Selected
Article:
Dr.
Charles Lee
named new president of MSU
Lee has been close friend of Delta
Dr.
Charles Lee, Interim President of Mississippi State University
(MSU), has been named the schools new president effective
as of January 16, 2003.
IHL Board members, Bryce Griffis commented on the selection,
“I am delighted to announce that at our Board meeting
on January 16, the Board unanimously named Dr. Charles Lee
as the next President if MSU. His salary is $200,000 from
state appropriations and $100,000 from the MSU Foundation,”
said Griffis.
“In making this appointment,” continued Griffis,
“the Board is showing its continued confidence in
Dr. Lee’s ability to keep MSU on the right track.
During these months while the MSU presidential search has
been conducted, Mississippi has enjoyed having an experienced
higher education administrator with excellent judgement
in Dr. Charles Lee in the President’s office,”said
Griffis.
“The Board has observed during this period Dr. Lee’s
great courage in leadership, which has brought excellence
in results. A bold and creative early retirement program
was proposed and implemented that permitted access to millions
of dollars for high priority needs at the university. The
Board has determined that we already had the very best person
to be the next president of MSU. The Board appreciates the
assistance of the Commissioner, Tom Layzell; our consultant;
Dr. Francis Coleman, the chair of the Campus Advisory Committee
and the members of her Committee; and others,” added
Griffis.
In accepting the appointment, Dr. Lee expressed his gratitude,
“I would like to thank the Board of Trustees for this
expression of confidence and for what I consider the opportunity
of a lifetime. And, certainly I want to thank the men and
women who make up Mississippi State University those located
on this campus, in Meridian, and across the state for their
efforts during the past year and for allowing the university
to continue to make progress under difficult financial circumstances.
I pledge to do all in my power to justify your confidence
and to serve the university and the state to the best of
my ability,” said Lee.
Commissioner of Higher Education, Tom Layzell, praised Dr.
Lee. “Charles has proven to have visionary leadership
for this outstanding university throughout the interim presidency.
He has excellent experience and a strong record of accomplishments
that will make him a very successful President,” said
Layzell.
Dr. Lee is a native of North Carolina. He graduated from
North Carolina State University with a B.S. degree in Forest
Management in 1964, and did graduate work in physiology
at Duke University in 1964. He completed a Ph.D. in Forestry
Genetics with an emphasis in Statistics at North Carolina
State University in 1972.
Dr. Lee was named Interim President of MSU on November 15,
2001. He served in the private sector in 1964 with Westvaco
Corporation, working in both North Carolina and West Virginia.
In 1972, he became Head of the Forestry Department at the
University of Arkansas at Monticello until 1978. From 1978
to 1983, he served as Dean of the School of Forest Resources
and Associate Director of the Agriculture and Forestry Experiment
Station at MSU. In 1983 he joined Texas A & M University
as Professor and Head of the Department of Forest Science.
From 1990 to 1994, he held positions of Dean and Executive
Associate Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A
& M University and Interim Deputy and Deputy Chancellor
of the Texas A & M University System. He served for
eighteen months as Interim Executive Vice President and
Provost of Texas A & M University in 1994. He has served
on numerous state, regional and national committees and
boards and has a successful record of securing grants and
contracts and bringing state and federal support to the
institution he serves. He has been recognized in numerous
ways and has been sighted for outstanding service in both
Texas and Mississippi.
Dr. Lee’s honors include distinguished service citations
from the Texas A & M Board of Regents, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service, and a distinguished
service award from the College of Medicine at Texas A &
M University. He also received a commendation for outstanding
service in leading the creation of the National Association
of Professional Forestry Schools and Colleges.
Dr. Lee came to Mississippi State University in 1999 as
the Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary
Medicine. In July 2000, he was appointed Dean of the College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Lee resides in Starkville with his wife, Pat. They have
three children and three grandchildren.
Mississippi State University is the state’s largest
institution, with a fall semester enrollment of more than
16,600 students and statewide responsibilities for teaching,
research, and service. MSU currently ranks 57th among the
nation’s more than 600 public four-year institutions
in total expenditures for science and engineering research
and development. As a land-grant institution, the university
also is home to the statewide MSU Extension Service and
the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
Mississippi State this year is celebrating the 125th anniversary
of its founding in 1878. DBJ
