Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
Wade Rousse has been selected by the LSU Board of Supervisors as the 29th LSU president, signaling a shift toward a corporate-oriented leadership after past presidents with lengthy academic backgrounds. James Dalton will serve as the system's vice president and chancellor. The pair replaces former LSU President William Tate IV, who left earlier this year for Rutgers University. The roles of president and chancellor were combined, but have now been separated by the Board of Supervisors. As a Louisiana native and president of McNeese State University, Rousse positioned himself in interviews as a candidate with a nontraditional background who would shake up the university. Before joining McNeese in 2019, he spent significant time in the private sector, including co-founding a marine logistics firm. The LSU Board of Supervisors voted 12-01 for Rousse and Dalton. Political insiders said he was Gov. Jeff Landry’s favored candidate for the job and had an inside track with the board. Business background Rousse graduated from Nicholls State University in 1993 and went into the marine transportation business, according to his biography and LinkedIn page. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, worked for two years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and founded an alternative investment company. Beginning in 2015, he served as an associate dean at Northern Arizona University before joining McNeese in 2019 as dean of the College of Business. He moved up through that university’s administration before being appointed president in July 2024. A new chancellor James Dalton, the executive vice president and provost of the University of Alabama, had positioned himself as taking a “student-centric” approach during the interview process. He was one of three finalists for the president role, and was chosen by the board to work alongside Rousse. At Alabama, Dalton assisted with student and faculty programs, meets with faculty every week, watches faculty research, and oversees a $1.3 billion budget. During the interview process, Dalton said the university needed to prioritize student success through academic support programs and enrollment management.
