Waded Cruzado announced as next president of Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities

BOZEMAN - The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities today announced that Waded Cruzado, president of Montana State University and a champion of the public and land-grant university mission, will become the association's next president July 1.

Cruzado has served as MSU's president since 2010 and has led transformative growth at the institution, which has set records in enrollment, retention, academic excellence, research and fundraising during her tenure. This past summer, Cruzado announced her retirement from MSU as of the end of the academic year.

Cruzado is well known for bringing greater public understanding to the importance of the Morrill Act of 1862, which created the public, land-grant university system. She is passionate about the land-grant university's tripartite mission of education, research and outreach to communities, as well as the crucial role higher education plays in the development of individuals, the prosperity of the nation and the vitality of democracy.

Cruzado has been deeply involved with APLU for many years, including chairing its Board of Directors in 2021. Since enrolling as a first-generation college student at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, she has spent her entire time as a student, faculty member, and administrator at APLU member institutions.

The APLU works to advance the mission of public research universities. It has nearly 250 members, consisting of public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems and affiliated organizations spanning all 50 states, the District of Columbia, six U.S. territories, Canada and Mexico. Its member campuses annually enroll 5.3 million undergraduates and 1.4 million graduate students, award 1.4 million degrees, employ 1.35 million faculty and staff, and conduct $61 billion in university-based research.

"We're excited to announce Waded Cruzado as the next president of APLU," said Gary May, chancellor of the University of California, Davis, who led the presidential search committee and previously served as chair of the APLU Board of Directors. "She is an exceptional leader who brings deep experience in successfully leading a public and land-grant university to impressive new heights. Importantly, she brings significant experience with APLU itself, including as chair of the APLU Board of Directors, where she advocated for ways to advance the mission of the public research university sector overall. We are confident she will be an extremely effective advocate and voice for the entire public and land-grant university community and a leader who will galvanize institutions to work together to collectively strengthen their work."

"Waded Cruzado is a trailblazing leader who brings many years of experience leading an outstanding public university and decades of involvement in the higher education policy community more broadly," said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, chair of APLU Board of Directors and president of the University of Maine. "She is a tireless advocate for public and land-grant universities and the extraordinary role they play in driving progress in the lives of students, their communities and states, and the country at large. Her unique experience and passion make her the perfect person to advocate for public universities and their impact in Washington."

"Throughout my life, the history and the impact of land-grant universities and public higher education have provided me, and countless students and families, with inspiration and a call to action. I've seen firsthand the life-changing opportunity our public universities provide to their students, their communities, the country and the world," Cruzado said. "I'm honored to be chosen as the next leader of APLU and am thrilled that I'll be able to help advance the impact of public and land-grant universities across North America. I have been part of the APLU community for many years and know well the critical role the association plays in building community. I look forward to helping APLU member institutions tackle shared challenges and seize opportunities to ensure everyone benefits from their mission and work."

Under Cruzado's leadership, MSU has achieved major growth milestones in a wide array of areas. Student full-time-equivalent enrollment has grown by 35%; the university's student retention rate set a record this past fall while MSU saw the highest ACT/SAT and GPA scores of any entering class. The university's four-year graduation rate has soared 61 percent during Cruzado's tenure.

Enrollment of students from underrepresented groups has also grown substantially during her decade and a half leading the institution, with nearly all groups setting institutional records for the most recent academic year. Since Cruzado became president in 2010, enrollment of Native American students has grown by 71%; Black students by 75%; Hispanic students by 232%; Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander by 99%, and veterans by 43%.

Research at MSU, another of the institution's pillars, has flourished since 2010. The university is designated a Carnegie R1, a very high research activity institution, and the university's annual research expenditures have grown more than 162% under Cruzado.

The physical campus has expanded hugely under Cruzado's leadership, with more than 25% of all square footage in the university's 132-year history being added through more than $600 million in completed or under-construction projects - more than two dozen building projects, only two of which had taxpayer dollars involved.

Academic additions to the campus include Jake Jabs Hall; Norm Asbjornson Hall; five new buildings for the Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing; American Indian Hall, Gianforte Hall; a major renovation of the historic Romney Hall; and legislative approval for a new home for Gallatin College MSU, the university's two-year program.

Additionally, the university added more than $115 million in student housing, including Yellowstone, Gallatin and Hyalite residence halls. Major renovations were completed in the Langford and Hapner residence halls, and MSU also renovated Miller Dining Commons and constructed Rendezvous Dining Pavilion.

In athletics and student life, the university added a new, student end zone to its stadium, added the Bobcat Athletic Complex, the Kennedy-Stark Indoor Athletic Center, a lighting and artificial turf upgrade to the Dobbie Lambert Intramural Fields. In 2024, MSU opened a $72 million Student Wellness Center integrating medical, nutritional, mental health and physical recreation into one facility.

At the MSU Innovation Campus, the university welcomed the construction of the its Applied Research Laboratory, a high-tech facility for classified research, and the openings of buildings for autonomous vehicle company Aurora and EngineWorks, a large-scale provider of office space.

Under Cruzado, major constructions projects will also bring a new Montana Wool Lab, an on-campus hotel called The Vim, a substantial expansion to the home of Montana PBS, the transformation of Grant Street into a pedestrian mall, and a greatly improved University Facilities Yard to provide infrastructure services to the entire campus.

The majority of the university's physical growth was fueled by Cruzado's skill as a fundraiser, raising more than $850 million in private dollars that provided student scholarships, endowed chairs and funded construction of 13 major projects.

During her tenure, the university has been recognized by national organizations, including APLU, for excellence in community engagement, innovation and economic prosperity, and international education.

"People have been kindly asking me about my plans for the future: I can honestly say I could not have envisioned something like this would happen," Cruzado said. "However, it is hard to shake a lifetime of advocating for a better and brighter future for all Americans through the promise of public higher education. APLU is a champion of that message. I am deeply honored to accept this role and to continue to help strengthen an education system that has transformed the lives of millions of Americans."

Prior to assuming the presidency of Montana State University, Cruzado was executive vice president and provost at New Mexico State University and served as interim president of the university. She also previously served as dean of the College of Arts and Science at NMSU and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, where she started her career.

Cruzado has held a number of leadership roles in the higher education community in addition to her role as chair of the APLU Board of Directors, including: chair of the Campus Compact Board; chair of the TIAA Hispanic Advisory Board; a member of the American Council of Education Board of Directors; and as a member of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, a role appointed by the president of the United States.

Cruzado has earned a wide variety of professional honors, including being recognized with the APLU Seaman Knapp Memorial Lectureship, the Council of Fellows Mentor Award by the American Council on Education, the Paul Harris Fellow Recognition, the Hero Award from the Montana Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the Michael P. Malone Educator of the Year award. 

A Puerto Rico native, Cruzado received her bachelor's degree in comparative literature from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, her master's degree in Spanish from the University of Texas at Arlington, and her Ph.D. in humanities also from the University of Texas at Arlington. She will succeed Mark Becker, who announced last year that he will depart the association after more than two years in the role.

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