MSU Today with Russ White Russ White

New endowed fund to foster next generation of women’s health leaders  
 
To close the gap between women’s health research and other scientific disciplines, Ward and Mari Walstrom of Harbor Springs have made a $1 million gift to bolster education and research in the MSU College of Human Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. 
 
The Walstrom Family Endowed Women’s Health Research Fund is creating an early-career training program to increase the number of scientists and clinicians pursuing a lifelong career focused on women’s health care and research. 
 
The program pairs medical and graduate students with research teams and will support independent research projects. Four College of Human Medicine early-career graduate students, including one third-year medical student, were recently selected and awarded the endowed funds; each will utilize the philanthropic funds to push forward current research projects, which would not have been otherwise possible. 
 
Three Spartans describe the impact the gift will have on women’s health. Dr. Richard Leach is professor and chair of the MSU College of Human Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Health. Shannon Harkins is a PhD candidate and Walstrom fund recipient. And Roksolana Sudyk is a future Spartan MD and Walstrom fund recipient.
 
Conversation Highlights:
 
(0:19) – Leach on the strengths, mission, and evolving excellence of the MSU College of Human Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology.  
 
(5:01) – Leach on the Walstroms and the impact of their gift. 
 
(11:24) – Sudyk on her path to MSU, her passion for women’s health, and meeting the Walstroms.
 
(15:54) – Harkins on her passion for women’s health, her research project, and meeting the Walstroms.
 
(31:02) – Sudyk was attracted to MSU by the College of Human Medicine’s focus on women’s health and equity. And she describes her research project.
 
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Teresa Mastin is vice provost and associate vice president for faculty and academic staff affairs at MSU. She joins Bill Beekman, vice president for strategic initiatives, to discuss progress on the implementation of the faculty and staff success theme of the MSU 2030 strategic plan.
 
Conversation Highlights:
 
(1:03) – Mastin on her background, career path, and what excites her about her role.
 
(15:11) – What are the difference between tenure-track faculty and fixed-term faculty? How are their issues different?
 
(24:06) – What do you do to support faculty career development?
 
(32:37) – What’s your favorite part of your job?
 
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Matt Grossmann, Charley Ballard, and Arnold Weinfeld from Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) discuss the latest in Michigan and national politics, policy, and the economy on the State of the State podcast, a monthly round up of policy and research for the state of Michigan.
 
Peter Berg joins the conversation to talk about the UAW’s recent victory in unionizing a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee and its implications moving forward. Berg is a professor of employment relations and director of the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at MSU.
 
Conversation Highlights:
 
(0:50) – Ballard on the state of the national economy.
 
(4:29) – Ballard on the state of the Michigan economy.
 
(6:31) – Michigan is 39th in per capita personal income in the United States.
 
(9:41) – Grossmann on the latest in politics and how the perception of the health of the economy doesn’t match the perception for many.
 
(12:55) – What impact will the campus protests have on the election?
 
(15:16) – How will Gaza impact younger voters?
 
(17:11) – What factor will the UAW play in domestic politics and this election?
 
(19:09) – What is the diploma divide?
 
 (21:20) – What is the impact of the UAW’s recent win at Volkswagen? 
 
(23:25) – Will Shawn Fain and the UAW be a political force for President Biden in the election?
 
(25:24) – What are the UAW’s next targets?
 
(27:22) – Do you see the UAW win leading to more unionization in other industries?
 
(29:20) – Is the National Labor Relations Board’s legitimacy being questioned?
 
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Rodney Whitaker, University Distinguished Professor of Jazz Bass and director of Jazz Studies in the Michigan State University College of Music, is among the class of new members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. With this honor, he joins the ranks of artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders of one of the oldest learned societies in the United States.
 
Conversation Highlights:
 
(0:28) – How does this honor feel?
 
(1:17) – When and how did you fall in love with music? It started at the turntable.
 
(2:50) – Why the bass? Who influenced you? The violin was first.
 
(4:29) – How and when do you become a Spartan?
 
(5:48) – Why do you love to teach?
 
(7:08) – What’s the mission of the MSU Jazz Studies program? “It’s a place to grow mentors.”
 
(9:03) – Talk about your role directing the college’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts.
 
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Darien Harris is Spartan Athletics’ assistant athletic director for business development and NIL strategy. He provides leadership for Michigan State Athletics’ award-winning NIL program, EverGreen. 
 
Harris is expanding his role and focusing on engagement and collaboration with local and statewide businesses and national brands to help student-athletes develop brand identity strategies to enhance their presence across various social media platforms.
 
A 2015 Journalism graduate and graduate of Eli Broad College of Business' top ranked Master of Science in Marketing Research program in 2019, Darien has been a proud Spartan since 2011. As a four-year letter winner at linebacker for the Michigan State football team, Darien was a part of the winningest senior class in program history (43 wins), won two Big Ten titles, the 100th Rose Bowl, the 2015 Cotton Bowl and played in the 2015 College Football Playoffs
 
Harris talks about the evolving world of college athletics.
 
Conversation Highlights:
 
(1:23) – What attracted you to MSU, and were academics a part of your decision to be a Spartan?
 
(2:52) – How did your MSU experience – on the field and in the classroom - impact you?
 
(4:25) – Describe your role in Spartan Athletics.
 
(6:04) – What is NIL (name, image, and likeness)? What are the pros and cons?
 
(8:52) – What is EverGreen?
 
(11:22) – What is Spartan Nation NIL?
 
(13:40) – What are some facts about NIL you want to reinforce and some myths to dispel?
 
(16:25) – What’s ahead for the quickly evolving world of college athletics? 
 
(20:09) – If you were the czar of college athletics, what are some things you would do?
 
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Spirituality is declining in the United States if you focus on religious affiliation, but that isn’t the whole story according to Morgan Shipley, associate professor of religious studies at Michigan State University. A recent Pew Research Center survey reports that 28% of U.S. adults say they are religiously unaffiliated. By digging a little deeper, Shipley finds the religiously unaffiliated, sometimes called the “nones,” are a diverse group of people often with a broader perspective of spirituality.
 
As the MSU Foglio Endowed Chair of Spirituality, Shipley is exploring the changes in spirituality, belonging and religious identity through his research. 
 
Conversation Highlights:
 
(0:59) – Shipley on his background and interest in religious studies.
 
(4:00) – Why did you come to MSU for your PhD? Is there a collaborative ethos and sense of community and belonging at MSU that allows you to do your best work?
 
(6:44) – Tell me about Father Jake. What does spirituality mean more broadly and how is that evolving? Who are the “nones?”
 
(15:19) – How do you teach students about spirituality?
 
(18:06) – What role can technology and artificial intelligence play in people’s religious and spiritual practices?
 
(21:01) – Where do you see religion and spirituality heading in the next decade?
 
(23:37) – What do you want us to remember from this conversation? “To be a spiritual person is to be a person among others.” 
 
Listen to “MSU Today with Russ White” on the radio and through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.