Detroit Regional Chamber > Education & Talent > With Wayne State President’s Future Cloudy, Chamber Calls for Stability in University Leadership

With Wayne State President’s Future Cloudy, Chamber Calls for Stability in University Leadership

September 15, 2025

Crain’s Detroit Business
Sept. 12, 2025
Sherri Welch

The Detroit Regional Chamber is calling for stable leadership at the state’s research universities amid reports Wayne State University’s president could be on her way out.

Wayne State President Kimberly Espy, who joined the university in 2023, is the target of an effort by university board members to push her out, according to local media reports.

The rapid turnover in university presidencies — Michigan State University has had a succession of interim and full-time presidents since Lou Anna K. Simon resigned in 2018 — prompted the chamber to note that Michigan’s higher education institutions are one of the state’s greatest assets, driving innovation, talent attraction and economic growth, Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Sandy K. Baruah said in a statement issued late Friday.