Gov. Jeff Landry has named Lee Mallett as the new chair of the LSU Board of Supervisors, he announced Thursday in a post to X (formerly known as Twitter).

Mallett was formerly the board’s vice chair. He’ll replace Chair Scott Ballard, who Landry said would continue serving on the Board.

Mallett is a businessman in the Lake Charles region and owns Mallett Buildings as well as one of the state’s four truss manufacturing plants, according to his LSU biography.

Mallett is also an ally of Landry and has donated thousands of dollars to his campaigns in the past, according to the Louisiana Campaign Finance Portal.

Landry’s power to appoint the chair of the LSU Board of Supervisors is a relatively new one enabled by a bill passed in 2024 that allowed him to select leaders of numerous boards and commissions in the state. The governor was previously allowed to select the Board’s members but not its chair.

Ballard was appointed as chair in January 2025 and oversaw the selection of a new president, Wade Rousse, as well as the appointment of a new athletic director and a new football coach. The system also saw major leadership restructuring and the beginning of the reabsorption of the University of New Orleans into the LSU system.

Mallett was an outspoken supporter of Rousse’s candidacy during the presidential search process. Before LSU, Rousse served as the president at McNeese State University in Lake Charles.