LSU professor and graduate studies director Michelle Massé will take over as dean of the LSU Graduate School on July 1, the university announced today.
She will take the helm from Gary Byerly, who has been dean since 2012 and is retiring later this year after a nearly 40-year career in higher education. As dean, Massé will be responsible for setting the strategic vision for the school and working with other academic deans at LSU to advance graduate education across the entire university.
“I look forward to wide-scale collaboration with students, staff and faculty in designing a flexible, stable framework for the graduate school, and to developing a campus climate that supports retaining, as well as recruiting, a diverse, talented graduate student body,” Massé says in a prepared statement. “We have an exciting time ahead of us as we think through the role of graduate education in the 21st century.”
Massé holds a bachelor’s degree from Anna Maria College, with a double major in English and comparative literature. Her Ph.D. is from Brown University. She held an assistant professor position at George Mason University before coming to LSU in 1985. At LSU, she has served as an assistant professor of English from 1985-1992; associate professor of English from 1992-2001; and has been a professor of English since 2001. In addition to serving as director of graduate studies in the English department, she was the founding director of Women’s and Gender Studies at LSU.
