Wayne State University’s first female president may depart after two years

Wayne State University’s first female president is expected to leave her post after serving two years at the third-largest university in Michigan.

Kimberly Andrews Espy will leave the university soon, a source with first-hand knowledge of the situation told Bridge Michigan on Thursday. The Detroit News first reported the story.

Espy, 62, welcomed a national conference of higher education reporters on WSU’s campus on Wednesday but declined to speak to two Bridge reporters.

The WSU Board of Governors was scheduled to meet for a regular meeting on Friday but it was canceled due to a recent retreat, said Peter Van Dyke, CEO of Detroit-based VVK PR + Creative.

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Earlier this week, when asked about Espy’s departure, Van Dyke said: “There’s been no formal action taken, or there’s been no formal resignation or formal action taken by the board.”

Espy, who is educated as a neuropsychologist, became WSU’s 13th president in August 2023 after working nearly three decades in higher education as an administrator, professor and researcher. Her previous position was at the University of Texas in San Antonio, where she served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Her five-year contract with WSU awarded her a compensation package worth nearly $1 million when she began her post.

Her base salary in her first year was $690,000 with an additional 3% each year, along with $222,000 in deferred compensation and supplemental retirement income for a compensation package worth $952,000.

Her contract also granted her full professorship with tenure in the psychiatry department of WSU’s School of Medicine.

Espy’s contract states that she may terminate her employment at any time but must give written notice to the Board of Governors at least 90 days before her effective termination date. All compensation and benefits would end on that date.

Her departure means that there is one less woman leading institutions of higher education.

Nationally, 2 of 3 college presidents are men, according to the American College President: 2023 Edition, the ninth study of higher education leaders by the American Council on Education.

Espy’s term is less than the average college president’s tenure, which is 5.9 years, according to the ACE report.

Researchers who study college presidencies say that presidents serving less than three years are categorized as “failed presidents.”

“These are (not) bad presidents, just that they failed to stay in the position for the full term of their contract,” said Judith Wilde, a research professor at George Mason University in Virginia.

Other presidents in Michigan have left their posts before their contract ended. Former Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley Jr. left in January 2023, serving just under 3.5 years, after announcing he had “lost confidence” in the board and the board offered him a path out of his post he’d held since 2019.

Former University of Michigan President Santa Ono left his post in May after serving 2.5 years and a failed effort to lead the University of Florida.

When Espy was formally installed as WSU president in March 2024, she said that she wanted to accelerate the mobility of students, empower health in urban neighborhoods and fuel innovation for competitiveness, launching WSU’s Properity Agenda.

Prior to that, she said that enrollment would be a key issue.

Four weeks into her tenure, she welcomed one of WSU’s largest incoming undergraduate classes, 4,450 students, which included 3,000 first-year students, a 16% increase.

Overall enrollment increased 1.1% during her tenure, from 23,702 students in fall 2023 to 23,964 in fall 2024, according to enrollment reports from the Michigan Association of State Universities. Enrollment for this fall has not yet been released.

Espy has been married for more than 35 years to an attorney, Paul Kaufmann, and has seven grown children.

— Isabel Lohman contributed