Public safety chief retires after 20 years of service to OSU

There’s a changing of the guard underway in the Oklahoma State University Department of Public Safety.

After 20 years at OSU, Michael Robinson, chief of Public Safety, retired. Former Mississippi State University Chief of Police Vance Rice took over the role.

Robinson first joined the OSU Police Department in March 2003 as the assistant chief of police after retiring with 20 years as chief of police for the City of the Village. In 2004, he was named chief of police and director of public safety. Over the years, his role with public safety has grown with the OSU Department of Parking and Transit, Environmental Health and Safety, and Lake Carl Blackwell falling under his purview as well. In November 2011, he was named chief of public safety.

Robinson said leaving was bittersweet.

“I’ve enjoyed the culture here, the sense of community, and I’ve gotten a chance to meet a lot of people I wouldn’t have otherwise met,” Robinson said. “I’m a sports junkie. I’ve gotten to meet childhood heroes and travel to the Cotton Bowl, the Coliseum in L.A. I’ve met (former president) George W. Bush, (former United Kingdom prime minister) Tony Blair and Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow.”