The Universityâs Board of Supervisors voted Thursday to appoint William F. Tate IV as the Universityâs next president. The search for an individual to permanently fulfill the presidential position began in November with the creation of the Presidential Search Committee.
Tate will become the Universityâs first African American president while concurrently becoming the first African American president in the Southeastern Conference.
Gov. John Bel Edwards released a statement congratulating Tate following his selection and acknowledged the significance of the moment for Louisiana.
âThis is a historic moment for the Louisiana State University system, as Dr. Tate will become the Universityâs first African American president and also the first African American university president in the Southeastern Conference,â Edwards said. âI share this goal of making higher education more accessible to students from all walks of life and all areas of our state and
Remaining candidates for LSU president surprising because of who didn’t make the cut
When the LSU Presidential Search Committee announced the three finalists for the university’s top job late Wednesday after two days of online interviews and three hours of closed-door deliberations, the names that didn’t make the list were as surprising as some of the ones that did.
Heading into the interviews, the smart money among political insiders and LSU watchers had been on Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, who was thought to have the backing of Gov. John Bel Edwards and had been floated as a contender since early 2020.