Joe Odenwald, MSU M.S. in Management, Strategy and Leadership Spotlight
Last Updated March 19, 2025
A key benefit of an online graduate program is that it allows students to take what they learn and immediately apply it to their current job. Dr. Joe Odenwald, who graduated from Michigan State University’s Master of Science in Management, Strategy and Leadership (M.S. in MSL) program in 2023, said it did even more than that for him. It also helped him get his current job.
Odenwald, named president of Alma College in 2025 after serving as president of Southwestern Michigan College since 2020, said what he learned in the MSU program made him a more attractive candidate.
“I believe that my ability to speak about, formulate and execute strategies aided in my selection as president,” he said. He added that he’s not alone. For example, he said that Nick Saban, who served as defensive coordinator for the Michigan State University Spartans from 1983-1987 and as head coach from 1995-1999, is someone else who says MSU influenced him.
“I’ve heard Nick Saban say many times that he learned much from faculty at Michigan State when he was there that led him to future success elsewhere,” Odenwald said. “I feel the same way. Frankly, I miss the coursework. It was so satisfying.”
The Education Administrator Wanted to Expand His Skills
Odenwald, who has held a variety of higher education administrative positions throughout his career, will officially take his new position on June 1, 2025. Before earning his M.S. in Management, Strategy and Leadership degree from MSU, Odenwald earned an M.S. in Higher Education Administration and a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration.
He decided to enroll in the M.S. in MSL program partly to take advantage of the flexibility it offered. “I really could not do brick and mortar the way I had for my previous graduate degrees. But I also wanted a synchronous component. MSU offered that,” Odenwald said.
He also knew that even with the knowledge and experience he had gained through his education and career, he still had more to learn about leading a university.
“I had a desire to grow as a leader and become a better strategic manager. I already possessed a master’s degree and a doctorate in higher education administration, but I needed a better understanding of how to make good decisions,” he said. “Not all programs are created equally, and this one is solid top to bottom.”
How solid? Odenwald is clear about what it meant to him. “My M.S. in MSL was the most beneficial of my four degrees, even more so than my doctorate,” he said.
A History of Academic Excellence Helped Draw Odenwald to MSU
As a Michigan resident, MSU’s strong reputation and land-grant tradition resonated with Odenwald. Having previously worked at LSU, another land-grant institution, he was drawn to MSU’s history of academic excellence and leadership in business education.
“I have a deep appreciation for institutions like MSU. I also studied the program’s rankings and its faculty. I read other students’ spotlights of alumni and what they are doing. I saw this program as the capstone to my education,” he said.
Once in the program, Odenwald said he found everything well organized, even to his experienced eye. He said he also had constant help from his Student Success Coach to complete registration. As for the classes, Odenwald called them “challenging, but appropriate. Taking one course at a time and focusing on it was essential.”
A Favorite Professor and a Message for Other Students
Odenwald said Richard “Doc” Gooding ranks as his favorite professor. He said Gooding went the “extra mile,” adding that he “had lengthy sessions, and his tests and assignments challenged us.”
Odenwald said Gooding and the MSU program’s most valuable takeaway involved helping him further refine his role. “The role for leaders and managers is to set strategy, build a team, provide capital to execute the strategy, and hold oneself and others accountable,” he said.
Odenwald enjoyed the coursework so much he had difficulty choosing which was his favorite.
“I can’t say just one. I loved all of them,” Odenwald said in a recent interview when asked for his favorite course in the MSL program. “There was not a single course in the program that I dreaded or that wasn’t incredibly helpful in what I do daily.”
His own students already know this. He saved every paper and article from the MSU courses and uses them in his own classes. He also sends them to trustees and staff. He called the course materials “incredible,” adding that he “never dreaded reading or completing my papers and projects.”
For those considering the program, Odenwald offered a simple message: “Do it, Go Green!”
As for himself, Odenwald sounds almost wistful that it’s over. Asked what surprised him the most about the program, he said, “How fast it went by, and how much I miss it.”
