To see video of the lighter side of the new chancellor, click here.
Michael Martin drove 1,000 miles with his dog Agnes to move into his new Baton Rouge home.Then he fell in love with Southern cuisine.And now he’s ready to be the University’s new chancellor.Martin, who assumed his duties Aug. 1, said he has been trying to focus on two things the past few weeks — figuring out how the University works and what students, faculty and staff want the University to be.”No university can remain excellent without constantly changing to keep up and pursue that,” Martin said. “What do you aspire for your institution?”Martin loves the campus atmosphere and can’t wait for the fall semester to start and watch it liven up.”I love the campus atmosphere,” Martin said. “[There is] nothing I like better than the fall when it starts and commencement. I like everything in between, but nothing is more enjoyable.”During the weeks before the first day of class, Martin spent a lot of time meeting the members of his administration, including the vice chancellors, vice provosts, University Planning Council and deans of the colleges. He also met with members of the three foundations — Forever LSU, Tiger Athletic Foundation and LSU Alumni Association.”I spent a good deal of time with the fundraisers about how I can best advance the fundraising agenda for the institution,” Martin said. “It’s sort of, ‘How I can be the new guy on the team and play the best position I can play?'”Martin is not a rookie when it comes to public higher education campuses, spending more than 35 years in academia. He also knows what it takes to work at a land-grant university — serving at the universities of Minnesota and Florida and Oregon State and New Mexico State universities. His last job was as president of NMSU for four years.He started as an economics teaching assistant at Mankato State College in 1970, working his way up the ranks at more than 10 different universities to become LSU’s eighth chancellor. Jack Hamilton, dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication, said Martin is everything he expected him to be — friendly, confident and experienced.Hamilton, who was chair of the search committee that brought Martin to LSU, said he hasn’t heard a negative word about Martin from other deans.LSU System President John Lombardi said Martin will not have a hard time fitting in at LSU because of his experience.”It’s mostly doing it. That’s how you get into it,” Lombardi said. “He’s not a newcomer. He’s been in the business a long time. He’s a quick learner.”Astrid Merget, provost and executive vice chancellor, said Martin can be very effective at making a strong case for investing in LSU.”He is, by trade, an economist,” Merget said. “He is very skilled at pulling together information data that will demonstrate not only need but what the benefit-cost ratio is.”She said Martin can make an argument so investors will know there will be long-term values to their gifts.Every new chancellor will have their challenges, and Hamilton said Martin’s will be a constant one — pumping in more revenue.”The University has been making very good progress these recent years, and we need to sustain that,” Hamilton said. “That requires, to some extent, not just money but also leadership skills, and he’ll do a good job of it.”But Lombardi said Martin’s biggest challenge is “getting to know everybody as fast as possible.” After Martin takes in everything LSU has to offer, Lombardi said he will have a real sense of where the school can focus its efforts.”Can LSU be not just a powerhouse in Louisiana, not just a powerhouse in the SEC, not just a powerhouse in the U.S., but an international powerhouse in academics?” Martin said.Martin is also coming in at a time when tuition and fees are increasing. He said he wants LSU to remain affordable without sacrificing the quality of education.”That’s the trade-off,” Martin said. “How do we retain accessibility and still build programs of high enough quality so that when you leave here you know you’ve gotten a first-rate education, not just an inexpensive one?”Martin said LSU can cope with tuition and fee increases by continuing to build endowments to create scholarships that can offset the costs for students in need.He doesn’t want families to go beyond their means and promises LSU can “give them exactly what they deserve — the very best education they possibly can.”Martin wants students to know they can approach him with any problem they might have. His predecessor, Sean O’Keefe, had been criticized for not being visible to the campus community.Martin enjoys being on campus — not being everyone’s boss. He said he wants to be a colleague and friend to the students, faculty and staff.”My hope is that students will understand that at a great university, everyone has a title and a role, but at the end of the day and at the bottom of all this, we’re all colleagues,” Martin said. “I’m new here too.”Lombardi, who also worked with Martin at the University of Florida, said Martin is a “student-centric kind of individual.””You’re going to find someone who is not only engaged in the life of the campus, but who has a clear sense of what it takes to take a campus of this kind of high quality of faculty and students and move it into the mainstream of American public higher education,” Lombardi said.Martin said students can expect him to be very accessible. He even eats in the Student Union because, according to Martin, “that kind of food appeals to me.””When you see me walking across the campus and you have something on your mind, stop and tell me what’s up,” Martin said. “I’m interested. We’re in this together.”—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]