MSU board has rich history

By Tom Oswald

When an event is taking place on campus – including anything from a concert to a groundbreaking ceremony to a presidential inauguration – it's almost a given that a member of the MSU Board of Trustees will be among the audience. Or, in some cases, an active participant in the event.

It's a job, current board Chairperson David Porteous said, that he is getting very accustomed to doing, but never takes for granted.

“I've always said that this is the best volunteer job I've ever had,” said Porteous, who has served on the MSU board for seven years. “But it's important to remember that we're all part of ‘Team MSU,' a team that includes administration, faculty and staff, students, alumni and donors.”

The university has had a governing board watching over it since its founding 150 years ago. The board's main charge: general supervision of the university and its budget, something that now stands at nearly $700 million.

When what was then known as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan came into being in 1855, its first governing board was known as the Board of Instruction and was composed of professors and teachers.

In 1861, the state reorganized the college and created a six-member State Board of Agriculture to govern it. The six members were appointed by the governor to six-year terms. The president of that first board was Hezekiah G. Wells, who later had an MSU building named in his honor.

The board remained that way until 1908, when a change in the Michigan Constitution made the governing body a constitutional board elected by the people. The first elected board consisted of two members elected to two-year terms, two elected to four-year terms and two elected to six-year terms. Subsequent vacancies were filled at the regular biennial spring election for terms of six years.

In 1959, the name of the governing body of what had become Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, was officially changed to “board of trustees.”

The board assumed its current look in 1963 when the new Michigan Constitution increased board membership to eight and members' terms were lengthened to eight years.

“When you look at the history of the board's service to MSU, the history of board stewardship at MSU,” Porteous said, “you see that this is something that has been carried on from member to member for 150 years.

“The board has consistently been made up of strong individuals, people with diverse thoughts and opinions and backgrounds. And that's exactly what you want. I have found that, in my years on the board, the consistent theme in all of our discussions has been what is best for MSU.”

Visit the MSU Board of Trustees' Web site at http://trustees.msu.edu/

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