WSU, UW/Gonzaga Make Exciting Announcements

WSU's Board of Regents announced on March 25th that Kirk Schulz, the current president of Kansas State University, will be the new president of WSU."President Schulz's colleagues consistently praise his integrity, passion for the job, and belief in the transformative power of education," said Regent's Chair Ryan Durkan. During his tenure at KSU, Durkan moved the institution from the "very high research activity" classification in 2010 to the "highest research activity" in 2015 rankings by the Carnegie Foundation. Schulz replaces Dr. Elson S. Floyd, who served as WSU president for eight years and died last June following a several months' battle with cancer. The Elson S. Floyd Medical School on the Spokane health sciences campus is named after him.

Dr. Thayne McCollogh, Gonzaga University president, announced in late February that Gonzaga and the University of Washington had signed an agreement to enhance and expand medical education and research in Spokane. The unique public-private partnership intends to provide a regional community-based medical education program and to advance health related research, entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary health sciences teaching in Spokane.