About the President

Dr. John Jasinski is the 10th president of Northwest Missouri State University – where profession-based learning, strategic partnerships and student success serve as the foundation for all things. Dr. J and his wife of 33 years, Denise, have four children – Matt, Joe, Leah and Lucas – along with the family’s dogs, Ruby and Daisy.

Northwest’s core competencies include being safe, trusted, invested and resourceful. Northwest enjoys peer-leading metrics across measures such as retention, graduation, placement, student satisfaction and student engagement. 

Jasinski began his Northwest presidency in 2009. He returned to the University after serving the institution from 1986 to 2001 as a faculty member, department chair and associate provost and receiving awards such as the University Service Award and National Broadcast Adviser of the Year. He held a variety of university-based positions and operated his own small business for nearly a decade before his appointment to president.

His professional service includes serving on the Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence Program’s Board of Overseers, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) Council of State Representatives, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce’s Workforce Alliance, the Kansas City Area Development Council and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) CEO Council. He hosts “All Things Northwest,” a monthly, hour-long program on Northwest’s National Public Radio affiliate, KXCV-KRNW.

In June 2018, Jasinski was selected to represent the higher education sector at the Age of Agility Summit in Kansas City, Missouri, part of a national tour focused on enhancing the education and business intersections. He shared Northwest’s story of being agile and responsive in delivering profession-based education.

Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, Jasinski has completed 11 marathons, flown with the Blue Angels and is an alumnus of the Secretary of Defense’s Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Central Michigan University. His motto comes from the late Pittsburgh Pirate great Roberto Clemente, who said, paraphrased, a day that goes by without helping someone is a day wasted.