![\"Wayne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Kimberly-Andrews-Espy-WSU.jpg\")
Kimberly Andrews Espy was the first female president of Wayne State. She stepped down Wednesday. (Courtesy of Wayne State University, CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/p>\nThe deal calls for Espy to receive $760,449 plus two years of health coverage for her and her spouse<\/p>\n
In exchange for the settlement, Espy gives up tenure at Wayne State\u00a0<\/p>\n
If she\u2019d remained president the full five years, with tenure she could have earned millions more, one expert said<\/p>\n
Former Wayne State University President Kimberly Andrews Espy left her post with a settlement agreement that pays her approximately one year\u2019s salary in exchange for giving up her tenure, characterized by an expert as a \u201cbargain\u201d for the university.<\/p>\n
WSU released the terms of her departure Thursday in a 10-page separation agreement. It included $760,449 and two years of health care for her and her spouse and a requirement that she relinquish her tenure rights to return to the faculty. She also must move out of the president\u2019s home by Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
Espy served WSU for two years as the first female president, then departed this week, three years before the end of her five-year contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Espy said she stepped down for \u201cpersonal reasons.\u201d Relations between her and the board suffered because of perceptions about her commitment to Detroit, reports from faculty members about respect and her personnel decisions, according to a source close to the situation.<\/p>\n
Kimberly Andrews Espy was the first female president of Wayne State. She stepped down Wednesday. (Courtesy of Wayne State University, CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/p>\n
Her August 2023 contract awarded her a total annual compensation package worth nearly $1 million, which included a base salary of $690,000, which would increase 3% each year, along with $222,000 in deferred compensation and supplemental retirement income.<\/p>\n
Espy\u2019s original contract also gave her rights to return to the faculty as professor with tenure in WSU\u2019s Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine. That benefit is worth significantly more than $760,449, said James Finkelstein, professor emeritus of public policy at George Mason University.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had Espy, 62, finished out her five-year term as president and returned to the WSU faculty and worked for another 10 years, she might have earned several million more dollars from WSU.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe university has reduced its future liability significantly,\u201d said Finkelstein, who studies the contracts of public university presidents. \u201cThe university either struck a bargain \u2014 or she could have held out for more. The larger question is whether universities should be committing millions to leaders who don\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Espy\u2019s exit contract doesn\u2019t come close to some university president exit agreements that Finkelstein has seen, some in excess of $4 million to presidents who have served a similar time frame and left early.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one is not very lucrative for the president,\u201d said Finkelstein. \u201cWhile it\u2019s still a lot of money for the university, compared to what they might have to be paying her, it is significantly less.\u201d<\/p>\n
WSU released the agreement one day after the Board of Governors met for a special meeting on Wednesday, her last day, to accept her resignation as the 13th president of the state\u2019s third-largest university.\u00a0 The board then appointed as interim president Richard Bierschbach, a professor at WSU Law School and the university\u2019s longest-serving dean.<\/p>\n
\u201cServing this institution has been an honor, and I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished together \u2014 from advancing student success and expanding research innovation to strengthening the community through collaboration,\u201d Espy said in a statement. \u201cWith the remarkable students who inspired me every day, this decision was not a simple one, and I look forward to spending more time with my family. I am confident in the university\u2019s continued momentum and further success for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board Chair Shirley Stancato expressed gratitude to Espy before a standing-room only crowd of faculty, students and staff gathered Wednesday for the brief meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank President Espy for her leadership and contribution to the university during her tenure,\u201d Stancato said. \u201cDuring this period, the university has accelerated social mobility for its students, grown the region\u2019s economic impact through collaboration with critical partners throughout this area, and achieved remarkable accomplishments through our faculty in research and discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
A national search would launch soon for its next president, WSU officials said.<\/p>\n
Espy\u2019s departure follows years of tumult at the helm of the state\u2019s other large universities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Former University of Michigan President Santa Ono left his post in May after serving 2.5 years, and made a failed effort to lead the University of Florida. Former Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley Jr. left in January 2023, serving just under 3.5 years, after announcing he had \u201clost confidence\u201d in the board and the board offered him a path out of his post he\u2019d held since 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Detroit Regional Chamber Sandy Baruah thanked Espy for her leadership, service on the chamber board and work in increasing college access and attainment in the region. But he also expressed concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspy\u2019s departure as Wayne State\u2019s president continues a troubling trend of premature leadership exits at Michigan\u2019s prestigious R1 universities, which seems to be outpacing turnover rates at our other higher education institutions,\u201d Baruah said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0R1 is a designation for major research universities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governance structure of these great R1 institutions warrants further examination to ensure they are best positioned to achieve their missions, which are vital to business and our state\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n
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