MARQUETTE, MI – A long-time Northern Michigan University administrator and alumnus has been tapped as the Marquette-based institution’s interim president.
The NMU Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Gavin Leach on Friday, May 2.
A former Northern student himself, Leach has worked at the university for 36 years — the last 18 as vice president for finance and administration — according to a news release.
He’s filling in while a search is carried out to replace outgoing president, Brock Tessman, who announced April 7 he was leaving NMU to become president of Montana State University.
“There is no question President Tessman will be missed,” NMU Board Chairman Steve Young said in a statement. “However, it’s time to turn the page and start a new chapter. Naming an interim is the first step in that process.”
A presidential search advisory committee will be formed, according to the university, and a listening session where members of the campus community can provide input on the process is planned from 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in Reynolds Recital Hall.
It will be led by Laurie Wilder, president of Parker Executive Search in Atlanta, Georgia, the firm contracted by NMU to lead the search.
On Friday, Leach said he was honored and humbled to take the interim job.
“I would have never dreamed that I would have this opportunity when I was growing up across the street from campus and then attending Northern in the late ‘80s,” he said in a statement. “However, I had wonderful faculty and a great education that created a solid foundation for my career. I have now been tied to Northern for 40 years of my life, beginning as a student.
“My wife, Robin, who I asked out on our first date nearly 41 years ago right in the vestibule of Harden Hall that now connects to Jamrich, will tell you how dedicated I am to Northern, and that I really love my job and my alma mater. My sons Aaron and Garrett, and several other relatives, also hold NMU degrees. This university holds a special place in my family.”
As vice president, Leach has developed and led strategies related to annual and long-term planning for NMU’s $200 million yearly operating budget, according to the university.
He has also overseen more than $300 million construction projects at NMU as part of a campus modernization plan, and recently, he co-led an effort that eliminated $761 million in unfunded pension and other post-employment benefit legacy debts for the seven Michigan universities required to be part of the state retirement program.
Among the major initiatives led by Leach are the rural broadband Education Access Network, or EAN, which services 115 rural communities across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.