Washington State University Vancouver Chancellor Mel Netzhammer announced Wednesday morning that this year will be his last after 13 years at the school’s helm.
“The extraordinary beauty of our campus leaves me in awe every day. While it will be hard to leave a position I love so dearly, I believe the time is right for this transition,” Netzhammer wrote in a letter to the campus community. “I look forward to welcoming and supporting our next chancellor in summer 2025.”
Netzhammer, a New Orleans native, is just the second chancellor in the young school’s 35-year lifespan. He took over in 2012 following the death of the school’s founding chancellor, H.A. Hal Dengerink.
Netzhammer’s time at WSU Vancouver has been defined by growth and challenge. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the campus’s enrollment had steadily grown each year under his leadership. It peaked at 3,585 students in fall 2019. The decline in years since follows a national trend in higher education. Netzhammer, however, remains optimistic that growth will begin again in years to come as the economy steadies itself.
Challenges aside, other leaders in the campus community laud Netzhammer as a champion for cementing WSU Vancouver as a critical piece of Clark County’s future.
“The most impressive thing in Mel’s career is the increase in community partnerships, strong relationships with legislators, increased relationships with our tribal leaders,” said Lindsay Fisher, chairwoman of WSU Vancouver’s advisory council.
WSU Vancouver’s relationship with the Cowlitz Tribe was particularly critical, as a $1 million gift from the tribe in May 2023 helped see through the full construction of the school’s new Life Sciences Building.
The building, which opened this month, houses several new programs and research opportunities in chemistry, biology and nursing for undergraduate and graduate students. Advancing research opportunities had been one of the pillars of the 2016-2021 strategic plan that Netzhammer helped author.
Fisher, who is also a co-chairwoman of the search committee to find Netzhammer’s replacement, described the completion of the Life Sciences Building as the “icing on the cake” for Netzhammer’s career at the school.
Netzhammer’s eventual replacement, she said, will need to continue his legacy of prioritizing philanthropic efforts, as well as diversity and inclusion efforts on campus. WSU Vancouver received the Excellence in Diversity award from INSIGHT Magazine in both 2019 and 2023 for its efforts in the recruitment and retention of students and employees of color.
The search for Netzhammer’s replacement will begin in the coming months and will be coordinated with the search for WSU’s next president, as Kirk Schulz will retire at the end of June 2025.
“I figured it would be bittersweet. For a while, I wasn’t sure it was the right decision,” Netzhammer said in an interview last week. “But we had several achievements last year that were really exciting. I now feel like it’s the right time.”
