Leslie E. Wong - Maamawi-Ozhigi - Together We Grow

Les Wong was raised near San Francisco in Oakland by immigrant parents (one from Chinga, one from Mexico). He went to Gonzaga University for his undergraduate degree, despite being told to pursue vocational school in high school because he cared more about baseball than his classroom performance. He graduated with a psychology degree in 1972, then pursued a master’s degree in experimental psychology at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. From there, he taught at a community college for over a decade before going on to earn his doctoral degree. Although he started out as a faculty member at The Evergreen State College, it wasn’t long before he became an academic dean. He served in various academic administration roles around the country before coming to Northern in 2004, becoming the first and only person of color to serve as NMU’s President. Throughout his time at Northern, Wong oversaw two presidential visits (Bush in 2004 and Obama in 2011) and continued to develop NMU’s technology initiatives—such as encouraging the NotePad laptop program and laying the groundwork for what has become NMU’s EAN internet network. Campus infrastructure continued to change, as NMU’s biomass plant was built and Carey Hall torn down. Wong stepped down as NMU’s President in 2012 to take a presidency at San Francisco State University.