That appointment was highly controversial on campus because McPherson had never been an academic, and didn’t have a Ph.D, which meant he probably couldn’t have gotten tenure at the school he was suddenly running. But to many people’s surprise, he was highly successful and lasted more than a decade in the job.
His political talents enabled him to do better than our state’s other schools at getting money from Lansing. His financial skills enabled the school to hold the line on tuition, and to successfully run MSU’s first-ever billion-dollar capital campaign.
Meanwhile, he built what was then the largest undergraduate study abroad program, and managed to get the Detroit College of Law to become part of MSU.
When it was clear that he was going to be an action-oriented, can-do kind of leader, I went to interview him, to ask what was the secret to his success. I thought he’d talk about his background.
But he didn’t. The key, he said, “was deciding who you are, who you are supposed to be serving, and what you want to be.” Once you have that firmly in mind, your course should be clear.
MSU, he told me, had spent too much time trying to be the University of Michigan. What it had to do was be itself.
Peter McPherson left the state five years ago, and later went on to become the last chairman of Dow-Jones. But he left an example that both Governor Jennifer Granholm and the Republicans in the legislature ought to think about, and try to follow.
Once again, they are confronting an enormous budget deficit, the worst in many ways in state history. The stimulus money is gone; all the easy cuts have been made, and they have to find a way of closing a gap of at least $1.6 billion dollars by this fall.
The governor has vowed not to cut education further, and promised that she would find a way to restore the Michigan Promise Scholarship this year. Republicans, who control the state senate, are vowing no tax increases, no matter what.
But those two vows are mutually irreconcilable. There is no way to balance this budget without making severe cuts to both higher and lower education, and slashing further what remains of state services.
No way, that is, without raising taxes in some form. There is also no way we can refuse to raise revenue this year and avoid seriously damaging the things Michigan needs to be competitive. For if we don’t build a landing strip for the future, prosperity won’t come.
What we really need is for the leaders of our state to sit down and ask themselves the questions Peter McPherson asked:
What kind of state do we want to be? How do we get there? Who do we serve and as leaders, what should our priorities be?
If they do that, Michigan might have a chance. If they go back to ideology and political posturing, we’re sunk.
It’s as simple as that.
Peter McPherson... yes he was a smart guy. But wouldn't this wisdom also apply to those in Michigan thnking that we're going to become Hollywood or LA just because we throw alot of money at the film makers? Or GM is going to become a first rate battery innovator and manufacturer after they've been so sucessful making cars? What would he say to that?
Posted by: Matt | February 10, 2010 at 06:04 PM