To view a video about the Chancellor’s first 100 days in office, click here.During a recent trip to Shreveport, Chancellor Michael Martin stopped at a local Starbucks to grab a cup of joe.But coffee wasn’t the only product on sale. LSU gear was also available.That broadening of the LSU brand is something Martin has aimed to continue as the University’s chief executive.”It shows how significant this institution is statewide,” Martin said. “It’s symbolic in so many ways the impact we have statewide.”Thursday marked Martin’s 100th day as the University’s chancellor. He said he has learned a lot and also has plans to strengthen some of the core principles of the campus.Martin said the University’s impact on the state is largely because it’s “the only big player” in the state.”There are other very good ones [in the state],” Martin said. “We are, without a doubt, the big gorilla, and as a consequence, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to take the position and do some important things with it.”One of the things he said he’s learned in his first 100 days is the density of higher education bureaucracy in Louisiana.”I’m going to have to learn to navigate the bureaucracy because there’s so many levels,” he said. “It’s a pretty complicated place, but that’s neither good nor bad.”Student Government President Colorado Robertson said Martin has done a great job.”I’ve never seen a chancellor give students so much advice, as well as make initiatives to improve the University,” Robertson said.The quality of the students and their ability to compete with other institutions is a characteristic Martin said impressed him the most.”Bring on Harvard. Bring on Michigan,” Martin said. “We’ll take them on. We can compete with anybody anywhere.”The University is good but has room to become better, Martin said.Coastal restoration, disaster management and social work are areas of expertise on which Martin said he wants to identify and enhance.”Some day somewhere in the world, when someone faces a problem, their first response is going to be, ‘Let’s call LSU,'” Martin said about the importance of the University’s global recognition.The Stephenson Disaster Management Institute should be a hallmark of the University, Martin said.”We get the wonderful opportunity to deal with disasters from time to time,” he said in an ironic tone.Martin said he hopes to be a much stronger player in the external environment that shapes the University so he can persuade public policy makers to invest in higher education.”I’m pretty comfortable with the people who are helping manage the internal part,” he said. “We have a pretty good team.”Robertson said Martin has taken the time to evaluate every decision that needs to be made and doesn’t mindlessly send people out.”He definitely includes people in his decisions and takes time to think about it,” Robertson said.Martin said the University will continue to emerge as one of the top 50 public institutions in the country in research, teaching and service.”We will really embrace fully our land-grant and sea-grant tradition in a 20th-century context,” he said. “And find new ways to be important in the lives of all citizens of the state.”—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]