Presidential finalist invited to campus tomorrow

Lester Lefton, provost of Tulane University, will be the next president of Kent State. | PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLIAM AND MARY WEB SITE

Credit: Carl Schierhorn

Updated at 2:20 p.m.

Lester Lefton, provost of Tulane University in New Orleans, is expected to be announced today as Kent State’s new president, the Daily Kent Stater has learned.

Lefton had been provost at Tulane for four years. Before that, he was dean of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at George Washington University for four years, and before that was Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at South Carolina. He began at South Carolina as an assistant professor of psychology in 1972.

Lefton will meet with Faculty Senate’s Committee on Administrative Officers this morning, followed by a special meeting of the Board of Trustees at 10 a.m. The trustees have final decision on the hiring.

Leften will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. in Risman Plaza, followed by a reception at 12:30 p.m. Both events are open to the public.

The Stater was unable to reach Lefton for comment.

A 17-member committee spent six months on the search.

Lefton received a bachelor’s degree in 1969 at Northeastern University in Boston, and he earned his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Rochester in 1974.

According to an e-Inside special edition sent to faculty and staff, the candidate, whom the publication called a “finalist,” had the unanimous support of the 17-member presidential search committee, Presidential Search Committee member Sandra Harbrecht said.

“In the end, our unanimous conclusion speaks volumes about our enthusiam and excitement for the final candidate, our pride in the accomplishments of our university and our optimism about the future of Kent State,” Harbrecht said in the e-Inside.

Check back with StaterOnline for more details as this story develops.