Michelle Hunt Bruner joins the Michigan Ross Center for Positive Organizations as Managing Director

October 11, 2022

The Center for Positive Organizations (CPO) is thrilled to announce that Michelle Hunt Bruner will be joining us as Managing Director, effective October 26, 2022. 

In this leadership role, Michelle will set the strategic direction of the Center and manage its operations and growth. She will lead the development of new programs that align with the strategic priorities of the school. Michelle will manage the CPO team and budget; work collaboratively with other Centers and Institutes; and oversee stewardship and marketing and communication strategies. She reports to the Faculty Director of CPO.

About Michelle

Michelle brings with her 21 years of professional service to the higher education community.  Since 2019, she has been the Senior Director of Student Academic Success at Wayne State University, and the Director of the Academic Success Center since 2013.

An advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Michelle helped Wayne State’s first-generation and underrepresented students achieve greater academic success; broadened the university’s reach with student groups and organizations that serve students of color; and ensured academic access and inclusion for students with disabilities across the campus. 

Michelle earned her MA in Psychology from Wayne State University and a BA in Psychology with honors from Michigan State University. A frequent speaker on student success in higher education, she is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, Executive Board Member of the Michigan American Council on Education (ACE) Women’s Network, Planning Committee Member of the Michigan ACE Senior-Level Leadership Shadow Program, a Member and Mentor of RISE Learning Community for Self-Identified Women of Color, and other roles.

“What drew me to CPO,” Michelle says, “is its deep focus on the practices that contribute to healthy environments – and, in turn, healthy individuals. Because of advances in technology and other influences, our work experiences are more interconnected with other areas of our lives than ever before. We all benefit when attention is placed on fostering and sustaining organizational culture and climates that are grounded in meaningfulness, strengths, ethics, and optimism. I could not be more excited to join the University of Michigan’s staff, faculty, and students to make such valuable contributions to our world.

“Over 22 years ago, I enjoyed a particularly rewarding professional role in industrial-organizational psychology. But I know that my understanding of the values of Positive Organizational Scholarship, such as gratitude, compassion and honesty, began decades earlier through the teachings and examples I learned from my parents.” 

Michelle enjoys game nights, good books, and time with her family, which includes her parents, two sisters, brother-in-law, and daughters Alex, 23, and Olivia, 17.