GIA Member Spotlight

Jerry Kooiman (he/him/his)
Assistant Dean and Chief External Relations Officer
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

We caught up with Jerry Kooiman to discover more about him, what he’s up to, and what we can learn from him.

Briefly describe your current role.
I lead a team of institutional advancement professionals dedicated to cultivating and sustaining strategic relationships with community leaders, elected officials, and key partners in hospitals, educational institutions, industry, and broader community organizations across the eight communities served by the College of Human Medicine: Lansing, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Marquette, Midland, Southfield, and Traverse City. In this capacity, I oversee communications and marketing, government relations, events, and community engagement and outreach, ensuring a cohesive and impactful approach to advancing the college’s mission.

Briefly describe your career journey and what led you to institutional advancement in academic medicine.
Before joining the College of Human Medicine in 2007, I spent 12 years as an elected official representing Grand Rapids, Michigan, serving on the Kent County Commission and in the Michigan House of Representatives. Prior to that, I worked for 16 years on the staff of two members of Congress. After being term-limited from the Michigan legislature following six years of service, I sought an opportunity to continue making a meaningful impact in my community. Around that time, MSU was looking for someone to help lead efforts to double the size of its medical school and relocate its headquarters 70 miles west to Grand Rapids. They needed someone deeply connected to the Grand Rapids community with strong ties to its key leaders, which aligned perfectly with my experience.

What achievement in your current job are you proud of?
Earlier this year, I was honored by Michigan State University to receive the Simmons Chivukula Award for Academic Leadership for the work I have been involved with across the state of Michigan over the past 17 years, beginning with the development of a four year campus in Grand Rapids as part of the development of the Medical Mile, which now includes the headquarters of the medical school, a research center and the Grand Rapids Innovation Park. The economic impact of MSU’s involvement in Grand Rapids is $339M per year. I was also honored for my work in the early development of what is now our Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, which has brought more than $180M in federal funding for community based participatory research focused on health disparities and was at the forefront of the Flint lead water crisis. My work in Flint involved meeting with over 100 nonprofit, education, and government entities as a part of identifying research partnerships and surveying the community on the most pressing public health issues.

What advice do you have for other institutional advancement professionals in academic medicine?
Engage and collaborate. As institutional advancement professionals in medical schools and academic health systems, we are fortunate to have an organization that facilitates the opportunity to engage with each other to learn best practices, provides training through in-person and online programming, provides for in-person networking, and assists in collecting data that can be used as metrics for our disciplines. The Group on Institutional Advancement (GIA) of the Association of American Medical Colleges can and should be seen as a great resource to make you successful. I have served on Discipline Advisory Groups, participated on the Awards for Excellence review committee, presented at the national conference, and served as Chair of the GIA Steering Committee. Through that engagement, I have developed lasting friendships with others in academic medicine, who I routinely turn to for advice, counsel, and creative ideas.

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