Our good intentions; our achievable resolutions!

Friday, Jan. 3, 2025

Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

It is 9:42 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, and, as I write this year’s first Friday message with the TV on, people everywhere from east to west have come together to usher in the new year. As the clock struck midnight, from Sydney to Mumbai, one time zone to another, hopes were high that the new year would bring prosperity and desperately needed peace around the world. Good people anywhere wish for the welfare and justice for good people everywhere! So, what if we start the new year leading with the good intention, if not a resolution, of supporting peace initiatives and to help the growth of all deserving people that we work with? After all, our own success is measured by the success of others, whether we lead only ourselves, or teams of 10 or 10,000.

As my holiday message conveyed, we are grateful for all the support, progress and achievements we had in 2024. We are grateful for the support that we received from The Board of Curators of the University of Missouri, from President Choi, our Board of Trustees, Kummer Missouri S&T Foundation Board, alumni, faculty and staff to fulfill our primary mission, educating our students. As great as our achievements were, and as Bob Dylan so aptly says, however, “… the times are a-changing:”

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
.
.
For the times they are a-changin'

At the dawn of the new year, admit it or not, the underlying conversations in many arenas, including the academic world, is change. I can confidently say that the pace of change in higher education is truly unprecedented, and, furthermore, that change is here to stay. For good, bad, or indifferent, “the times are a-changin’,” and we must be prepared to take advantage of all the opportunities camouflaged in change. To do so we must remain alert and curious as the landscape of higher education shifts right under our feet. The great news is that our mission here at S&T is in a positive spotlight, given our national standing in the return of our students’ investment of time and financial resources. At the same time, we must stand ready to rethink our strategies, if necessary, to navigate the choppy waters of the academic world.

Oh, let’s also have fun along the way this year! Happiness is the secret sauce of sustainable success and performance for us as individuals and as motivated teams. Given that we delineate motion and action, our achievements are not only measured by milestones and timelines, but also by celebrating our success as we traverse our path to achieving our North Star goals.

May all of you, our dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends, have a happy, healthy and purposeful 2025 with good intentions and achievable resolutions.

Warmly,

-Mo.

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Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu