Dr. Irvin D. Reid

He’s helping Wayne State University make a new name for itself

t the wise old age of 6, Irvin Reid made an important decision that would affect the rest of his life.

    That’s when the little boy from rural Pawley’s Island, S.C., determined he wanted to go live with his grandparents in similarly rural Jamestown, S.C.

    Why?

    “Because that’s where all the books were,” Reid says. “So I grew up in a two-room schoolhouse. The difference was, my grandmother was the teacher in both rooms.”

    Education has never been far from Reid’s mind, from the boy who grew up among a family of “teachers and preachers” to the man who went on to earn his master’s and doctorate degrees from the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

    Reid now oversees Wayne State University, with its 2,700-member faculty and 30,000 students in the heart of Detroit. He was named in 1997 as Wayne State’s ninth president, fresh on the heels of the prosperous tenure of predecessor David Adamany.

    With his tireless energy and commitment to Detroit, Reid has been able to focus on making Wayne State as well-known throughout the state of Michigan as it already is in the realm of academe.

    “We’re better known outside of Michigan for our quality than we are in the state (once you get) 50 miles outside of Detroit,” he says.

    But he never forgets where Wayne State is located, and why it’s there: to provide a comprehensive education with an urban focus. Though he enjoyed his first job of running a campus while at Montclair State University in New Jersey, he feels that the city is where he belongs.

    “To study in an urban setting prepares you for a lifetime of diversity. Even if (students) are going to go back to the Upper Peninsula, they must have an urban experience,” he says.

    Reid’s efforts throughout Detroit — including his enthusiastic campaign to bring an 88-acre research and technology park to the heart of the city — have not gone unnoticed.

    “What he’s done is this tremendous outreach. He’s clearly shown his expertise in (attracting) philanthropy,” says Mayor Dennis Archer, noting the money Reid has raised to build the new $64 million College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions Building and a $15 million expansion of the law school building.

    Reid personally enjoys one of the fruits of his labor, the $15 million fitness and recreation center in the heart of the campus. Not only is the center a place where students can stay healthy, it’s a way to get them to stay on campus.

    And it’s a place where anyone might find Reid working out alongside students — mostly early in the morning, but he also comes later in the day so he can mix with a wider variety of people.

    “When I came here four years ago, the place was a no-man’s land during the weekend or at night,” he says. “This has become the busiest place on campus ... at all hours.”

    Nor is he done reshaping the look of what he already calls “the most beautiful urban campus in the world.” He plans to triple dorm space on campus and is working closely with Archer, General Motors Corp. and other entities on getting an 88-acre technology center between the campus and the New Center area.

    “An urban university should be a university that interacts with the other institutions all around it,” he says.

   

— Janet Naylor Vandenabeele