MEET


penchant for collaboration between campus and community, to his ability to identify a vision and then map it out. The list is long. So it may seem strange to start out with


whistling. But that is exactly what Dr. Tom Hawley


heard when he occupied the office next door to Smith, who was then president at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. So often, said Hawley, who was provost at NSU,


“I’d hear him come through the door whistling.” That little detail says a lot about one of Smith’s biggest assets as he takes the helm as EMU’s 23rd


JAMES SMITH T


Charismatic leader takes over as EMU’s president BY SHERYL JAMES


PHOTOS BY LEISA THOMPSON


here is so much to admire about Dr. James Smith, EMU’s new President—from his expertise in economic development and educational leadership, to his


president: Jim Smith is a likeable guy. He likes people and they like him. He laughs a lot. Makes fun of himself a lot. Listens—a lot. “One has to be a good listener,” Smith says.


“I’ve learned over the years that the more you listen, the more you can understand the context of a place you are leading. I will spend a lot of time during the first year doing a lot of listening and hearing the stories and absorbing those.” That illustrates a very human, hands-on


personality trait that impressed the EMU Board of Regents search committee. Michelle Crumm, who led the committee, said the board interviewed about a dozen candidates for the presidency. While Smith certainly looked great on paper, “once we got him into the room, he was immediately disarming, likeable, made fun of himself first. I thought, ‘This is what we need.’”


EASTERN MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2016 | 17


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48