Cynthia Anderson installed as YSU’s seventh president

By Denise Dick | September 25, 2010 at 12:08a.m.

By DENISE DICK

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“Let us go forward together and invent our future,” said Cynthia E. Anderson after her installation as the seventh president of Youngstown State University.

Anderson, the first woman, Mahoning Valley native and YSU graduate to serve as YSU president, formally was installed in a Friday ceremony at Stambaugh Auditorium. University supporters, students, faculty, staff and administrators as well as members of Anderson’s family attended the event.

“With your help, I reaffirm my belief in education,” she said.

Anderson, who served as vice president of student affairs before her selection as president, has pledged to focus on student success.

Zachary Brown, a 2010 YSU graduate, told the crowd that Anderson views the university as a family and understands how that sets it apart from other schools.

He looked at a lot of colleges when deciding where to attend, Brown said.

“YSU was distinctly different from other schools for me,” he said. “Cynthia Anderson really understands this aspect of YSU and is prepared to capitalize on it.”

Scott R. Schulick, chairman of YSU’s trustees, in his remarks, talked about how the university consists of many various parts that together are one.

“Dr. Anderson wrote in her application, ‘This is what I believe my biggest strength is, bringing people together,’” Schulick said.

Her success already has been recognized, he said. In 1993, she became assistant provost for academic planning, and two years later, she was chosen as vice president for student affairs, he said.

Anderson, who grew up in Fowler, earned her bachelor’s degree in business education from YSU in 1973, later earning a master’s of business/education from Ohio State University and her doctorate in educational administration/higher education from the University of Akron.

She began her career at YSU in 1979, serving 14 years in the department of business, education and technology.

Anderson has established a scholarship fund in the names of her parents, Lawrence R. and Garnet P. Anderson, who had set aside a college fund so that she could pursue her education.

“If I have one regret for today, it is that those two wonderful parents are not sitting here,” Anderson said. “But they are here.”