The Board of Supervisors announced that a search committee was created to select the University’s next president in a press release Wednesday. 

The Presidential Search Committee is composed of 20 members that, according to the email, represent the “different ethnicities, genders, academic disciplines, occupations, geographical regions and constituencies whose input is vital to selecting the next leader of LSU.”

“We are pleased to announce the appointment of a search committee made up of accomplished individuals whose singular goal is to help us identify the next leader of LSU,” LSU Board Chair Robert Dampf said. “We are ready to move forward, and we fully intend to conduct a thorough, yet expeditious, search process.”

According to the press release, the Presidential Search Committee will prepare a description of the position of president. The Board of Supervisors is anticipated to consider the description of this position at its next meeting on Oct. 23.

The press release also said the Presidential Search Committee will also have the “latitude to recommend any structural or organizational changes that might facilitate identifying the best leader for the future of LSU.”

There are no established time limitations in choosing a president, but “the committee is being asked to move deliberately in completing the search process,” according to the press release. The committee will also determine the method of identifying interested applicants for the position and the means for reviewing applicants’ qualifications. 

The complete Presidential Search Committee is as follows: 

• Search Committee Chair James Williams: Former LSU Board of Supervisors Chair

• Search Committee Vice Chair Gabriela Gonzalez: Professor, LSU Department of Physics and Astronomy

• Glenn Armentor: LSU Board of Supervisors Member

• Verge Ausberry: LSU Executive Deputy Director of Athletics and Executive Director External Relations

• Hannah Barrios: Vice President, LSU Student Government

• Chip Campbell: Alumnus and President of Campbell Companies

• Clarence Cazalot: Alumnus and Chair of the LSU Foundation

• Larry Clark: Chancellor, LSU Shreveport

• Lester W. Johnson: Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, LSU Health Monroe

• Jessica Jones: Director of Student Success, LSU Eunice

• Valencia Jones: LSU Board of Supervisors Member

• Luke Laborde: Instructor, LSU School of Renewable Resources

• Lori Martin: Professor, LSU Department of Sociology

• Roland Mitchell: Dean, LSU College of Human Sciences and Education

• Steve Nelson: Dean, LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine

• Christel Slaughter: Alumna and co-owner of SSA Consultants

• Tara Smith: Professor and Regional Director, LSU AgCenter Central Region

• Rémy Starns: Chair-elect, LSU Board of Supervisors from the First Congressional District

• Takeyra Wagner: Education Technology Specialist and Staff Senate President at LSU Alexandria

• Mary Leach Werner: Immediate Past Chair, LSU Board of Supervisors

“Our intention is that the search committee will identify individuals who have led or are capable of leading one of the nation’s premier academic, research and health care enterprises,” Dampf said. 

Former LSU President F. King Alexander left the University Dec. 15 and entered his new role as president at Oregon State July 1. Thomas Galligan, dean of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, has served as interim president since Jan 1. 

The LSU Board of Supervisors heard a presentation by the Association of Governing Board in May that laid out five options for leadership structure within the University. The presentation addressed whether LSU is ultimately a single university or a system of eight connected institutions.

The University’s current leadership structure, with one University president and chancellors at each institution within the university system, was adopted in 2013 following an AGB study.

This year, three new Board of Supervisors members were appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards: Patrick Morrow, Raymond Morris and Collis Temple.