It’s been a homecoming of sorts for John K. Pierre, who took the reins of his alma mater earlier this year, becoming chancellor of Southern University Agricultural and & Mechanical College’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Pierre, a seasoned legal scholar, had been serving the Southern University Law Center in numerous roles since 1990, first as a faculty member and then as an administrator. In 2016, he was tapped to lead the school’s law center, which was founded at the historically Black university (an HBCU) in 1947.
John Pierre
“He (Pierre) and I have worked together closely over the last six months,” Dennis Shields, president of the only system of HBCUs, said earlier this year. In this role Shields is charged with the administrative oversight of five campuses across Louisiana — Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Southern University at New Orleans, Southern University Shreveport, Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, and Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Baton Rouge.
“What the board should know is that I knew and knew of John Pierre for many years before I arrived here. And I held him in high regard due to my role in legal education. I think you’ve heard it from faculty and others about the impression he has left on this campus in an interim (executive vice president) position. I can’t imagine anybody better suited to sit in this role at this point in time.”
Since taking the helm of the Baton Rouge campus of about 7,000 students earlier this year, Pierre has been fostering strategic partnerships that he says will position students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni to serve as transformational change agents. He’s been strengthening the school’s academic programs, identifying new forms of revenue, working to improve and enhance technology, and connecting the university to the surrounding community.
“We have so many ties to the university, we have an impact on the community, and we should never lose sight of that,” says Pierre in an interview with Diverse.
