Dr. Wade Rousse has been named president of the LSU System and Dr. James Dalton as executive vice president and chancellor of the flagship A&M campus in Baton Rouge.LSU
The appointments represent a strategic shift for the university system, which had previously combined the positions. The Board determined that splitting the roles would allow for more focused leadership across the system's multiple campuses and research facilities.
"It is rare during a national search to find not one but two candidates who align on the same vision and whose different backgrounds complement and benefit the entire university system," said Scott Ballard, chair of the LSU Board of Supervisors.
Rousse, currently president of McNeese State University, will oversee systemwide operations and strategic initiatives. Dalton, who serves as executive vice president and provost at the University of Alabama, will lead the Baton Rouge campus and coordinate LSU's research enterprise, including oversight of the AgCenter and health centers in New Orleans and Shreveport.
The new structure aims to position LSU for continued growth in research and academics, with a particular focus on achieving top 50 research university status and becoming eligible for membership in the Association of American Universities.
The leadership change follows a period of significant growth for LSU, including record enrollments across nearly every campus, the largest freshman class in the flagship's history, and more than $500 million in research funding.
Rousse becomes LSU's first permanent system president since Dr. William F. Tate IV, who served from 2021 to 2024 and became the first Black president in the university's history. Tate left LSU last year to become president of Rutgers University.
