Just short of four years ago, Anthony Muscat became the dean of the College of Engineering at Wichita State University. He had moved from the hot deserts of Arizona to the middle of tornado alley. Now, he will be leaving behind the shocks of wheat to live near the sandy beaches of California, where he’ll be the vice president and provost at California State University, East Bay. 

“I was looking to really extend the interest that I have in helping students and faculty and this opportunity came up,” Muscat said. 

Helping students and making connections is a passion of Muscat’s. He said the students at Wichita State were his motivation to come to work. 

“I think one really enjoyable aspect of being at Wichita State is getting to know some of the student stories, about (their) backgrounds, barriers they’ve overcome, their career aspirations,” Muscat said. “That’s been a lot of fun. I really love talking with students, and I’m not shy, so I don’t have any real issues if I meet a student and I want to have a conversation, I’ll just ask them a question, and usually that starts the process.” 

Aerospace engineering department chair Suresh Keshavanarayana said he and Muscat worked closely on many projects within the college of engineering and got to know each other during that time.

“He is very easy to talk to,” Keshavanarayana said. “And he looks for the best in people.”

Looking ahead

Muscat said he intends to bring his love of making connections with him to the Golden State. 

“The way I intend to be a provost is to, again, make connections not just between my college and the rest of the university, but really looking to do that within the university and between the university and the outside community,” Muscat said. 

Muscat’s new position won’t just be spearheading the engineering college. He’ll now have many different colleges to look after, many of which are liberal arts and sciences. 

“It’ll be an expanded connection role,” Muscat said. 

While he is looking forward to his new role, Muscat said that leaving Wichita State is bittersweet.

“I’ve really established roots here, both at university, not just in the College of Engineering, but really across campus,” Muscat said. “(I’ve had) really great colleagues to work with: my dean colleagues, provost, president, as well as a lot of committed staff. It’s really been great to work with them … It’s going to be very hard to leave.” 

The choice to move wasn’t just difficult for Muscat. He said when he initially started thinking about a change in jobs, his wife told him she “wasn’t leaving Wichita.” Muscat said she, too, had planted roots in Wichita. And though she wasn’t surprised they were moving again, as they’ve lived in many different places, she was initially skeptical. However, one factor changed her mind in the end. 

“Our kids are both in California,” Muscat said. “We have a son and his fiancée in San Francisco. They live in the city. And then there’s our daughter, who just had a baby, so we’re grandparents … I didn’t know that I would get an opportunity in California, so it’s sort of all dovetailed.” 

Muscat said he is going to miss many things from living in Wichita: friends, the community, the ability to travel by car easily but also an annual event held at Wichita State that has held a place in his heart since his first year. 

“(I’m going to miss) Clash of the Colleges,” Muscat said. “The first one, I painted my hair green (since) College of Engineering is green. What little hair I have was green. And I got to drive this dune buggy into Cessna Stadium, so it was a lot of fun and just the passion of all the students … Even though it’s a competition, it’s done in the spirit of trying to bring people together.”

Muscat said he will also miss the applied learning at Wichita State, which is “the best I’ve ever seen.” But he aims to bring what he’s learned to California. 

“I think that (is) one thing they (Cal State) are looking to expand,” Muscat said. “… I learned a lot here about not only how to structure it, but also really now to have those conversations with companies and community partners, as well as how to build the faculty and staff and student base to support all that work.” 

Even though Muscat knows there will be challenges, he said he’ll find a way to use past experiences to further his new expeditions. 

“I’m a firm believer in whatever experiences you have, you find a way to use them in whatever comes your way in terms of the career path. I’m sure I’ll find a way to use it.” 

In his time at Wichita State, the engineering program has achieved many milestones that have allowed him to gain experience for future opportunities. Muscat said when he first accepted the role as dean, Wichita State was last among colleges for freshman to sophomore retention and is, as of now, ranked first. Wichita State was ranked number one in aerospace research and eighth in engineering research and development in December 2024.

Muscat said he’s hoping whoever takes his place at WSU will be able to “build off some of the seeds I’ve planted” now that he is leaving. 

“I think we have a lot of resources and a lot of advantages here at Wichita State that we’re not completely making use of and starting to look at things in a new light and break down some barriers and look at people and things in a new way,” Muscat said. “I think that will help (them) achieve the really ambiguous goals.”