LSU picks next leader

The LSU Board of Supervisors made it official today, voting unanimously to hire F. King Alexander as the next system president. Alexander also will be the chancellor of the flagship Baton Rouge campus, holding the title of President of LSU, pending compliance with accreditation standards. During his brief remarks today, he acknowledged that higher education is facing difficult times, but said he’s optimistic about tackling the challenges. “This is an opportunity to redefine and renew what a true comprehensive land grant, sea grant, space grant university can mean to this state and to the region and to the nation,” he said in a press briefing last week. Alexander has said higher education leaders have a “moral obligation” to improve graduation rates, and that this goal can be accomplished without watering down standards. He has been president of California State University Long Beach since 2005; prior to that, he led Murray State University in Kentucky. He was born in Louisville, Ky., and raised in Gainesville, Fla. He is expected to begin his new job on or before July 1. LSU has posted more information about Alexander here. —April Castro and David Jacobs