Today the Wiewel era begins

Dressed in a green PSU Cycling jersey, new university President Wim Wiewel and Mayor-elect Sam Adams coasted their bicycles to a stop in the South Park Blocks in front of dozens of university staff, faculty and students awaiting his arrival Monday morning.

Not every workday will begin this way for Wiewel, but not every day will be his first on the job, and Wiewel realizes that there’s only one chance to make a good first impression. The ride highlighted at least two issues Wiewel hopes to tackle during his tenure: sustainability and strengthening the university’s relationship with City Hall.

“Getting a chance to ride my bike was just glorious,” Wiewel said. “The fact that Sam Adams was willing to do this ride speaks volumes about the relationship between City Hall and this institution.”

Adams said he expects Wiewel to bring “energy, enthusiasm and expertise” to Portland State and that Wiewel possesses a “deep understanding of a successful city-university partnership.”

“This comes at a great time,” Adams said. “People are going to be surprised about the depth to which we’re going to take the partnership.”

Jesse Cornett, assistant to the president for government relations, was enthusiastic about Wiewel’s ability to relate to civic government.

“Wim’s an expert on the university as a civic partner,” Cornett said. “He’s going to be heavily involved building on everything the university has done. We’re in a great position. I am so genuinely, honestly excited for him give my role and my passion for the university.”

After briefly addressing the crowd and pausing for photos, Wiewel headed up to the sky bridge between Cramer Hall and Smith Memorial Student Union for a reception, where he laid out his plans and told the enthusiastic audience of more than 100 that “hard work” lay ahead.

“He’s the designer president. I couldn’t design a better president,” said Lindsay Desrochers, vice president for finance and administration. “He’s absolutely excellent for the university.”

Provost Roy Koch identified a key allure of Wiewel’s presidency.

“The hope is that we’ve arrived as a university,” Koch said. “There’s a notion that we’ll continue to strive to get better. He’ll be a great spokesman and representative.”

Wiewel, 58, comes to Portland State from the University of Baltimore, where he served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs since 2004. Prior to that, he worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1979 to 2004, filling multiple roles including dean of the College of Business Administration and director of the Center for Urban Economic Development.

Wiewel said his new role at PSU is not a job so much as “a life,” and that he is already feeling comfortable.

“People have just been great,” he said. “Alice, my wife, and I feel welcome.”

The new president’s first day on the job was carefully planned out, he said. Items on his agenda include meeting with ASPSU President Hannah Fisher, the Faculty Senate, staff and a dinner with local business people.

“We want to solidly extend or renew our relationship with the corporate civic leadership,” Wiewel said. “We need to know what they need and how they perceive us. The Portland-metro area deserves an excellent public university and we are that.”