Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss has been named the next Frederik Meijer Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. With ten years in non-profit administration, ten years as city commissioner, and now three years as mayor, Mayor Bliss has established credentials as an innovative leader, social entrepreneur, and collaborator with a wide range of difference-makers from the public and private sectors. The Endowment materials describe the ideal Chair as someone with “a track record of examining issues using multiple disciplinary prisms, addressing problems collaboratively with a wide spectrum of people, and working towards creative solutions that are comprehensive and integrated”—an apt description not only of the job of Grand Rapids mayor, but also of Mayor Bliss herself. She will begin her appointment in Fall 2019.

Mayor Bliss enjoys a wealth of strong connections here in West Michigan. Besides teaching a seminar in effective leadership and creative problem solving, the mayor plans to organize and host a regular series of “fireside chats” that will expose Honors students to many of these distinguished community leaders and stakeholders. In addition, Mayor Bliss is ideally suited to help our students connect with local businesses and nonprofits for service-learning projects, internships, and Honors senior projects.

The faculty and staff of the Honors College wish to express our gratitude to Dr. Linda Chamberlain, the outgoing Meijer Endowed Chair, for her four years of outstanding service. Linda brought amazing energy and dedication to the job, helping us to establish design thinking as a regular offering in our curriculum. Her students praised her classes as being some of the most challenging and rewarding they’d ever taken. Linda also helped dozens of students find internships or otherwise make productive connections in the community, and she oversaw dozens of Honors Senior Projects, always with the same enthusiasm and intensity. We have benefited greatly from Linda’s professional experience and perspectives, and we wish her the best of luck in her next adventures.