In 2025, Michigan State University Professor Kristen A. Renn was honored with one of the highest honors that can be bestowed to MSU faculty: the title of University Distinguished Professor.
The honor recognizes faculty for their notable, sustained contributions to teaching, research and service.
Renn joined the Department of Educational Administration’s Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education unit in 2001 and became a full professor in 2012. She has served on over 100 dissertations committees (chairing nearly 50 to completion) and advised more than 140 master’s students.
She has also held titles including the Dr. Mildred B. Erickson Distinguished Chair in Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education; the MSU associate dean of undergraduate studies; MSU director of student success initiatives; and senior advisor to the vice provost of undergraduate education, among others.
Throughout her teaching, leadership and research, Renn has advocated for supporting underserved students, including low-income, first-generation students and those within the LGBTQ community.
Sheneka Williams, professor and chair of the Department of Educational Administration, calls Renn “the preeminent scholar who studies social contexts surrounding LGBTQ+ students. ... [Her] peers ... have noted that she is a ‘prolific trailblazer.’”
Renn has secured approximately $7.78 million in external grants as a principal or co-principal investigator, including over $3 million to research and introduce interventions to improve undergraduate student success. With more than 18,000 citations (Google Scholar), Renn is recognized among the top 2% to scientists worldwide, according to 2025 research from Stanford University.
The decades of dedication support why Renn was awarded three additional career honors, also in 2025: the title of MSU Red Cedar Distinguished Professor, election as an American Educational Research Association Fellow, and being named in the first-ever cohort of Fellows for the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
- The RCDP title recognizes Spartans who demonstrate exemplary scholarly achievement, teaching excellence and alignment with MSU’s strategic priorities.
- The AERA honor celebrates scholars for their distinguished achievements.
- ASHE Fellows are heralded for their “integrity, advancement of knowledge, mentoring and service” (ASHE website).
“[Renn’s] work is not only cited, it is remembered, lived and applied by those whose lives she has touched,” wrote Dean Jerlando F. L. Jackson. “It is rare to encounter a faculty member whose work so fully embodies [MSU’s] tripartite mission: research, teaching and outreach. Dr. Renn has built a career that models excellence across all three — and she has done so with vision, authenticity and unwavering commitment to justice.”