Dr. Kathy S. Schwaig has been formally invested as the sixth president of Kennesaw State University. In a heartfelt speech before faculty, students, staff and community leaders, Schwaig outlined her vision for the institution, the commitment needed to help students succeed and the positive impact that the university can have on the lives of students.
“At KSU, we all have the opportunity to influence – to be a part of the process of helping students shape and build their lives,” Schwaig said after being presented the Presidential Chain of Office from University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue. “Putting students first means that we care equally about their academic success and their KSU experience. We must be more deliberate in our work to engage and support students and ensure that they are on a path to graduate in four years.”
In her address, she noted that her passion and commitment to helping students succeed was formed as an undergraduate student who found her first experiences in higher education difficult.
“I struggled in every dimension and almost didn’t graduate,” Schwaig said. “When I look back on that time in my life, I remember the faces and the words of those who encouraged and supported me. They influenced me profoundly and somehow, I did graduate.”
As an example, Schwaig cited KSU alum Ali Shilatifard, who as a teenager in the mid-1980s immigrated to the U.S. from Iran, learned English, earned a GED and enrolled in what was then Kennesaw College. Living in his car for a time, Shilatifard was befriended by a college police officer, who helped him find work on campus. He later graduated with a degree in chemistry and a grade point average of 3.6.
Today, Shilatifard is chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He is a leading researcher into the causes of childhood leukemia and is searching for a cure.