Campus News

Dear Campus Community:

Good morning. Thank you for all you do for our universities. As you know, Commissioner of Higher Education Glenn Boyce has announced his intention to retire on June 30^th of this year. It is with great pleasure that I announce that the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Dr. Alfred Rankins, Jr., President of Alcorn State University, as the next Commissioner of Higher Education. He will begin serving in this role on July 1, 2018 and remain as President of Alcorn State University until then.

Named President of Alcorn on March 4, 2014, Dr. Alfred Rankins Jr. is the 19th president of the university. With campuses in Lorman, Natchez and Vicksburg, Alcorn State University is the nation’s oldest public land-grant HBCU.

Dr. Rankins previously served as deputy commissioner for the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), where he served as the IHL system’s chief academic and student affairs officer. While serving as deputy commissioner, Dr. Rankins also served as acting president of Mississippi Valley State University.

Prior to his appointment at IHL, Dr. Rankins served on the faculty at Mississippi State University (MSU), where he was a tenured associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and extension specialist with the MSU Extension Service.

Under Dr. Rankins’ leadership, Alcorn has strengthened its academic programs, improved campus infrastructure, initiated and completed major capital projects, increased fundraising, and expanded its footprint as a premier comprehensive land grant HBCU. This past fall, Alcorn enrolled its largest freshman class in the history of the institution and the university has risen in national rankings. The university has established new academic programs and made important discoveries through its research.

Currently, Dr. Rankins serves on the University Press of Mississippi Board of Directors, Entergy Mississippi Advisory Board, Mississippi Postsecondary Education Financial Assistance Board, and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission of Colleges Executive Board. A native of Greenville, Mississippi, Dr. Rankins received a Bachelor of Science degree from Alcorn State University and both Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Mississippi State University.

I hope you will join me in thanking Dr. Boyce for his outstanding service as Commissioner of Higher Education and welcoming Dr. Rankins to this new role. I hope you will assist him in any way possible as we work to help all our students succeed in the classroom and beyond.

C.D. Smith

President, Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning