Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) concluded its search for a new chancellor earlier this week, with the hiring of Emile “Mel” Netzhammer, who has served since 2006 as provost and vice president for academic affairs at New Hampshire’s Keene State College.
“It definitely is a legacy that I am very respectful of and also very appreciative of,” said Netzhammer. “It’s just an incredible foundation to build on and every moment that I was on campus you could just see it in the way people enjoy being there.”
In his new role, Netzhammer said the first thing he wants to do is to get to know the local culture, including the business community.
“Understanding the culture that you’re entering is very important in terms of being successful when you’re there,” he explained. “But I think fundamentally, our colleges and universities have to be committed to workforce development. They have to be committed to the economic health of their region.”
Netzhammer said he looks forward to seeing how he can position WSUV to support the needs of the business community because “the presence of a college or university in a community
can be that rising tide that
lifts all boats.”
A native of New Orleans, Netzhammer earned his bachelor’s degree in communication from Loyola University in New Orleans. He earned his master’s degree in mass communication and Ph.D. in communication from the University of Utah.
In addition to helping to develop and implement an academic plan at Keene State, Netzhammer has experience in economic development. He has served on the board of the Hannah Grimes Center, a nonprofit small business incubator in Keene, for the past four years – two of those years as board chair. He also helped organized an economic summit on the Keen State campus that, he said, has led to the development of a number of new workforce initiatives.
“From a broad perspective, I think the success of those initiatives has been the combination of public-private partnerships where the business community has not just said ‘hear our needs’, but ‘hear our needs and we’re going to help you achieve the goals that you’ve set that are going to support us in the end.’”
As chancellor, Netzhammer said he plans to “bring the right people together and engage in that open kind of deliberation” with the business community. However, he said he’ll be relying on others to help him connect with a community that, at the moment, is completely unfamiliar to him.
“I want to dive right in, and I think others will be able to help me do that and will help guide me,” he said.
