The Bronco Advocate-in-Chief

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—When Western launched the search for its 10th president, the charge was clear: find a leader who could navigate a changing higher-education landscape, strengthen connections across campus and the community, and position the University for long-term success. 

Western found that leader in a familiar face—a Bronco who understood theUniversity’s history and believed in its “so that all may learn” mission and future.

On July 1, 2025, Russ Kavalhuna returned to his alma mater as president, bringing with him a rare combination of energy and authenticity that has resonated with stakeholders near and far.

“When we developed the profile of who we wanted to lead Western at this inflection point in our history, we wanted a West Michigan person—an alum—who could take us not only to the next level, but to the next two levels beyond that,” says WMU Board of Trustees Chair Alan Turfe. “Russ stood out among a very competitive pool of candidates from across the country. Now, nearly a year in—wow—he’s exceeded my expectations.”

Turfe points to Kavalhuna’s ability to do something many leaders talk about but few actually execute well: listening. From the start, he says, Kavalhuna has delivered on what the board prioritized during the interview process: genuinely and proactively connecting with Western’s alumni, faculty, staff and students.

“Everybody knows Russ,” Turfe says. “He’s reached out across the entire University ecosystem—to our deans, groundskeepers, Ph.D. candidates—and, most importantly, to our students. He’s come out of the blocks very quickly. That matters."

In Kavalhuna’s mind, the journey back to Western was always a possibility but hardly a guarantee.

“I feel like I won the lottery returning to Western as president,” Kavalhuna says. His homecoming, however, was anything but chance.

Finding his way home

Kavalhuna’s ties to West Michigan run deep. His mother worked at Bronson Hospital, where he was born, and his father taught elementary students in the public school system in Battle Creek, which is a city a half hour from WMU’s campus and the setting of the University’s College ofAviation. He still remembers his father taking him to hockey games at Lawson Ice Arena when he was just 6 years old; those experiences made Western feel personal long before he became a student. After graduating from Western in the early 2000s with a bachelor’s in aviation flight science, Kavalhuna launched his first career as a commercial airline pilot.

From there, he went to law school and served as a law clerk for the Michigan Supreme Court and then as a federal prosecutor before returning to the College of Aviation as executive director of flight operations. He later spent seven years as president of Henry Ford College, where he built a national reputation as an innovative, student-focused leader.

Each step added to his experience. But none, he says, compared with what he learned at WMU.

“Most of what’s good in my life is connected to who I became at Western,” Kavalhuna says. “I spent a lot of time here figuring out who I wanted to be—and a little more time figuring out who I didn’t want to be—and that’s exactly the kind of transformation I want today’s students to experience.”

His familiarity with and belief in Western were part of what made Kavalhuna stand out in the search process, faculty say.

“He came across as someone who genuinely believes in the mission of public universities and really loves WMU,” says immediate past Faculty Senate President Amy Naugle, who saw his authenticity early, first as a member of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee and later as co-chair of the Presidential Transition Team. “We saw this tangible sense of optimism around him; he saw Western not just for where it was but for what it could become.”

Now that Kavalhuna is reaching the end of his first year, Naugle says that first impression has only been reinforced.

“He hasn’t just talked about being engaged—he’s shown up,” she says, pointing to his presence in classrooms, in shared-governance spaces and at athletic events. “He has a real ability to make people feel heard and understood.”

Faculty who have gotten to know him closely say the same. “I can’t begin to tellyou how fortunate this class of students and the future classes of students are to have [Russ] in charge,” says LZ Granderson, a master faculty specialist in the School of Communication and a longtime national journalist, who was among the first to conduct a podcast-style interview with Kavalhuna last fall. “He has such a heart for the campus and for the city of Kalamazoo. I’ve always believed that the No. 1 attribute of a civic leader is that they have to really care about the people they are serving. And Russ really cares.”

Listening and leading

Visibility and accessibility, complemented by a series of early action items to position Western for long-term success, have become hallmarks of Kavalhuna’s presidency. 

Over the past year, he has led a Presidential Listening Tour, engaging hundreds of staff, faculty, students, alumni and community stakeholders. He has guided the University through a transition to a new budget model designed to incentivize sustainable growth and clarify accountability. He initiated a 12-week operational review to assess how WMU could best deliver on its mission in a changing higher-education landscape.

“He understands that Western’s future depends on our ability to give students meaningful, real-world experiences before they graduate, and he’s been clear that he’s willing to align resources and structures to support that work,” Naugle says.

He has also strengthened connections off campus, working with lawmakers and industry and community partners. A month into his new role, for example, Kavalhuna welcomed retiring U.S. Sen. Gary Peters to the College of Aviation to highlight WMU’s impact on workforce development. Six months later, Peters helped Western secure more than $800,000 in federal funding to prepare students for in-demand careers in aviation.

“Russ brings a forward-looking perspective that’s critical in a time of significant change,” says Greg Dobson, WMU alumnus, principal and chief operating officer for AVB, and chair of Southwest Michigan First’s board of directors. Dobson also points to Kavalhuna’s strength as a relationship builder—an essential quality in a role that requires balancing complex decisions with stakeholder input.

“His continued engagement with the University and the broader community will be key for WMU and the region.”

Bill Johnston, chairman of Greenleaf Trust and the driving force behind the downtown Kalamazoo Event Center, sees Kavalhuna’s leadership as exactly what this moment in higher education demands. 

“Higher-education leadership is perhaps the most challenging leadership role in the current environment,” Johnston says. “Russ not only understands the dynamics of higher education and the challenges that WMU faces because of those dynamics, but he also has a strategic plan. At his core, Russ is curious, smart, resilient and values-driven, with a tremendous work ethic, and I have great confidence in him as president of WMU.”

Media have taken notice of Kavalhuna’s momentum. In fact, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business named Kavalhuna its “Newsmaker of the Year” in the education category this past February.

“Russ cares deeply about this institution, about the students, about the city and about everyone in our sphere,” said Kelly Burris, WMU Board of Trustees vice chair, in 2025, moments before Kavalhuna was voted in unanimously as WMU’s 10th president. “I’ve seen him work with business leaders in Detroit and with legislators in Lansing to secure the resources needed for student success. He’s a team player. Years from now, people will look back and say we made the right decision.”

Supporting students

Kavalhuna’s commitment to listening has shown up in classrooms around campus, where he has made a point of visiting instructional courses to create space for candid conversations with students.

“They were amazed that he’d taken the time to talk with them,” says Dr. Adrienne Redding, master faculty specialist in the English department. “They really felt seen and heard.”

To Dr. Lynne Heasley, professor in the School of Environment, Geography and Sustainability, the moments Kavalhuna spent in her class revealed something deeper. “I feel like we got to see, up close, who President Kavalhuna really is—his unique combination of pride, optimism, curiosity and transparency,” she says. Students are taking notice, too.

“It’s almost like he’s a professor,” says personal financial planning major Mo Tall. “That level of care—on an individual basis—you don’t really see that from administrators. He takes time to talk to students, to get to know them.”

Kavalhuna does more than talk. In fall 2025, he helped launch the WMU/AAUP Scholarship for First-Generation Students in partnership with the faculty union, contributing personally to a fund for Broncos who are the first in their families to attend college. For Mason Sanchez, a senior majoring in Latin and philosophy, that support proved to be life changing. He had been considering leaving Western because of financial hardship when he applied for the WMU/AAUP scholarship. Busy with his day-to-day life, he forgot about it—until an email arrived on his birthday.

“I cried,” he says. “This scholarship is helping me finish college. I called my family, my professors—we all cried together. It just feels like this is where I am supposed to be.”

Kavalhuna knows that feeling all too well, and it continues to inform his approach to leadership. “My family was one generation removed from poverty, and Western changed the trajectory of my life,” he says. “When a student hits a rough patch, I want this University to be the kind of place that steps in and says, ‘You belong here, and we’re going to help you finish.’ That’s the kind of return on investment I care about the most.”

For more WMU news, arts and events, visit WMU News online.