BATON ROUGE, La. — The Southern University System’s Board of Supervisors has chosen James L. Llorens as the next chancellor of its Baton Rouge campus.
Llorens currently serves as the assistant chief administrative officer for the Office of the Baton Rouge Mayor-President. Before that, he was dean of graduate studies, chairman of Southern’s political science department and associate professor of public administration on the Baton Rouge campus.
“Having worked in both state government and academia, Llorens has a clear understanding of what it takes to lead the Baton Rouge campus,” says Darren Mire, chairman of the SUS Board.
The board voted 11-4 for Llorens, one of three finalists named by a search committee last week.
System president Ronald Mason Jr. expressed his displeasure with the outcome after that meeting, but said he would follow the process.
Mason had praised Michael Sorrell of Paul Quinn College in Dallas and Philander Smith College President Walter Kimbrough as two rising stars in the historically Black college community. Kimbrough was invited to interview, but withdrew his candidacy. Sorrell was not among the three semifinalists.
Llorens will replace Kofi Lomotey, who resigned under pressure in November. He was among the finalists for chancellor in 2008, when Lomotey was chosen.
Last November, the college’s senate faculty voted “no confidence” in Lomotey, faulting him for firing employees, lackluster fundraising and seeking to eliminate the School of Architecture.
