Beekman to assume responsibilities of MSU president

East Lansing — MSU’s Board of Trustees intends to accept Lou Anna Simon’s resignation on Friday and install Bill Beekman into a temporary presidential position while the university searches for an interim president, according to a source with direct knowledge of the university’s decisions.

Beekman, who has been a vice president and secretary of the MSU Board of Trustees since Jan. 1, 2008, is expected to serve in the role for only a few weeks.

Beekman has performed administrative work for board meetings and for university ordinances and policies. His job posting says he also worked with the board and the president to implement their agenda for change.

He was executive director of the MSU Alumni Association and joined MSU in 1995 as an administrator with the MSU HealthTeam. He was the assistant dean for finance and planning in the College of Human Medicine and taught in the College of Human Medicine and the College of Law. He also served as a senior consultant to the provost and to the vice president for finance and operations.

Beekman received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, his law degree from Wayne State University Law School and his undergraduate degree in justice, morality, and constitutional democracy from MSU’s James Madison College.

On Friday, the board is meeting publicly for the first time since the sentencing of Larry Nassar and the resignations of the university’s president and athletic director.

The meeting comes after more than 150 young women testified for seven days about how their lives were profoundly altered by the abuse in Ingham County Court and a judge sentenced Nassar to 40-175 years in prison.

Nassar, a former MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor, abused females for more than 20 years until the scandal broke in September 2016.