The Wayne State University Board of Governors has unanimously elected Kimberly Andrews Espy as the university’s 13th president, effective Aug. 1.
Espy will succeed Dr. M. Roy Wilson, who has served as president since Aug. 1, 2013. He announced last year he would not be renewing his contract.
Espy will be the first woman to serve as Wayne State University’s president. Her appointment is the result of an extensive search that started last summer.
“Upon receiving the news from President Wilson that he would be stepping down, we assembled a thoughtful and diverse search committee to find the next president for our university,” says Mark Gaffney, chair of the university’s board of governors.
“After a thorough search that included four publicly held presidential search listening sessions where students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the university assembled and provided input, the board reached a unanimous decision to elect Dr. Espy as our next president.”
Espy says: “I am proud to accept this position to serve as the next president of such an exceptional institution of higher learning in the heart of the Detroit, a storied city that is on the move. Wayne State has played an important role in Detroit’s recent revitalization, and I’m excited about the opportunities that exist to continue building on that growth.”
Espy currently serves as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a position she has held since 2018. With more than 25 years of experience in higher education, she has consistently championed social and economic opportunity by promoting affordable access to a top-quality R1 university education.
UTSA also was named a 2022 degree completion finalist by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities in recognition of a 40 percent increase in awarded degrees, which marked a 12-point improvement in six-year graduation rates under her leadership.
Prior to serving as UTSA’s provost, Espy was senior vice president for research at the University of Arizona, where she worked to increase research and development to record levels. She also served as vice president for research and innovation and dean of the graduate school at the University of Oregon, where she helped secure funding from the Oregon state legislature to advance economic development and value to the state.
She started her academic career at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, a rural, community-oriented medical school where she taught first-year medical student neuroscience using the then-pioneering problem-based learning curriculum, which has been widely adopted across the United States.
A native of Cincinnati, Espy received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Rice University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical neuropsychology from the University of Houston. She also completed a clinical/pediatric psychology internship at the University of Louisville School of Medicine/Bingham Child Guidance Center and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Espy is a licensed clinical psychologist.
Wayne State University was founded in Detroit in 1868.
