Jon Kinsey
As Vice President and Secretary of the University and as an executive officer, Jon Kinsey serves under the direction of the president with responsibility to the Board of Regents. He is the liaison officer for the Board of Regents, responsible for facilitation, coordination and management of policy matters, governance, and communications pertaining to the board and the president and executive officers of the university.
Prior to joining the Office of the Vice President and Secretary, Kinsey was the Chief of Staff at the University of Michigan’s President’s Office and served as a member of the university’s leadership team. He was an advisor and strategic partner to the president and supported the university’s executive team in implementation of the president’s priorities. He oversaw presidential initiatives and special projects and managed and coordinated the administrative functions of the President’s Office.
Kinsey also served as the Chief of Staff at the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering (CoE). In this role, he advised the Dean and other CoE senior leaders on matters related to the College’s long-range plans, collaborating with other units on campus to advance the mission of the CoE. In addition, he participated in the development of resource generation and strategies related to operations and day-to-day management.
Before serving as the Chief of Staff at the CoE, Kinsey served as the Assistant Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan’s Office of Research. He worked with faculty and staff across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses to strengthen the research enterprise by creating innovative collaborations and fostering new funding models with industry, government and academia.
Kinsey was the staff leader for ideation, approval, and formation of the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII – now known as LIFT). He collaborated with faculty leadership, partner institutions, state entities, city officials and the federal government to incorporate and develop the governance model for LIFT. He worked to secure bridge funding from the University of Michigan and facilitated the federal contracting, and he currently serves as a board member. Kinsey served in a similar role for the creation of The American Center for Mobility (ACM) and served as a founding board member.
Kinsey previously served the university working in the College of Engineering as director of government relations and then as senior director, research relations. He served on the Ann Arbor Summer Festival Board of Directors and the Board of Directors at the American Center for Mobility. Before joining U-M, Kinsey worked as an international business strategy manager in retail, served as a consulting manager in a start-up management consulting firm and worked for eight years in automotive engineering at Lear Corporation.
Kinsey received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1993 and earned his M.B.A from the Ross School of Business in 2000. He currently serves as Associate Director on the Board of Directors at the University of Michigan Credit Union.
The duties of the vice president and secretary of the University are spelled out in the Regents’ Bylaws 2.11:
Under the direction of the president, the vice president and secretary of the university will coordinate the business affairs of the Board and facilitate effective communication between the members of the Board and the executive officers.
The vice president and secretary of the university will be responsible to the Board, and will perform such functions as may be necessary for the proper and legal exercise of the Board’s authority. The vice president and secretary of the university will duly execute for and on behalf of the Regents of the University of Michigan or the University of Michigan such instruments and documents which would devolve to a corporate officer and would be usual to that office.
The vice president and secretary of the university will be the official custodian of the minutes and all supporting documents of the Board of Regents and of the Seal of the University of Michigan. The vice president and secretary of the university will, in consultation with the vice president and general counsel, determine the appropriateness of the use of the Seal by parties within and outside the University.
The vice president and secretary of the university will perform such other duties as the Board or the president may assign.