New leader, new goals

University of Toledo

“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

This is how Nagi Naganathan described his experience preparing to take his new position as interim president – all of which happened this summer after former president Lloyd Jacobs stepped down June 30.

Naganathan took over as interim president July 1 and described his experience as “an opportunity to serve this institution.”

“I received a great deal of support from faculty, staff and students encouraging me to serve as well,” Naganathan said. “It is truly an honor to serve from this office.”

Naganathan said that although recruitment and retention are his primary focus for the upcoming year, he also wants to improve communication between the administration, faculty, staff and students. In addition, Naganathan wants to make a habit of “recognizing good things that are happening on campus and engaging all faculty, staff and students.”

In order to do this, Naganathan will implement planned engagement activities to interact with students and faculty.

One such activity is “Walk with the President.” During this event, he will be able to meet with students in a casual setting.

“It is not a business meeting; students can come up and share their experiences and other things we can do,” Naganathan said. “It is more of an engagement strategy with the students. It’s going to happen many times throughout the year.”

Meeting students and welcoming back the faculty members for the school year is something Naganathan said he enjoys.

“Once a faculty member, always a faculty member,” Naganathan said. “I loved meeting students when they came into the class and I truly look forward to the energy as our students come on campus.”

Naganathan has been on the faculty at UT since 1986. He was appointed as the dean of engineering in May 2003. Naganathan earned a B.E. degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology at Tiruchirappalli, University of Madras, India (1978), a M.S. degree in mechanical and industrial engineering from Clarkson University, New York (1981) and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University (1986).

Naganathan said he wants to hear from students directly as well as the faculty and staff about issues they care about.

“My goal is to go to every division, academic and administrative, in this university over the next few months,” he said.

With high expectations set for the year, Naganathan plans to be an effective and productive leader.

“While the title is interim, the responsibilities are not,” Naganathan said. “As an interim administration we want to look back at the end of the year and then be able to say as a campus, as a university, we got these things done.”

Naganathan said he doesn’t like to be a loner, a personality trait which he feels will be helpful in his new position.

“I like to work with people and I think this is where it presents an opportunity that is my natural affinity to work with people I believe is also good for the university,” Naganathan said.

In terms of his leadership style, Naganathan wants to communicate openly with others rather than just give orders.

“It’s not about dispensing rules, and computers can’t run the place,” Naganathan said.

Naganathan urges students to take advantage of the time he will be setting aside in his calendar, time which he hopes will be used effectively.

“As a faculty member my office door was always open and I enjoyed that interaction,” he said.

While Naganathan is excited about his new position, he hasn’t forgotten his origins and how others have played a role in his life.

“The city of Toledo has been great to me and my family. The faculty and the university has been great and I want to do my best to serve this university well and the community well,” he said.