Kimberly Andrews Espy

Kimberly Andrews Espy is an American academic administrator who is the 13th president of Wayne State University.  

Espy received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Rice University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical neuropsychology from the University of Houston. She also completed a clinical/pediatric psychology internship at the University of Louisville School of Medicine/Bingham Child Guidance Center and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She is a licensed clinical psychologist.

Espy served at the University of Oregon, where she led a partnership to establish the South Willamette Valley Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network and secured its initial state funding. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she coordinated proposals for the Nanoscience Metrology Facility and the High Energy Laser Science Collaboratory, as well as shepherded the transdisciplinary research initiative and stadium expansion for the founding of the Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior. Espy served as the senior vice president for research at the University of Arizona.

Espy served as the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). During her tenure at UTSA, the university achieved the R1 Carnegie classification and was invited to join the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities. UTSA also received a $40 million gift from Mackenzie Scott to advance student success. Espy oversaw the establishment of the Najim Center for Innovation and Career Advancement and the opening of the San Pedro 1 Building, housing UTSA's School for Data Science.  She partnered to establish the University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio and  launched the redesigned the College for Health, Community, and Policy, and the College of Engineering and Integrated Design.

Espy became the president of Wayne State University on Aug. 1, 2023, becoming the institution's first female president. Espy has focused on leveraging the institution's research to benefit the Detroit region.

She received a Women's Leadership Award from the San Antonio Business Journal for her community contributions.

Espy, a translational neuroscientist, is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2002. As both an American Psychological Association Division 40 Early Career Award winner and an Elected Fellow, Espy has chaired the NIH study sections, served other review panels and actively contributes to the scientific literature in her field.

Espy is a board member of the Detroit Economic Club and on the Board of Directors of the Downtown Detroit Partnership. She is a member of the Business Leaders of Michigan and represents Wayne State in the work by the University Research Corridor.

Espy has served as an Executive Committee Member on Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities councils. She was twice elected as member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and has served on the Board of Directors of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protections Programs, the Institute for Research on Innovation and Science, and the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, reflecting her commitment to impactful research. Additionally, she has had roles in the San Antonio Medical Foundation, Campus Research Corporation, and the Arizona Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee.