President’s Message

Dear Alumni and Friends,

The holiday season is upon us—a time when many of us pause to reflect on our blessings and what we are thankful for. For me, I am most thankful for my health, my family and the time I get to spend with my wife, daughters and granddaughter.

I am also thankful for every member of the MSOE family, near and far. I enjoy walking around campus and seeing the accomplishments of our faculty, staff and students and the campus improvements made possible by the support of our alumni and friends.

Our commitment to being extraordinary is lived out every day and we continue to expand our reach. Our students are competing at the national and international level, bringing home awards like the $25,000 NCEES Engineering Education Award in recognition of work they did with Engineers Without Borders in Guatemala. The MSOE Raider Robotics team won the highest award possible at the Vex U World Championship: The Excellence Award.

Our academic offerings are expanding as well. We launched a Machine Learning Graduate Certificate, allowing students to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to create data-driven solutions for their industries.

Campus is buzzing. This fall we welcomed our largest incoming class ever with just over 800 new students, and capital improvement projects continue. Work is underway on a new Welcome Center in the Campus Center and a green space in the heart of campus. Both projects will be completed this academic year. In addition, Dr. Kathleen Ruehlow ’72, MSOE Regent, has made it possible for us to embark on a multi-year plan to expand co-curricular offerings. Read more about this exciting announcement on page 22.

As I mentioned in the previous issue of Dimensions, a campus-wide planning group reconvened to review MSOE’s Strategic Plan. We celebrated our progress and successes, and we evaluated our strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results. Our analysis resulted in an updated strategic plan to guide us through 2026. And we are recruiting a new member of the leadership team: a strategic advisor to the president. This person will help us continue making progress toward our strategic goals.

I wish you all a safe, happy and healthy holiday season.

Sincerely,

JOHN Y. WALZ, Ph.D.

President