Instead, Provost Don Loppnow will spend at least a year as the VP Advancement (e.g., fund-raising). EMU President Susan Martin made the announcement via email yesterday. It makes some sense, actually: Loppnow has lots and lots of community contacts (obviously) and he’d probably be a good person to help find a more permanent advancement VP, someone who is more of a “professional fund-raiser” rather than a local community activist. Martin’s email is after the “Read More” part:
It is a bittersweet moment for Eastern Michigan University as we absorb the news that Dr. Don Loppnow has decided to transition back to the faculty and eventually to retirement after a celebrated and important career as a faculty member, academic leader, and Interim President while Provost. His contribution to EMU in the year before my appointment in stabilizing and leading the University cannot be underestimated. It will be an important part of his legacy and a testimony to his love for Eastern that he stepped up and led through a difficult transition period in our history. I cannot thank him enough for his counsel and support.
Please know that Don Loppnow has consistently reached out to and supported me from the first day my appointment was announced. He and I have had many discussions about his desire to transition while balancing my need for his history of EMU and its neighboring community in Ypsilanti and Washtenaw County to be ready at my right hand. That history and those relationships are extremely important to the University.
I have asked Don to place one more stepping stone on his path back to rejoin the faculty. He has agreed to serve for one year as Vice-President of Advancement effective May 1, 2009. Don is well suited for this role. He is committed to the University, knows EMU inside and out, is well connected in the community, knows many of our alumni, and is effective at fundraising. In this role, he and Ron Miller, Executive Director of the Foundation and Associate Vice-President for Advancement, will strengthen our network of alumni and friends, strengthen community relationships, and finalize preparation for a comprehensive fundraising campaign. I am pleased that Dr. Loppnow has accepted this appointment and know he will work hard on behalf of the University.
Sue Martin
President
First Loppnow has to stop some of the key staff at the Foundation from spending money at break neck speed on themselves and turning it in as cultivation of alumni. The Alumni Office has been audited twice and they still can’t catch them.