LSU’s new president has been selected

The LSU Board of Supervisors on Tuesday afternoon selected Wade Rousse to serve as LSU’s next president and James Dalton to serve as the university’s executive vice president and chancellor.

Rousse has served as president of McNeese State University since July 2024. At McNeese, he also served as a professor, as dean of the Burton College of Business and as executive vice president.

Rousse was considered by many to be the frontrunner for the LSU’s top position thanks to the backing of LSU Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Lee Mallett, a major political donor to Gov. Jeff Landry.

Several LSU students voiced their opposition to Rousse at Tuesday’s meeting, with one accusing him of being Landry’s “lapdog” and another calling him “grossly underqualified.” Yet another criticized Rousse’s intent to “corporatize” the university’s research efforts.

LSU Board of Supervisors Chair Scott Ballard, however, said the board was “deeply impressed” by Rousse’s track record at McNeese and his “forward-looking vision for LSU.”

“The board is confident that Dr. Rousse possesses the energy, insight and integrity to guide LSU through this defining chapter in its history,” Ballard said.

Dalton, meanwhile, currently serves as executive vice president and provost at the University of Alabama. He was one of three finalists in the presidential search.

The LSU Board of Supervisors merged the posts of president and chancellor into a single position in 2012, meaning the move to split that position back up represents a major retooling of the leadership structure that LSU has operated under for more than a decade.

The president has historically overseen the entire eight-campus system while the chancellor has historically overseen the system’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge.

The other finalist in the presidential search was Robert Robbins, who served as CEO of the Texas Medical Center from 2012 to 2017 and as president of the University of Arizona from 2017 to 2024.

Semifinalists Matt Lee and Giovanni Piedimonte were cut from the field last Wednesday. Lee, previously the dean of LSU’s College of Agriculture, has served as LSU’s interim president since former President William Tate IV left LSU to serve as president of Rutgers University in May.

Rousse’s exact start date has yet to be determined. This is a developing story.

This story was originally published by Daily Report on Nov. 4. To keep up with Baton Rouge business news, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.