Provost Michael Gealt will serve as interim president, but his interests are in curriculum development, research
Central Michigan Life | File Photo Provost Michael Gealt speaks to the A-Senate in April 2014.
Interim Central Michigan University President Michael Gealt understands the importance of his temporary position, but said he has never had any interest in being a university president. Rather than deal with administrative duties and spending time raising money, Gealt prefers helping students achieve academic success and developing CMU's reputation as a research institution.
"We need people who will be presidents – and I've worked with a few really good presidents," he said. "What they have to do is not what I want to spend my life doing."
CMU's Provost since 2013, Gealt was appointed interim president at a July 30 special meeting of the board of trustees as the search for the university's 15th president continues.
"I look forward to continuing the strong collaboration with faculty and staff across the university during the coming weeks," Gealt said. "Central Michigan University is at a time of great momentum. It is a privilege to support the university and campus community as interim president."
Gealt will begin serving as interim president Aug. 1, for what the board stressed will be a “limited time.” Board chair William Weideman said during the meeting that the university is "on track to name a president in August."
Gealt has a Ph.D. in microbiology and has conducted research in environmental microbiology. Prior to CMU, he served as dean of the College of Science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Serving as provost, Gealt has worked closely with President George Ross, promoting academic and student success across campus.
“I’d really much rather work with faculty, work with students,” he said. “I’m very proud of the fact that if you look at my business card it says professor of biology on there. That to me is the important stuff.”
Gealt serves on the board of directors of CMU Medical Education Partners. He also is part of the team working to grow the health education professional pipeline as part of THRIVE, a collaboration between the Michigan Health Improvement Alliance Inc. and Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance. Gealt said he also enjoys serving on the governing board of the EAST Initiative in Little Rock, Arkansas, an organization that supports STEM education in K-12 schools. His serving with EAST Initiative allows him to interact with younger students who teach him about their education and communication styles, Gealt said.
As interim president, it will be his job to run the day-to-day operations of the university, rather than make any significant program changes. The university will be launching searches for a new College of Business Administration dean as well as other administrator searches.
Besides conducting research, his main interest is riding his motorcycle.
