Former CMU Administrator Kathleen 'Kathy' Wilbur dies at 70
Kathleen “Kathy” Wilbur, a longtime leader in higher education, governmental trailblazer and former Central Michigan University administrator, died over the weekend. She was 70.
Wilbur was a member of CMU leadership from 2002 until 2018. She served as the university’s interim president from 2009 to 2010, but her most recent title here was Vice President for Governmental and External Relations.
From Mount Pleasant, she headed to East Lansing, where she was appointed Executive Vice President for Government and External Relations of Michigan State University by then-Interim President John Engler.
In a statement released Monday morning, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called Wilbur “a dedicated leader and thoughtful public servant who moved Michigan forward.”
The governor pointed to Wilbur’s legacy in higher ed and said the late administrator affected “lasting, positive changes" at Central Michigan and Michigan State.
“From the legislature to state government to her decades of service in higher education, Kathy always got the job done and was a constant source of truth, stability, and strength,” Whitmer said in the statement. “My thoughts are with Kathy’s family and all those who were lucky enough to work with her.”
According to a story published March 6, 2018, Wilbur's extensive career involved serving as Director of the Michigan Department of Consumer and Industry Services, as the deputy director of the Michigan Department of Commerce and as chief of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulations.
She had been a senior staffer in the Michigan General Assembly, served on the MSU Board of Trustees and in 2007, was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. She was the first woman in the state’s history to lead three different state governmental departments, according to her Hall of Fame biography.
“We’re devastated at the passing of our friend and colleague Kathy Wilbur,” Lou Glazer, a director of the Ann Arbor-based nonprofit Michigan Future Inc. said in a statement Sunday. “Her decades of being an advocate for higher education and making Michigan a better place for all have been felt far and wide.”
Michigan Future is a non-partisan, foundation-funded organization dedicated to fostering economic growth and transition in the state; attracting and retaining talent; and preparing the next generation of talent to succeed in “an economy where jobs, occupations and industries are constantly changing,” according to its website. Wilbur had been chair of the group's Board of Directors.
“While we are grieving the loss of Kathy, we will be forever grateful for the incomparable leadership she provided our organization to develop and fight for big change that would improve the well-being of all Michiganders,” Glazer continued in the statement. “Our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time, and we hope that as we move forward, we can honor her legacy by continuing to work on the issues she so fully believed in.”
Wilbur was most recently the senior vice president for governmental relations at MSU, from which she planned to retire in early 2024, according to an Oct. 18 press release.
