New mission, new name — new trajectory

Under Keiser’s leadership, the university experienced two major changes that helped boost our prestige and prominence:

• The legislature granted the university a statewide mission in public affairs in 1995.
• The name of the school changed to Missouri State University in 2005, dropping the “southwest” designation.

“Missouri State would not be the university it is today without Dr. Keiser’s vision and leadership,” said current President Clifton M. Smart III. “After many years and much effort, the university achieved its name change during his presidency. Dr. Keiser also made achieving our statewide mission in public affairs a priority of his tenure. The mission is what truly sets us apart in higher education.”

Accomplishments of those years reverberate today

In his first speech to campus, Keiser said the university’s single purpose was “to develop educated persons” and also said “it’s a privilege to be a Bear.” He repeated both phrases often during his 12 years as president.

Some of the major accomplishments from those years:

• The number of graduate programs and graduate students nearly doubled.
• Strong Hall, the Physical Therapy Building, the Jane A. Meyer Carillon, Wehr Band Hall and Bear Park South were added to the Springfield campus.
• Lybyer Hall and Melton Hall were added to the West Plains campus.
• Keiser arranged to add important landmarks to campus, including the Bronze Bear and the Citizen Scholar statues.
• The university established the Bronze Bear Award to recognize outstanding contributions by alumni and donors.
• The China campus and China programs were started.
• The university celebrated its centennial in 2005, highlighted by a history book and the first-ever Public Affairs Conference. Keiser participated in every Public Affairs Conference after his retirement.

“He had a huge impact on the way I see the world”

Before coming to Missouri State, Keiser was president at Boise State University from 1978-1993. Dr. Jim Baker, vice president for research, economic development and international programs at Missouri State, worked with Keiser at Boise State and came to Missouri State as Keiser’s chief of staff.

“Loyalty and integrity were core values for Dr. Keiser,” said Baker. “He had a huge impact on the way I see the world and on my leadership style. Dr. Keiser always said ‘You get paid to exercise judgment.’ He set high expectations for his leadership team and then trusted us to make good decisions.”

Paul Kincaid worked at Missouri State from 1986-2014 and directed university relations and governmental relations under Keiser.

“Dr. Keiser was different, because he had already been a president for 14 years before he came to Missouri State,” said Kincaid. “As a result, it was hard to throw him a curve ball that he hadn’t seen already and, usually, knocked out of the park. He was comfortable in his own skin, he was very self-aware and he had the courage of his convictions.”