As a retired Captain with more than 23 years of commissioned service in the United States Coast Guard, GVSU President Emeritus Thomas J. Haas knows what it means to contribute to something bigger than oneself. Over the past 35 years, he has been a tenured faculty member, department chair, dean, university vice president, and university president, keeping students at the center of his work since the beginning. Affectionately known on campus as “T-Haas,” Grand Valley’s fourth president concluded his service at the helm of our Laker community in the summer of 2019. President Emeritus Haas shared his personal and professional leadership lessons with the Hauenstein Center’s newest Cook Leadership Academy graduates.