Michelle Hunt Bruner


Managing Director

Center for Positive Organizations

Michelle Hunt Bruner is Managing Director of the Center for Positive Organizations (CPO). Michelle brings with her 21 years of professional service to the higher education community. Since 2019, she had 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.

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.