Were there external forces or factors supporting or inhibiting change at MSU?
The main supporting factor derived from the Land Grant heritage in the U.S. It helped fund institutions of higher education by granting federally controlled land to the states. The first land-grant university (1862) was Michigan State University. Others include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley. During my first visit to MSU I became aware of that universitys deeply felt commitment to its surrounding community. Discovering that Andy Hunt, our founding Dean, fully supported those premises raised my interest in moving to that university. The additional discovery of wonderful potential colleagues convinced me that our family needed to relocate again. Not long after arriving I began learning how all institutions, even under the best of circumstances, need care and vigilance if they are to avoid the risk of slipping back from their innovative achievements (Jason, 2001). What were some lessons you learned in building OMERAD? Ill focus on ju
