Liana and Donald Bachand

Liana and Donald Bachand devoted their lives to Saginaw Valley State University. Don Bachand served as the fourth president of SVSU from 2014, retiring in 2022 with more than 40 years of service to SVSU. Liana had a distinguished nursing career dedicated to excellence in the field of community and public health nursing. In 2015, Don led the university in earning the distinction of Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, marking SVSU as a university that is exceptionally engaged with the communities it serves. Less than 10 percent of U.S. colleges and universities have achieved this designation. Together, Liana and Don supported construction of the Royal Seed Home clinic in Ghana, West Africa, that opened in December 2020.
Continuing to serve the SVSU community after retirement, gifts from Mr. Bachand’s family, friends, and colleagues supported the SVSU Degree Completion Fund. This scholarship helps seniors with unmet financial need that may significantly impact their ability to complete their education.