The University has faced a number of vacancies in higher-level and high-paying positions over the fiscal school year, paving the way for new leadership next fall.
The latest and perhaps most surprising exodus comes from former LSU System President John Lombardi, who was ousted after a vote by the Board of Supervisors on April 27.
Rumors surround the circumstances of Lombardi’s termination, and the time frame for Gov. Bobby Jindal’s appointment to fill the position is unknown.
Former LSU Chancellor William Jenkins is currently serving as interim system president.
The University’s second-in-command, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jack Hamilton, announced he would step down from his two-year appointment, initiating a nationwide search for a replacement.
After hundreds of applicants, Stuart Bell, dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas, was offered the position. His tenure will begin in August.
One of the University’s highest paid employees also surprised the campus community with his resignation. It was revealed in February that E.J. Ourso College of Business Dean Eli Jones would be leaving the University to take the lead at the University of Arkansas’s Walton College of Business.
Jones’ announcement came at heels of the opening of the new Business Education Complex and the department’s transition from Patrick F. Taylor Hall to the new facilities.
A second University administrative position remains vacant after three candidates for the vice chancellor of research and economic development job were rejected by Hamilton.
The position, still held in interim by Thomas Klei, will remain vacant until Bell takes over as provost, College of Engineering Dean Richard Koubek told The Daily Reveille on May 3.
Finally, the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program is seeking an executive director after Charles “Chuck” Wilson, the program’s second director since 1968, announced he is leaving at the end of June to work for Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. A search committee is currently seeking an individual to permanently take over by the time Wilson leaves.
 
____ Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]