MSU's Simon to lead Association of American Universities

EAST LANSING - Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon was elected this morning as the chairperson of the Association of American Universities.

The collective includes 62 public and private research universities spread across the United States and Canada.

“Research universities today face rising societal expectations for cutting-edge discovery and life-enhancing innovation, and for developing the next generations of talent that will tackle humanity’s big challenges,” Simon said, following the association's semi-annual meeting in Washington D.C.. “I feel truly privileged to chair the association supporting this impressive group of world-renowned research universities.”

Simon served as the organization’s vice chairperson last year. She succeeds University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann. David W. Leebron, president of Rice University, was elected to serve as vice chairperson.

As chair of the association, Simon will attend meetings with policymakers and help to chart it's course moving forward, according to the release. Simon has served as the university’s president since 2005, Simon is a member of the American Council on Education as well as the chair of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, which consults with national security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.