John L. Crain will become the new president of Southeastern Louisiana University, according to an announcement yesterday from the University of Louisiana System’s board of supervisors.
Crain will lead Louisiana’s third largest public university with over 15,000 students. Crain, a tenured faculty member at the institution, has served as faculty senate president, head of the department of accounting, provost and vice president for academic affairs and most recently, interim president.
“I am both humbled and honored that you have allowed me to continue working with the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community,” said Crain in a press release. “I assure you I will do my very best to be an effective and successful president at Southeastern Louisiana University. There are many people who have a keen interest in Southeastern and that means great things for the future of this university.”
In addition to his work in the academy, Crain helped create the Southeast Louisiana Business Center. The center oversees several economic development agencies, including the Southeastern Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Since 2002, SBDC helped start or expand 125 businesses by providing capital and loans. The center also helped create or retain more 400 jobs and trained more than 2,000 private sector employees.
“I have tremendous respect for Dr. Crain, and I am confident Southeastern will continue to flourish under his leadership,” said University of Louisiana System President Randy Moffett. “His innovative ideas, tenacious work ethic, and dedication to the university community are just some of the reasons why he will be successful.”
Crain is a native of Washington Parish. He received a bachelor of science in accounting and a master of business administration from Southeastern Louisiana University, before earning a doctoral degree in accountancy from the University of Mississippi.
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