Memorandum
Date: August 2, 2021
To: MICA Campus Community
From: Samuel Hoi, President
Subject: Martin Lemelle as MICA’s Vice President for Finance & Business Services
Dear MICA Faculty, Staff, Students, and Trustees,
I am delighted to announce the appointment of Martin Lemelle as MICA’s Vice President for Finance & Business Services (VPFBS). He will begin at MICA no later than September 1, 2021 and plans to interact with us on a few key occasions between mid-August and his official start date. A welcome reception will be arranged to introduce Martin to the broader campus community in early fall as we reopen the campus.
Martin brings to MICA a rich mix of higher education and industry experiences. Reared by parents who are both higher education administrative leaders and after distinguished positions in the corporate arena, Martin returned to serve his alma mater Grambling State University as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He was Director of Finance & Administration for Industry Retail Group in Maryland, Director of Finance for Dean Foods in Virginia, and held financial management roles in several areas for General Electric (GE) in Kentucky. He won top employee awards at both Dean Foods and GE.
He will serve as MICA’s chief financial officer (CFO) with an exceptional breadth of lived-in perspectives and proven skills in the following areas: fiscal forecast and management, strategic planning and execution, stakeholder engagement, process improvement, operational efficiency, student development, international education, corporate partnership, information technology, public and media relations, communication and public speaking, sales/marketing strategy, and revenue generation.
Martin holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Grambling State University and a Master of Business Administration from the George Washington University School of Business. He completed the Aspiring Leaders Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Minority Serving Institutions and is a candidate for a Doctor of Business Administration degree at the Business Science Institute & SKEMA Business School in Paris, France. In addition, he is Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified.
He enjoyed living and working in this region and looks forward to relocating to Baltimore later this year. He will certainly apply himself to our community with his broad range of interest and expertise, as well as with his commitment to public service. He has been a community action volunteer for the United Church of Christ and a 2020 endorsed candidate for U.S. Congress. He is also a certified indoor cycling instructor and coach.
I sincerely thank all the MICA community members who participated in the search process and provided valuable feedback that was carefully considered by the search committee.
I conclude by acknowledging once again the hard work and wonderful contributions of my fellow search committee members who represented the MICA community so well throughout the search process: Ashton Poole, Tiffany Holmes, Don Jones, Pamela Lawton, Audrey Tanner, Mary Washington, and Keri Watley. Our work was invaluably assisted by Charlene Hayes and the search firm WittKieffer.
Please join me in welcoming Martin!
Sammy
Office of the President
Maryland Institute College of Art
1300 West Mt. Royal Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21217
officeofthepresident@mica.edu