Mike Martin Leaves LSU

Just got this email


To: LSU students, faculty and staff

From: Chancellor Mike Martin

Date: May 25, 2012

It is with a mixture of sadness and excitement that I to write to you today to inform you of my decision to accept the job as chancellor of the Colorado State University system. It was no easy decision to leave LSU, the place that Jan and I have called home for the past four years. We have grown to love this unique and special university; its students, alumni and fans; and all the members of the Baton Rouge community. We have watched this university achieve many things during our time here – top-tier status in U.S. News & World Report, completion of the successful Forever LSU campaign, a national championship in baseball in 2009, and a new Business Education Complex, to name a few. It has been our privilege to be a part of LSU’s successes, and to witness the enormous impact that the university has on the people of Louisiana. Jan and I fervently hope that the leadership of this state also realizes the powerful impact of LSU, and supports its flagship university accordingly, now and well into the future.

We can never fully express our thanks to all those who made us feel so welcome here in Louisiana, nor to all those who work tirelessly on behalf of LSU, from the faculty and staff of the university, many of whom have devoted their lives to LSU, to the donors and supporters who have so often enabled the university to achieve greatness through their generous donations of time and money.

But the time has come for us to explore new opportunities. While I was not actively looking to leave LSU, when Colorado State approached me with this very challenging opportunity, I felt I had to listen. As it turned out, the opportunity was one that interested and intrigued me, and in the end, I felt it was an excellent chance for me to have a positive effect on the field of higher education. Opportunities like that don’t come along very often, and I felt it was best for me to accept it.

I will begin the new job at Colorado State University in August, and until that time, will work to impress upon the Louisiana Legislature the need for adequate funding for the state’s flagship university. And I will continue to do all I can to help LSU succeed in every way possible.

It is bittersweet for Jan and I to leave LSU, and we will miss the many dear friends that we have made here over these past several years, but rest assured, we will always hold the memories of these past four years very close to our hearts, and a part of us will always be Tigers.