After serving beside the former president of Augusta University, Brooks Keel, the newly appointed Russell Keen shared how he is planning on leading the community towards further academic greatness.
Growing up in Augusta and graduating from Lakeside High School with the HOPE Scholarship, Keen said he was thrilled to fill Keel’s shoes and use his knowledge of AU for the community’s betterment as everyone transitions to following new leadership.
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“The great thing about being here, having been here for nine years, and having grown up in this community, is that I understand Augusta and our institution,” Keen said. “Here at Augusta University, our students are amazing, and I want us to elevate the experience all the way around – every interaction that we have.”
From meeting with the president’s executive cabinet to various AU faculty and staff, Keen said he is honored to work alongside and partner with university personnel to share the university’s one-of-a-kind environment that he is personally extremely proud to represent.
“I want folks to understand that when you’re a part of this institution you’re a part of something really special … and that’s because we have a culture of engagement, a culture of respecting each other and integrity that is second to none,” he said. “It’s a culture where we challenge each other but in a respectful way, and we hold each other accountable in a way that exhibits integrity.”
Having support from several AU faculty and prominent figures, Keen said he and his family were elated to have the support of fellow friends and colleagues.
“I approach this as a lifestyle of passion I get to live out in this role, because I know first hand the value of higher education” he said. “… it’s the honor of my professional life to be able to do this.”
Having taken office on July 1, Keen said he spent his very first day as president introducing himself to students and visiting classrooms to gain students’ insight on AU’s future to hit the ground running on bettering student experiences.
“Student success should be at the top of minds for every institution in this country, and the best way to figure out where there might be barriers or anything like that is to talk directly to students,” he said.
Another priority for the new president will include expanding research; however to accomplish such an endeavor Keen explained that AU must enhance its infrastructure to support staff members’ work.
“We have some of the most productive faculty in the country for an institution our size … so there’s going to be a lot of effort to really capitalize on the momentum that we have going on in our current research,” he said. “But we are going to push toward that R1 designation and to create more infrastructure on this campus.”
Keen said achieving R1 status, which denotes the highest level of research activity at a doctoral institution, will depend a lot on community support and investment in first purchasing and building adequate infrastructure.
“I’m going to spend a lot of time from a philanthropic standpoint for more research, so that our researchers can break some chains of the diseases that we all know all too well – such as cancer and cardiovascular or brain health,” he said.
To Keen, progressing and promoting research can and will most importantly lead to improving patients’ lives for the community, the state and beyond.
“It’s all intended to make our way of life better, and I think from a reputational standpoint it demonstrates to our students, to our existing faculty and those that we will be recruiting that we’re serious about it,” he said. “For every $1 that is secured in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, it’s found that $2.64 goes back into the local economy. So it drives our economy too.”
In addition to supporting research, Keen is also planning to further collaboration between colleges and continue increasing enrollment to accomplish AU’s goal of securing 16,000 students by 2030.
“We’re going to continue those goals. We’re two years into a five year plan,” he said. “Our tactics may change and the plan, in terms of how we get there, may change but the hope is that we put things into an organized fashion that will help us get there quicker and more effectively.”
When such goals are achieved, Keen said he believes it will allow many to see AU as “the best university in America.”
Planning on celebrating 200 years of “great doctors and great medicine” throughout the entire state in 2028, Keen said one major milestone he is excited about commemorating during his presidency is the founding anniversary of the Medical College of Georgia.
“It’s really special, and we need to remind folks of that – to exhibit pride and talk about [AU] in a way that folks know that we are unique,” he said. “We are creating a culture of innovation here.”
Since 2015, when he transferred over to working at AU from Georgia Southern University, Keen said he has witnessed how AU sets itself apart from other institutions by changing the lives of its students.
“The past nine years at this institution have been phenomenal. When I think back to how much we’ve accomplished, not just as a university but as a community, I think back fondly on the changing the name – when it became Augusta University – and the momentum it created in bridging the community together to rally behind the institution for its name’s sake,” he said.
Keen said he also often reflects on AU’s development with the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center, as well as the recent partnership and launch of Wellstar MCG Health to provide world class health care.
“COVID-19 for all of the heartache, despair and loss it caused our entire world, I think back on how this institution rallied,” he said. “How we were ahead of the mark through research, and we figured out a way to serve our community so much that we were chosen to help serve the entire state.”
Although the pandemic certainly unleashed a difficult time for many, Keen said AU’s ability to rise to the occasion is just one reason why he and his wife Karen are so proud to dedicate themselves to Augusta’s university.
“We were able to serve our community in a way that demonstrated why it is so special for our state to have an academic medical center,” he said. “It demonstrated the value we have here and the hard work that takes place at Augusta University.”
Whether it’s educating first generation college students or giving students an unmatchable sense of belonging and acceptance, Keen said he has cherished every moment and individual success at AU, especially when it comes to commemoration ceremonies and saying goodbye to hardworking graduates.
“We change lives here. We save them and we also make them better,” he said. “… we’ve done things here that no one else can say they’ve done, and I’m extraordinarily proud and humble to be in the role that I am to help collaborate and get folks working together to solve some of the issues that we have as a state.”
