By Ellery Wakefield MSU EXPONENT
Back in August, one of the first events that Brock Tessman attended as University president was the annual M Photo with the incoming freshman class.
“It was early in the afternoon — so the sun hadn’t quite baked everybody — but we’re bringing everyone together like that and seeing new friendships being made,” Tessman said, recalling how the students radiated with contagious enthusiasm.
“I was also embarking on a new adventure,” he said. “It was my first big event with students. And then walking around that M and talking to all these different students and feeling all this excitement about the beginning of their college journey — I’ll never forget that.”
After a year of exploring campus and immersing himself in the MSU community, Tessman sat down with the Exponent to reflect on his accomplishments and outline his goals for next year.
Tessman became the 13th president of MSU in August of 2025. He said that since taking office, he has worked diligently to fill the shoes of his predecessor, Waded Cruzado.
“It’s been really rewarding for me to both come to a place where I can respect even more all the achievements that President Cruzado helped lead on this campus,” Tessman said.
Coming into the role, Tessman knew that he needed to build on the success that MSU was already experiencing.
“We have so much positive momentum that’s been building on this campus for a decade plus,” he said. “And part of my job is to make sure that we don’t bring that to a screeching halt just because you got a new president.”
One initiative Tessman has pushed is the creation of a new Strategic Plan. According to him, it will focus on creating immediate improvements.
“It’s not an aspiration of what we’d like to be 20 years down the road. What can we do now to support students, to support faculty, to support the communities that we serve across Montana?” he said.
According to Tessman, the process of drafting the new Strategic Plan has been collaborative. There have been over 40 listening groups, over 50 focus groups and around 1,300 responses to surveys this semester.
“For a new leader, the process of engaging all stakeholders, hearing what’s most important, hearing about the things that may be holding an academic department or a staff unit or holding students back — that is a great way to accomplish goal number one for this year, which is learning about the institution and figuring out what our next direction should be,” he said.
Tessman said that while the projects in the plan are not yet finalized, he is committed to maintaining MSU’s land-grant mission. According to the MSU website, this mission is to transform lives and communities through education, research and outreach.
“It’s going to be about this transformational, high-quality, open-access educational experience for students. It’s going to connect back to research that makes a difference for Montana and the country and the world. It’s going to connect back to statewide outreach, engaging all the communities we serve across Montana,” Tessman said.
According to him, MSU’s land-grant status is something to be proud of and is a part of what makes the University so special.
“I think everything flows from our land-grant roots and our land-grant commitment, including our R1 status,” he said. R1 status is granted by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and signifies very high research spending and doctorate production, according to Carnegie’s website.
Tessman said the land-grant mission is even reflected in the MSU football team’s recent national championship win.
“About half of our top-tier players are from the state of Montana, all around the state,” he said. “That’s very rare for a national championship-level team, especially in a state that has a pretty small population like Montana. That in itself is driven by the land-grant commitment to connect to communities — whether it’s Melstone, whether it’s Bozeman, whatever the community is.”
Part of Tessman’s goal is for MSU to remain a place where students from all over the world — not just Montana — can come to receive high-quality, accessible education.
“If we treat each one of those students as a student who has immense potential who can contribute in ways that we may be able to predict, but also in ways that we have no sense of yet, then the retention rate, the graduation rate, the career placement [will] take care of itself,” he said.
Tessman said his day-to-day role requires extensive crisis management and high-level problem-solving.
“If someone was asking about what quality is important to be a good president, one of the things I would put on the list is being able to exercise solid judgment under time constraints,” he said.
He said the other important aspect of his job is listening, studying and learning about MSU’s campus, students and faculty.
“I thought I would miss my professor life more than I do,” he said. “I still miss it quite a bit, in particular because I don’t get as much time with students as I used to. But the part I thought I’d miss is, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re not going to be able to learn and be doing research and all the other ways.’ Actually, I think I learn more and do more research now in this job than I did even in my own role as a faculty member.”
Tessman said that one way he learns about and feels connected to the MSU community is by talking to individuals, both on and off campus.
“That part, really being an advocate for this University, off campus in particular, is really exciting,” he said. “And I’m so proud of this place. Even in 10 months, I’ve just developed a really intense sense of Bobcat pride. And so I find it very exciting to be able to talk about that with as many people as possible, as often as possible.”
Tessman said he appreciates student involvement in clubs and organizations.
“You have two very different people from different backgrounds, different majors, different personalities, but oh my gosh, they love medieval roleplay,” he said, pointing to a window where students below were jousting. “It’s all of these passions that intersect in unexpected ways. I think that that’s a big part of the college experience.”
He said he is also proud of students establishing advocacy-focused clubs and using their voices in protests.
“We have a very healthy, diverse set of perspectives on this campus and I love that,” he said. “And it’s a sign of what’s right on our campus — not something that needs to be sort of hidden away or squashed.”
Tessman said that he is constantly learning and adapting to his role, and will continue to do so throughout his presidency.
“I did not drive over Bozeman Pass, pull up into my parking spot and unfurl my scroll of next step strategies for MSU. I didn’t know what they are. I still don’t know what they are, which is not a weakness. I don’t feel like that is something to be embarrassed by.
“I think that leaning into the institution and all the good things happening here, bringing my own vision to the table when appropriate — has been my primary method of trying to say, ‘Look, we’re going to be not just good, but we’re going to be even better than we have been, and let’s figure out the right way to make that happen.’”
Tessman said that, moving forward, he hopes he can continue to create a positive culture on campus that highlights the individuality of all students and faculty.
“We are whole human beings who happen to come together in this magical place we call Montana State University,” he said.
