Our speaker at the March luncheon was Dr. H. Keith Moo-Young, Chancellor WSU Tri-Cities. Dr. Moo-Young joined Washington State University Tri-Cities on June 1, 2013. A licensed Professional Engineer, Dr. Moo-Yong served as Dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology at California State University, Los Angeles, prior to coming to the Tri-Cities. He earned his Ph.D. and an MS in Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an Executive Master's in Technology Management from the University of Pennsylvania, and his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Morgan State University.
Dr. Moo-Young spoke of the history of WSU Tri-Cities - surprising most in the room when he told how it started in the 1960's, long before the governor of Washington signed a law in 1989 forming 5 branch canvases: 2 for the University of Washington and 3 for Washington State University.
He shared his thoughts and plans for creating an educational environment that will help ensure the USA be a strong competitor in the global landscape. With "China producing one-million engineers annually, India producing 700,000 engineers annually and the USA producing only 70,000," he said, "we are no longer globally competitive." In face of these statistics, Dr. Moo-Young remains positive. "This creates an opportunity for us," he said. "With 5,000 scientist and engineers adjacent to WSU Tri-Cities we can achieve at much higher rates than most other places."
"With little to no recruiting, we have students from 28 of the 38 Washington counties, 12 states outside Washington state, and 10 countries." He said WSU TC has access to two-million dollars earmarked for tuition scholarships. "We can provide tuition scholarships that will decrease the cost of attending here to less than the in-state tuition California charges its own students."
Student housing will improve as well as the opportunity for students to be involved in athletics. "This is not an intramural program we are building but a Club-Sports program, one where anyone can play and compete with other such programs throughout the Northwest. Athletic involvement creates ownership and feelings of belonging in students and that encourages higher graduation rates."
It is indeed encouraging to hear such focused and aggressive leadership coming out of our own higher ed community.
Thanks to Tom Callahan for another outstanding program for our members this month.
