research Center, part of MSU’s Grand Rapids Innovation Park.
“We’re thrilled to be here in Grand Rapids,” said Guskiewicz. “We have a real presence here, Michigan State University does with the Medical Mile. The important work that’s been done over several years by so many people who care deeply about this city.”
Bus tour participants heard from several speakers about the work being done in Grand Rapids, including Aron Sousa, dean of MSU’s College of Human Medicine; Kathy Steece-Collier, professor of translational neuroscience; and André Bachmann, professor and associate chair for research with the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development.
With more than 12,000 faculty and staff and nearly half a million alumni, MSU’s impact is far-reaching. It’s what Guskiewicz said drew him to the institution.
“That’s one of the things that I was most interested in when I came here nine months ago, was the commitment that our faculty, researchers, and staff have to the people of Michigan,” the president explained. “Our Extension program is incredible. It’s unlike any other program in the country. And we’re out in all 83 counties, and we had a chance to witness some of that over the past few days.”
Grand Rapids Innovation Park, which includes the research center and Perrigo’s North American Corporate Headquarters, anchors the city’s Medical Mile. MSU’s four Medical Mile research and health science buildings generate more than $200 million in annual economic activity. In addition, there are 33 teams dedicated to researching women’s health and reproductive medicine, pediatrics, neuroscience, and cancer.
“The home of the College of Human Medicine, this is the home of discovery here in Grand Rapids,” said Jeff MacKeigan, bus tour participant and professor at the Grand Rapids Research Center. “We’re doing a lot of human discovery, a lot of basic research and translational research. When we say translational research, we mean from the research bench to the hospital or to the bedside and back. And so, being here in Grand Rapids, we’re making that impact, and we just hope to bring that to other regions. We have great efforts into Detroit and East Lansing and Flint and a lot of impact across all 83 counties.”
MacKeigan said it’s been amazing to be a part of the tour and learn about not only what’s happening in Michigan, but across the country.
“Certainly, we learned a lot just in Rockford about PFAS and environmental health that we need to maintain. We’ve learned a lot about animal health along the way, and also here in Grand Rapids, human health,” he said. “And so we’re really interested in those two things; the environment, the animals, and healthy communities that we need.”
After wrapping up in Grand Rapids, the bus headed to Herman Miller in Zeeland and Kellogg Biological Station in Barry County.