Elise Plunk and Piper Hutchinson | Louisiana Illuminator
The LSU Student Union sits in central campus on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Highland Road in Baton Rouge, La. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
The LSU presidential search committee has announced that six individuals will be invited to formally apply for the position — on the condition that their identities become public by Wednesday.
Interim LSU President Matt Lee, McNeese State President Wade Rousse, former University of Arizona President Robert Robbins, University of South Carolina Vice President of Research Julius Fridriksson and Tulane University Vice President of Research Giovanni Piedimonte were identified on the list of candidates invited to apply.
One of the candidates on the committee’s list of top five applicants for matching their desired qualifications, identified only by a number, will be invited to apply only if they disclose their name publicly.
“Whether they apply or not is up to them, and if so, they’ll be invited to interview,” LSU general counsel Trey Jones said.
Rousse is the favored candidate of LSU Board Vice Chairman Lee Mallett, who is also a Lake Charles resident. He is rumored to be the most likely candidate to get the job. Rousse has been president of McNeese State University since May 2024. He’s held several administrative positions at the university since 2019.
Lee, who has served as interim since former President William Tate left the position in June, is LSU’s vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture. Lee has worked at LSU, first as a sociology professor and then as an administrator, since 2004. He also received his doctorate degree from LSU.
The decision to go public with applicants’ names comes days after search committee members were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements that would have required them to remain silent on candidate names until they officially applied. LSU Board Chairman Scott Ballard indicated Thursday the university had moved away from that stance, saying the original intent of the agreements was to protect the applicants.
“We just said, ‘Y’all are on record.’ We’re tired,” Ballard said.
The search committee is expected to meet again Oct. 29 to publicly interview the applicants and select three finalists. Those finalists will then meet with various university interest groups, including as faculty and students, with the Board of Supervisors meeting shortly afterward to make the final hiring decision.