Gary D. Forsee became the 22nd president of the four-campus University of Missouri System Feb.18, 2008. He is the chief executive officer of the university with four campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis. The system’s annual operating budget is approximately $959 million, with total revenues of $2.5 billion and an endowment of $1 billion.

In his first year as president, Forsee established a comprehensive set of performance objectives, surveyed Missourians on their attitudes of public higher education and focused on conveying the university’s distinctive value to the state.

Prior to his appointment as university president, Forsee spent more than 36 years in the telecommunications industry. Most recently, he served as chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel in Kansas City, Mo. He also served as CEO of Global One, a joint venture of Sprint, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom; and in various leadership positions at AT&T and Southwestern Bell.

Forsee has received numerous honors, including the Henry Bloch Humanitarian Award, the American Red Cross Circle of Humanitarian Award, and Business Week’s Best Manager Award in 2004 and 2005. He also was appointed chair of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee by President George W. Bush in 2006. He initiated and was the first chair of the Governor’s Summit for Missouri-Kansas, which focused on economic development and key regional issues.

Forsee currently serves on the boards of Great Plains Energy, Inc. and Ingersoll Rand Corporation, and is a trustee of the Midwest Research Institute and the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. In the past, he has been a member of the board for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and served as national chairman for the March of Dimes.

Forsee received an honorary doctorate in engineering and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, now Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Born in Kansas City, Mo., Forsee grew up and has worked in towns across the state. As a result, he also has lived in St. Louis, Springfield, Cape Girardeau, Hannibal, Charleston, St. Joseph, Joplin, Moberly and now Columbia, Mo.

Forsee and his wife, Sherry, have two daughters, Melanie Bell and Kara Forsee, D.V.M., both of whom are graduates of the University of Missouri-Columbia.