JACKSON Miss. — The preferred candidates to lead two of Mississippi’s historically Black universities have executive experience at historically Black institutions in other states and are prepared to lead schools with distinct academic missions, state College Board members say.
The board announced Monday that it had chosen Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers, a past president of Norfolk State University in Virginia, as the preferred candidate to become president of Jackson State University. If formally approved, Meyers would be the first woman in the top job at JSU, an urban campus in Mississippi’s capital city.
The College Board also announced its choice of Dr. M. Christopher Brown, the current executive vice president and provost at Fisk University in Tennessee, as the preferred candidate for president of Alcorn State University, a land-grant university in the rural southwestern corner of the state.
“We believe the preferred candidates ... are the best possible individuals to lead these two great institutions,” College Board member C.D. Smith said during a news conference Monday.
Neither Meyers nor Brown attended the announcement, which followed a search process that lasted several months.
Brown will attend a series of meetings Nov. 30 at ASU’s main campus in Lorman, and Meyers will attend meetings Dec. 1 at JSU.
The College Board, which oversees all eight public universities, is expected to approve them as presidents before Jan. 1. Final approval is usually a formality after an extensive screening process that included two rounds of private interviews.
The ASU president’s salary is $192,937. The JSU president is paid $220,500, plus a $50,000 supplement from a private foundation.
ASU has been without a permanent leader since Dr. George E. Ross stepped down in February to become president of Central Michigan University. Dr. Norris Edney, a longtime ASU faculty member, has been interim president.
Dr. Ronald Mason Jr. left the JSU presidency at the end of June to lead the Southern University System, based in Baton Rouge, La. JSU’s interim president has been longtime political science professor Leslie McLemore.
