Search firm hired to look for LSU's next president

Published Jul 27, 2012 at 2:00 pm (Updated Jul 27, 2012)

LSU's presidential search committee today selected a Dallas-based firm to help recruit and do background check on candidates, though it remains unclear if the committee will be looking for a system leader to also serve as chancellor of the flagship campus in Baton Rouge. The search committee—made up of members of the university's governing board, the Board of Supervisors—chose R. William Funk & Associates as its search firm. Committee Chairman Blake Chatelain says the company submitted a bid to do the work for $120,000, plus expenses. Chatelain acknowledges the search can't begin, however, until the Board of Supervisors determines if it will combine the system president job with the chancellor's position. Both are vacant. No timetable has been set for choosing a new university leader, who will be in charge of a multibillion-dollar system of four university campuses, a law school, medical schools in New Orleans and Shreveport and a network of 10 public hospitals and dozens of clinics across Louisiana. John Lombardi was fired as LSU System president in April. LSU Chancellor Mike Martin is leaving the Baton Rouge campus this summer to lead the Colorado State University System. Read the full story here for more details.