LSU President William Tate leaving for same position at Rutgers

LSU is set to begin the search for the University’s next leader following Monday’s news of current President William Tate’s departure for Rutgers.

Tate has been named the new president of Rutgers University, where he will start July 1, the school announced on Monday.

With the Rutgers Board of Governors revealing Tate as the school’s new president, a release from the board called LSU’s current President an “extraordinary leader, scholar, innovator.”

Tate, who began his time at LSU in 2001, played a front-facing role in LSU Athletics by often being spotted helping recruit top targets in all sports, as well as being in attendance at athletics events across campus.

“This was a distinctly difficult decision, and one I did not take lightly,” Tate said on Monday. “LSU, its students, faculty, staff, and supporters are all incredible and inspirational. You will forever stay in my heart.”

When asked for comment, school officials said LSU’s Interim President would soon be announced.

From there, a national search for LSU’s next President will begin.

As LSU’s President, Tate was tasked with guiding the University’s “overall leadership, vision and direction for all the LSU campuses across Louisiana”, per the school’s website. “The LSU system is dedicated to providing a positive learning environment that enables students to achieve their full potential. It includes the LSU Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge (the premier flagship university for the state); campus units at Alexandria, Eunice, and Shreveport; Health Science Centers in New Orleans and Shreveport; LSU Agricultural Center; and Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.

“As the chief executive and academic officer of both the LSU system and the LSU flagship campus in Baton Rouge, the LSU president provides strategic and collaborative leadership in developing and advancing aspirational goals and plans to achieve LSU’s mission of fostering first-class learning, the discovery of innovations, and the development of Louisiana’s human capital by applying research and scholarship in advancing intellectual, personal, and professional growth.”

Here’s more on Tate’s background in college administration prior to arriving at LSU.

Tate has served as Executive Vice President for Academic Affair and Provost, while holding the Education Foundation Distinguished University Professorship at the University of South Carolina. Prior to that, he served as a department chair and dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education at Washington University in St. Louis from 2002 to 2020. In addition, he held the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professorship in Arts & Sciences. Prior joining Washington University in St. Louis, he served as the William L. and Betty F. Adams Chair at TCU and as a tenured faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

At South Carolina, Tate oversaw the 13 schools and colleges on the University of South Carolina Columbia campus, UofSC School of Medicine Columbia, and the UofSC School of Medicine Greenville, as well as being responsible for the overall leadership of academic affairs of the university, including curriculum development, program assessment, establishment of academic standards and university accreditation.

During his time at University of South Carolina, Tate launched Carolina Online as the university’s comprehensive effort to deliver degree programs and professional credentials online; established the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program, which offers postdoctoral fellowships with the specific aim of increasing research productivity on campus; and guided in collaboration with the Faculty Senate the development of a “Founding Documents” course for incoming freshmen.

Tate earned a Bachelor of Science in economics with a minor in mathematical sciences from Northern Illinois University, Master of Arts in mathematical sciences education from the University of Texas at Dallas, and a Ph.D. in mathematics education with a cognate in human development from the University of Maryland, College Park. Subsequently, he was awarded the Anna Julia Cooper post-doctoral fellowship to study social and public policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He completed a second postdoctoral fellowship at the Washington University School of Medicine, where he earned the Master of Psychiatric Epidemiology degree. Tate is the recipient of numerous research recognitions including elections to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Education, Sigma Xi, and Fellow status in the American Educational Research Association (AERA) as well the association-related honors including a Presidential Citation, the Distinguished Scholar Award in Mathematics Education and Distinguished Contributions in Education Research Lifetime Achievement Award-Division G.