About the President
Dr. John Jasinski is the 10th president of Northwest Missouri State University, where the institution’s focus on profession-based learning, industry-based partnerships and student success serves as the foundation for all initiatives.
Jasinski and his wife of 32 years, Denise, have four children – Matt, Joe, Leah and Lucas – along with the family’s dog, Ruby.
Northwest is focused on core competencies defined by its reputation as an institution that is safe, trusted, invested and resourceful. In supporting those characteristics, the University has implemented an academic structure featuring professional schools; implemented a refined core curriculum known as the Northwest Core; piloted competency-based education; implemented an enhanced focus on learning environments through model classrooms; partnered with seven North Kanas City school districts, with Metropolitan Community College (MCC) of Kansas City, Missouri, and a host of businesses to offer the Northland Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) experience; created a concurrent enrollment partnership with MCC; and opened the Northland Innovation Center that serves as Northwest Missouri State University-Kansas City.
Northwest enjoys peer-leading metrics across measures such as freshman success, retention, graduation, and athlete success rates; student satisfaction and student engagement. During Jasinski’s presidency, the institution has defined and refined its mission, vision, values and core competencies; metrics architecture; leadership competencies; and strategic planning process.
Jasinski serves on the Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Council of State Representatives, Professional Development and Nominating committees; is a member of the Board of Overseers for the Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence Program; serves on the Missouri Chamber of Commerce’s Missouri 2030: Workforce-Education Alliance; is a board member of the Kansas City Area Development Council; and is a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) CEO Council. He hosts “All Things Northwest,” a monthly, hour-long program focused on topics of interest to the region on Northwest’s National Public Radio affiliate, KXCV-KRNW. He is certified through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) “Introduction to the Incident Command System ICS-100 for Higher Education.”
He has held a variety of university-based positions, has operated his own small business previously for nearly a decade and has run a few marathons on the side as well. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Central Michigan University.
