The move to bring in a lay president to run Madonna University isn’t part of a plan to change the Livonia school’s Catholic beliefs, says Michael Grandillo, its new president.
“My job is make sure the Felician Sisters (who founded and have run the school) know that we are committed to our traditional beliefs,” Grandillo told the Free Press shortly after starting. “The school is going to be around a long time with the values the Sisters put in place.”
Grandillo started the job at the beginning of July. Until he took over, the school had been led by the Felician Sisters since its founding nearly 80 years ago.
Grandillo replaced Sister Rose Marie Kujawa, who retired after 14 years of leading the school, which has about 4,200 students.
“At this historic juncture, when the university is hiring its first lay president, Dr. Grandillo is the perfect leader to take Madonna into the future,” Michael Talbot, Madonna board chairman, said when Grandillo was hired. “His breadth of experience across all aspects of university administration, and his deep faith and respect for the Felician/Franciscan mission and tradition, will serve him and the Madonna community well.”
But a commitment to tradition doesn’t mean changes won’t be coming to the school.
“We want to do more with the undergraduate experience,” Grandillo said. “We hope to expand the residential opportunities on campus.”
That will allow the school to build a better sense of community, he said. And that will help attract and keep students.
Grandillo, however, doesn’t want to just hand down decisions on Madonna’s future. He has started a listening tour — meeting with employees and students — and says he hopes to meet individually with every faculty member. He also hosted a Fourth of July open house at his home for the Madonna community.
“I think today’s colleges are overmanaged and underled,” he said. “Leading emphasizes that I don’t need to make every decision. I trust them (staff and faculty) to make decisions in the best interests of our students.
A lifelong Catholic, Grandillo grew up in Dayton, Ohio. He’s worked in higher education for decades.
He came to Madonna from a stint as a consultant with the Registry for College and University Presidents and was interim vice president at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Prior to that, Grandillo served as president and CEO of Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wis. He also spent 17 years as vice president for development and public affairs at Tiffin University in Ohio and another nine years as director of development at Heidelberg College.
He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ohio Northern University and a master of science in education from the University of Dayton. In 2006, he completed a doctor of philosophy degree in higher education and Italian Renaissance history at the University of Toledo.
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