Dr. Leslie Guice Approved as New Louisiana Tech President
By: Alanna Quillen
Updated: December 4, 2012
BATON ROUGE -- It's official. The UL System Board of Supervisors has chosen Dr. Leslie Guice as
Louisiana Tech's next President.
The selection was made Tuesday morning at the final interview with the UL System Board of Supervisors -- which took place at the Claiborne Building in the Baton Rouge capital district.
The selection was made Tuesday morning at the final interview with the UL System Board of Supervisors -- which took place at the Claiborne Building in the Baton Rouge capital district.
Last week the Louisiana Tech Presidential search committee recommended Dr. Guice for the job.
Following
a nearly hour long interview, the board reached their unanimous final
decision after about 30 minutes in executive session.
"His
work record is outstanding, his leadership is very, very clear," said Wayne Parker, chairman of the search committee and the UL System board. "And we
felt like he was the number one choice. We are very fortunate to have
him as the president elect for Louisiana Tech."
Guice is the current executive Vice President for Research and Development at the university.
He's also a Tech alumnus and 34-year faculty member, continuing his trek through school administration with the new position.
"This has been an incredible experience, it's just overwhelming," said Dr. Guice.
He says he plans to meet with faculty, staff, and students as his first order of business as president.
"Making
sure that we're on board in terms of what we're gonna do moving
forward, obviously we have to work on budget issues, but I'll also be
cultivating our relationship with alumni, friends, and corporations," Guice said.
Retiring president Dr. Dan Reneau was part of the public audience watching the final interview.
"I
couldn't be more pleased," said Dr. Reneau. "I wondered how I would react here, I thought
back 26 years ago -- and it's been a nice period of time. I certainly
want to see la tech continue on a progress of academic excellence and Les Guice is the man to to it."
Guice says after Tuesdays announcement, he'll need to move quickly to find a replacement for his research department position.
"That has to move forward right away because its a critical position for us given all the activities we have in research," Guice said.
Current president Reneau will retire on June 30, 2013. Dr. Guice will take office on July 1st.
NBC 10's Alanna Quillen is in Baton Rouge and will have reaction from Dr. Guice on his selection today on NBC 10 News at 5 and 6 p.m.
