DSU president works hard for S. Dakota
José-Marie Griffiths, president of Dakota State University, is South Dakota’s USA TODAY Woman of the Year.
Griffiths, 71, became DSU’s president in 2015.
She was recently honored as one of 10 champions of the state in the South Dakota Hall of Fame for “literally transforming the state university into a nationally recognized institution for cyber security,” said Laurie Becvar, CEO of the Hall of Fame.
Griffiths has led major DSU initiatives, like the upcoming construction of an applied research lab in Sioux Falls, an educational partnership with ArmyCyber, pending legislation for a $6 million Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology and a partnership for a STEAM exhibit at the Washington Pavilion.
Throughout the years, she’s made headlines for attending the first-ofits-kind State-Federal STEM Education Summit hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, joining the White House Cyber Workforce and Education Summit and more.
She’s held leadership positions at four universities, including vice chancellor at the University of Tennessee; chief information officer, the University of Michigan; director, Sara Fine Institute, University of Pittsburgh; and dean, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
She has previously served in presidential appointments to the National Science Board, the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee, and the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.
She has led projects for more than 28 U.S. federal agencies and more than 20 major corporations in more than 35 countries, and she has worked with seven major international organizations, including NATO and the United Nations. She has received more than 20 significant awards in science, technology, teaching and the advancement of women in these fields.
This conversation has been edited for conciseness and clarity.
Question: Who paved the way for you?
Answer: My parents, who really never said, “Don’t do things.” They always let me believe I could do whatever I tried to do, so they encouraged me.
I had a couple of advisers. My doctoral dissertation adviser, his name was Bertie Brooks. He was an engineer. He encouraged me to do a lot of things, and he and his wife introduced me to a lot of well-known academics in all sorts of fields. They would entertain a lot, and I was invited to come and join them. They were very, very helpful.
My heroine is Marie Curie. A physicist and chemist, she discovered radium. Her work in science, research science and collaboration with others mirrors the way I have tried to develop my career.
Who did you pave the way for?
A number of my students, because I’ve taught for many, many years at many different institutions. A lot of them are now vice presidents at universities around the country. I don’t think any of them are yet a president, but they’re ambitious and they’re really good, and I’m sure some of them will be at some point. That gives me great satisfaction that they’re doing really well.
What is your proudest moment?
Bringing up my daughter (Rhiannon). I tried to make sure she was strong, comfortable and confident in herself and her abilities. She took a different pathway academically, but that’s OK. That’s what she wanted to do. I encouraged everything she wanted to do, just like my parents had encouraged me.
Do you have a lowest moment?
I think the lowest moments come when you realize that maybe where you are isn’t the right fit for you. I’ve been in situations where I felt I’m doing the best I can, but I’m not sure that I’m doing the best that I could long-term for this organization. Fit is a concept in leadership that’s very important, and I encourage our students to find the right fit. You’ll know it when it happens.
I try and encourage people to find something they enjoy doing so they don’t mind being there and developing their careers, and in fact, enjoy it, grow and develop there.
How do you define courage?
Courage is standing up for people who can’t be heard, standing up for the right thing even if it causes you some discomfort and not being afraid to speak out.
Do you have a guiding principle or mantra?
My mother used to say, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” We got so tired of that phrase. My daughter gets tired of that phrase, but I hear her saying it now periodically to other people. So, it’s true: If you’re going to do something, do it to the best of your ability. Don’t do it half-heartedly.
I have these three personal values that I tell all the people I work with (about) how I try to live my life, and the acronym is ICE.
The first one is integrity. If I’m to work with you, I have to be able to trust you. We have to establish that. You have to operate with integrity, and of course, I expect the same, you need to trust me.
The second one is collaboration. In today’s world, we have to collaborate; we can’t be islands unto ourselves.
The third one is excellence. I was at one institution that thought excellence should be first. I said, “If you’re excellent but you don’t have integrity, what’s that worth to anyone? If you’re excellent and you don’t collaborate, you’re just an island off on your own. That doesn’t do anything for anyone.”
So it has to be integrity first, collaboration second and excellence.
“In today’s world, we have to collaborate; we can’t be islands unto ourselves.”
What advice would you give your younger self?
Take time to enjoy life. Stay open to new things. That includes people, places, different foods and different ideas. I’ve tried to do some of that, but I think savoring life along the way is important. I always got really into my job. That’s taken me a long way. I’ve been able to travel with my job, so that’s good.