Most readers of this blog have heard that Wayne State’s President, Dr. Jay Noren, has announced that he is stepping down from his post after two years. His reasons for doing so are quite understandable; the medical issues his family has had to deal with in the past year would have been burdensome enough without the responsibilities of running a major public university. It is a tribute to Jay that he has kept humming along, moving this institution forward, appearing at any number of events, supporting our schools and colleges (including the Law School), and all the while maintaining his composure. Our own Dr. Jay has much to show for his service at Wayne: establishment of the University Research Corridor, development of Midtown Detroit with Wayne as a major anchor institution, new agreements with the Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Hospital, and a firm financial footing for the University and its schools and colleges.

For me, the departure of Jay Noren is a personal as well as a professional loss. We arrived on this campus at about the same time, and together have advanced the agenda of the Law School and the University. Jay, his wife Sheri, my wife Jan, and I have forged a personal friendship that I hope will endure well beyond Jay’s time here at Wayne. (Hope blooms, as Dr. Noren remains a member of our Medical School faculty.)  Of course, Wayne will survive and flourish. We have weathered other transitions; Dr. Noren has helped us establish a firm financial base at the Law School, and we are growing our faculty and programs. Dr. Phyllis Vroom has performed splendidly job as Acting Provost (our new Provost, Dr. Ron Brown, arrives here on August 1), and I am confident that she will continue to perform likewise as Acting President. I know that Phyllis is eager to return to her post as Dean of the School of Social Work, but duty beckons. (This is a rare instance in which someone will decompress by returning to a deanship, if we ever let her.)

Our thanks to Jay Noren for a job well done, along with our best wishes to him and his family for the future.