Sue Thomas announces retirement after 2026-27 school year
After serving as Truman State University’s president for 10 years, Sue Thomas announced her plan to retire at the end of the 2026-27 school year July 9. Editor-in-Chief Kaylee O’Dell sat down with Thomas to discuss how she became interested in the role, her time at the University, and what to expect from her in the upcoming year.
Q: What drove you to take the chance on applying to be president?
A: It was interesting. I was at Truman for 16 months or so as provost, and the previous president [Troy Paino] had told me that he was going to move to University of Mary Washington and so the board of governors was looking for an interim president. He suggested that I consider being the interim president, which initially seemed crazy to me because I’d only been at Truman less than two years. But the board of governors interviewed me, and I was selected to be interim president. So being president was not anything I had on my radar or on my bingo card when I came to Truman. I was only looking to be provost, and then the opportunity opened up. And, I actually waited to apply to be the permanent president until pretty much the deadline to apply, because I wanted to make sure I could do all the parts of the job well. Interim president gave me the chance to try on the job and to see what it was really like, which is a cool opportunity.
Q: Why did you ultimately decide to retire?
A: I will have served as president for 11 years, which is almost double the public university president tenure. I give 100% plus of who I am at Truman – I am here on weekends, at nights and am going to events for students, faculty and staff. I can do that because my kids are grown. But, for over 11 years, I wasn’t seeing my family for months at a time. Being all in at a place is absolutely what I wanted to do, but it means there weren’t other ways that I could do. At my age, it opens up the opportunity to think about retiring and what else I want to do with the rest of my life. I love being president of Truman. Truman is an amazing and unique place. But the question is, did I want to just keep being all in at Truman, or did I want to explore other parts of who I am and think about how I can give back in other kinds of ways?
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing in your retirement?
A: Since I’ve been 15 years old, I’ve worked, so I haven’t stopped something until I knew what the next thing was going to be. People who know me know that I will not sit around in a rocking chair knitting, right? That’s just not who I am. But, I’m going to use this year to see what kind of reveals itself as opportunities. I’m very purposely acting against who I usually am, and I’m going to just explore what opportunities are out there and figure it out from there.
Q: What has been your favorite part about working at Truman?
A: Absolutely the people. Nobody can touch our students, right? Our faculty and staff are really talented and dedicated. Our alums are amazing. The friends of the University are terrific, and so the very best part of Truman is the people, absolutely by and far.
Q: When you look back at your presidency, what have you been most proud of?
A: Whenever a challenge comes, Truman takes it head on and successfully overcomes it. In the years I’ve been president, we have dealt with a bunch of things that you could never predict, and I really appreciate and respect our University a ton because we don’t walk away from challenges. We walk right into them and figure out what to do, and come out on the other side very positively.
Q: In your last year, what are the plans you’re hoping to execute for Truman?
A: I see this last year as like any other year. One of the challenges we have is the funding formula that’s part of House Bill Three. I want to make sure that Truman is as protected as possible in the funding formula. We want to move forward with the different initiatives in our strategic plan. So for me, this upcoming year is business as usual. All the major goals that we have, I want to keep working towards them.
Q: What, in your eyes, do you think a good future president would look like?
A: I think it’s somebody who understands this institution and is able to see the potential and promise. Higher ed. changes rapidly, and so we need someone who is going to be able to scan the horizon and figure out what that means for Truman.
Q: What do you hope your legacy will be at Truman?
A: I think legacy is left to others, and many times, legacy changes over time. I hope what the Truman community saw was someone who took on every challenge, who was outright dedicated to Truman and did the very best she could to make sure our terrific University keeps moving forward.
