Elsa Murano sat comfortably in a chair by the roundtable in her 10th floor office with expansive windows overlooking campus, recounting her experiences of the past year.
She is the president of Texas A&M University, one of the largest land-grant institutions in the United States, a University that houses more than 48,000 undergraduates. She is also a wife, an organizer, and is responsible for the wellbeing of all students and faculty members on campus.
“The power [of being a leader] is in motivating others,” Murano said.
She said being a woman gave her an added perspective on her leadership style and other people’s reactions on subjects.
“We tend to be more willing to work with each other, collaborate with each other,” she said.
“We listen more and that’s what helps. [It helps us] better read personalities, we are aware from where they are coming from and discern what they are saying with their body language,” Murano said.
Though some people criticize women in power, Murano said they are a minority. She said corporate America and presidents of other universities are women.
“Yes, there are some people who are in a wait and see attitude, whether a woman could be a good president, a good leader. I understand that responsibility and I hope to be the first of many,” Murano said.
She laughingly called herself anal retentive because of her need to have things organized.
“I have Clorox wipes in my hand and I am a neat freak.”
Murano recounted her experience of shopping at a grocery store, where a woman in line behind her said that in her 30 years of working for A&M it was the first time she had seen a president shopping for groceries.
“And I said, ‘You know why? I don’t have a wife. It’s me,'” she said with a laugh.
Murano said one of her challenging tasks for this year included moving programs forward with limited resources.
“I would say that it is frustrating but also a pressure point because excellence by definition means that you have to do more and more,” she said.
One of her favorite aspects of being president was to see the promise of future.
“You kids, that’s what we call you all here, you all are going to take over here in about 10 to 15 years. You all are going to be that generation of people that we will be watching on TV.”
One of the students on campus could be the president of the United States walking around today. It was the faculty and administration’s duty, she said, to nurture students and give them all the opportunities to discover their passion.
Mark Gold, former student body president, said Murano is personable and tries to interact with students on several fronts whether it be by meeting with them, attending functions or hosting events.
“I truly believe that Murano loves Texas A&M and our student body with all her heart,” he said.
Murano said her happiest moments serving as president are at the commencement ceremonies.
“I get giddy, seeing people coming up, seeing that they are nervous and shaking their hands. [The students are] absolutely beaming because of the accomplishment of walking through that stage after working four or more years of sacrifices,” she said.
One of her biggest accomplishments, she said, was when she moved the Galveston student body to College Station after Hurricane Ike.
“Moving 1,600 students out here, we got them registered, parking passes and in classes in two weeks. It was unprecedented and it was so important because some of them who were going to graduate [in Galveston] were able to graduate.”
She said the Galveston enrollment had increased this semester, because of the continuity.
“If we would have done nothing, then a lot of students would have disbanded [not continued their education],” she said.
Her saddest moments in the year were visiting the families of the Bonfire victims. She said the feeling is always punctuated with getting to know their stories.
Gold, who accompanied Murano to meetings around the nation, said during the Bonfire visits he acquainted himself with the families and had a chance to connect with Murano.
“This was by far one of the hardest things that I got to do as student body president, but I learned so much from these interactions [with the families].”