Forbes named LSU President William F. Tate IV one of its 10 Black higher ed CEOs to watch in 2023.

Tate made history as the university’s first Black president when he was sworn in by the Board of Supervisors in 2021. He also became the first Black president at any school in the Southeastern Conference.

Tate’s historic selection in May 2021 was celebrated around the state.

“I share this goal of making higher education more accessible to students from all walks of life and all areas of our state and beyond and in growing the system’s prominence and I welcome his experience, vision and insight,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards in a statement celebrating Tate’s historic first. “I congratulate Dr. Tate.” 

Tate is the 28th president of the university and came to Louisiana after serving as the provost and the executive vice president of academic affairs at the University of South Carolina. He spent 18 years before that as the dean of the graduate school at the University of Washington in St. Louis.

He earned a doctorate in mathematics education and studied human development at the University of Maryland.

The Forbes article commends Tate’s academic accomplishments.

“His background as one of the world’s most brilliant education researchers and social scientists clearly informs his smart leadership of a complex institution that enrolls nearly 36,000 students,” it reads. “Tate highly values and courageously leads in response to evidence, which should be the case among all higher education CEOs in this era of intense political polarization. He takes seriously the University’s social responsibility.”

There are many predominantly white colleges and universities that have yet to have a Black president, according to the Forbes article. And only 8% of university presidents are Black, according to a 2017 report referenced by Forbes.

Since coming to LSU, Tate has launched the “Pentagon Plan,” which aims to address five key areas of concern for Louisiana: agriculture, coastal restoration, biomedical science, energy and defense.

“Perhaps more than any other institution in the nation, LSU has a vital role to play in securing our nation’s future through protecting our state,” Tate told Forbes. 

What excites Tate most about the plan, he told Forbes, “is the role we will play in educating the next generation of leaders in each of these fields.”

Tate wasn’t the only Louisiana leader on the list. He was joined by Kim Hunter Reed, the state’s commissioner of higher education.

“There are other outstanding higher ed CEOs who are Black,” the Forbes article read, “but these 10 are indisputably among our nation’s best.”