Michael Grandillo, a veteran of more than three decades of private higher education and community leadership, today was introduced as the new president of Lakeland College in Sheboygan.
Grandillo, 54, succeeds Stephen Gould, who was named Lakeland’s president in 1998 and will retire in May after serving the college for 42 years as a teacher and administrator.
Grandillo is the 15th president of Lakeland, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. He comes to Lakeland from Tiffin, Ohio, where he has lived for 31 years and served as a significant presence in the region in a holistic blend of private college administrator, elected public servant, community activist and volunteer.
After starting his professional career in admissions at Ohio Northern University (his undergraduate alma mater), Grandillo served 14 years at Heidelberg College where he worked in leadership roles in admissions and development. He has spent the last 17 years as Tiffin University’s vice president for development and public affairs and as an adjunct instructor of political science.
“I am humbled and honored to be named the 15th President of Lakeland College,” Grandillo said. “Lakeland has enjoyed 150 years of life-changing experiences and has a keen sense of social justice. I look forward, with pleasure, to a long association of building relationships and further educating our country’s leaders.”
A published historian, Grandillo has special academic interest in the denominational movement in higher education, the Italian Renaissance and the American Presidency. He has authored numerous articles and presentations related primarily to student success, admissions policies and development, and in 2010 completed the definitive institutional history of Tiffin University, “Onward to the Dawn.”
