NEW ORLEANS
Dr. Victor Ukpolo, a former California State University official, will be the next chancellor of Southern University in New Orleans, officials said last week.
Ukpolo has been the Southern University System vice president for academic and student affairs for more than two years. He was previously associate vice president for academic affairs at Cal State Los Angeles and worked for the Tennessee Board of Regents and at Austin Peay State University.
“This is a great opportunity to rebuild SUNO and ensure that it meets its new focus as a community-based institution of higher learning,” Ukpolo said. “I can guarantee the New Orleans community that SUNO will not be outworked in the rebuilding of this city; there will be no line of demarcation between SUNO and the community.”
Ukpolo will take over Jan. 1, the day after interim chancellor Robert Gex’s resignation takes effect, said Johnny Anderson, chairman of the Southern University Board of Supervisors.
The board is expected to ratify his appointment Jan. 7, a university news release said.
The system’s interim president, Edward Jackson, said Ukpolo “has brought tremendous strength to the academic administration of the system’s campuses” and was the lead coordinator for the university’s return after Hurricane Katrina, which flooded the campus 11 feet deep.
Ukpolo is a graduate of the University of Maryland. He earned a master’s and doctorate in economics from The American University.
— Associated Press
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