President of MSU, Dr. Waded Cruzado: Leadership

President of MSU, Dr. Waded Cruzado speaks on the topic of Leadership.
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Live event took place on March 29, 2023.
Since January 2010, Dr. Waded Cruzado has served as the 12th president of Montana State University. During her tenure, she has significantly reshaped the face and the future of the state’s first land-grant institution and premier university.
An articulate and inspirational speaker on the role of the public university, President Cruzado is well known for her understanding of the Morrill Act of 1862, the congressional bill that created the land-grant university system. She is a passionate champion of the land-grant university’s tripartite mission of education, research and public outreach, as well as the crucial role higher education plays in the development of individuals and the prosperity of the nation.
Montana State has set new student enrollment records under President Cruzado's leadership, becoming one of the fastest-growing universities in the nation and the premier university in the state. Montana State University has led the state in terms of gains in student retention and graduation rates. The number of Presidential scholarships has almost quadrupled during President Cruzado’s tenure, and the university has registered impressive gains in national scholarships, becoming one of the top institutions in the nation in the number of Goldwater Scholarship recipients.
Under President Cruzado, the campus has seen the completion of numerous major construction, renovation and repurposing capital projects. She has substantially grown the philanthropic support for the university, registering hundreds of millions of dollars in capital projects supported with private dollars, including new buildings for the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering and five new buildings for the Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing. President Cruzado has also overseen significant improvements to student facilities, including new residence halls, recreation and dining facilities, as well as Montana State’s new donor-funded Bobcat Athletic Complex. In addition, construction is currently underway on a new Student Wellness Center for student health, fitness and counseling services.
President Cruzado has provided new pathways to higher education with the establishment of Gallatin College MSU, and she obtained approval to designate the Honors Program as the Honors College. MSU also won a grant for the LaunchPad, a program that introduces entrepreneurship as a viable career option and provides university students and alumni with support for entrepreneurial ventures.
President Cruzado has also enhanced alumni and community relations. One visible community project is the CatWalk, an annual celebration of the relationship between MSU and the community.
President Cruzado has chaired the board of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the oldest association of higher education in the nation. She also chaired the board of HERS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting women leaders and equal voice in the future of higher education. She has served on the boards of the American Council on Education and TIAA Hispanic Advisory Board, among others.
Her awards include the “Hero” Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness - Montana Chapter; the Chief Executive HR Champion Award from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources; and the Michael P. Malone Educator of the Year from the Montana Ambassadors. She also was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International and was awarded the Seaman A. Knapp Memorial Lectureship.
President Cruzado previously served as executive vice president and provost at New Mexico State University. A native of Puerto Rico, she has a son and a daughter and two granddaughters.
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