Michigan State Names Satish Udpa as New Interim President After John Engler Resigns
Satish Udpa was named interim president of Michigan State University on Thursday.
CreditCreditMichigan State University
The board of trustees at Michigan State University named a new interim president on Thursday to replace John Engler, who had submitted his resignation after he remarked recently that some victims of Lawrence G. Nassar, the former university and U.S.A. Gymnastics doctor, appeared to be enjoying “the spotlight.”
The trustees appointed a top university administrator, Satish Udpa, as the new interim leader at a hastily scheduled board meeting on Thursday morning after roundly condemning Mr. Engler’s comments and accepting his resignation, effective immediately, by a vote of 7 to 0 with one trustee absent.
The board members’ quick action underscored Michigan State’s struggle for stability in its highest position and urgency to fix its response to a scandal that plunged the university into turmoil and led to a $500 million settlement with victims of Dr. Nassar.
Mr. Udpa is the fourth person to hold the job since January 2018, when Dr. Nassar was sentenced to prison after a high-profile televised hearing that included testimony from more than 150 young women who told stories of sexual abuse.
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[Here’s a look at the dozens of officials ousted or charged in the Larry Nassar scandal.]
Mr. Engler, a former three-term governor of Michigan, submitted his resignation in a letter to the trustees on Wednesday, an offer that the board moved quickly to act on. Since last Friday, Mr. Engler had been under mounting pressure to step down after The Detroit News reported on his comments disparaging victims in the sexual abuse scandal.
In his letter, Mr. Engler offered to formally step down on Jan. 23, but the board on Thursday rebuffed him and terminated his position immediately.
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“None of our work will matter if our leaders say hurtful things and do not listen to survivors,” the board’s chairwoman, Dianne Byrum, said at the meeting. “The board deeply regrets the impact on survivors and the community.”
Mr. Udpa had been the executive vice president of administrative services at Michigan State since 2013. He was previously the dean of the university’s college of engineering, according to a biography on the university’s website. Before joining Michigan State in 2001, he worked at Iowa State University and Colorado State University. He had been a professor of electrical engineering at both of the other universities.
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At Michigan State, Mr. Udpa rose fast through its ranks. In the early 2000s, he oversaw the university’s electrical and computer engineering department and then became the acting dean of engineering in 2005. His wife, Lalita Udpa, is a professor of engineering at Michigan State.
Mr. Udpa, who attended Thursday’s meeting, said he was excited about the new opportunity. “I look forward to working with all of you,” he told the board members.
Mr. Udpa takes over as Michigan State tries to strike the right tone in the fallout from the scandal surrounding Dr. Nassar, who was a faculty member for years and was the team physician for two female varsity squads, as well as the former doctor for the American gymnastics team. He was accused of sexually abusing hundreds of young women, including several Olympic gold medalists, and is serving what amounts to a life sentence in prison.
Mr. Engler had served as interim leader since shortly after Lou Anna K. Simon resigned as president the same day that Dr. Nassar was sentenced on Jan. 24. She was later charged with lying to the police about what she knew of the abuse allegations against him.
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Mr. Engler made the $500 million settlement with Dr. Nassar’s victims a priority and framed it as an important step in the healing process, but he had also been accused of being antagonistic and insensitive toward survivors. Last year, an email obtained by The Chronicle of Higher Educat
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