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Wade Rousse named LSU president with Dalton as A&M Chancellor. (Photo: LSU Marketing & Communications)
The LSU Board of Supervisors has appointed Wade Rousse, Ph.D., as the President of the Louisiana State University System and James Dalton, Ph.D., as Executive Vice President of the LSU System and Chancellor of the Flagship A&M campus, the university announced in a press release.
The decision marks a return to a dual leadership structure, separating the president and chancellor roles to allow greater focus on systemwide strategy and campus-level administration.The appointments follow a nationwide search conducted by the Presidential Search Committee, which included faculty, staff, students, alumni, and business leaders from across Louisiana. Scott Ballard, Chair of the LSU Board of Supervisors, said in the release that it is rare to find “not one but two candidates who align on the same vision and whose different backgrounds complement and benefit the entire university system,” as quoted by LSU.Systemwide oversight and strategic initiativesDr. Rousse will focus on systemwide oversight, strategic planning, and growth, while Dr. Dalton will lead the Baton Rouge flagship campus, the AgCenter, LSU Health Centers in New Orleans and Shreveport, and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, according to LSU. The new structure is intended to strengthen LSU’s leadership, improve academic excellence, and support the university’s goal of reaching top 50 Research University status and AAU eligibility, LSU noted.
Five things to know about Wade Rousse1. Academic and professional background: Rousse is a Louisiana native and first-generation college graduate. He earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MBA from the University of New Orleans, and a B.S. in business from Nicholls State University. Earlier in his career, he served as an associate dean at Northern Arizona University and as a policy research specialist in the Financial Markets group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, as reported by LSU.2. Leadership experience at mcneese: Since joining McNeese State University, Rousse has held multiple administrative roles, culminating as president. Under his leadership, McNeese achieved its first overall enrollment increase in 14 years, with a 13 percent rise in first-time freshmen and full housing occupancy for the first time in more than two decades, LSU reported.3. Focus on metrics and accountability: Rousse has emphasised data-driven management, instituting metrics across campus positions to track recruitment, retention, and job placement outcomes.
He told LSU that “everyone on that campus has some sort of metric that says I’m going to have a positive effect on either recruitment, retention or job placement,” as quoted by the press release.4. Fundraising and partnerships: During his tenure at McNeese, Rousse helped grow the McNeese Foundation’s assets from around $95 million to $120 million, secured more than $40 million in new funding, and established an $8 million public-private partnership for the LNG Center of Excellence, according to LSU.
Annual corporate sponsorships were quadrupled under his direction.5. Approach to systemwide growth: Rousse’s vision emphasises connecting academic excellence, research innovation, and statewide impact. “LSU is more than a university—it’s a promise to the people of Louisiana,” he said in conversation with LSU. He will oversee systemwide priorities while Dalton focuses on academic and student success at the flagship campus.These leadership changes come at a time of record-breaking enrolments across LSU campuses, historic research investment, and a strategic push in agriculture, biomedicine, coast, defence, and energy initiatives, according to LSU.
