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The LSU Board of Supervisors has created a new comprehensive, research-intensive Flagship University comprised of the following components: LSU’s historic campus in Baton Rouge; LSU Agricultural Center; LSU Health Sciences Center – New Orleans, LSU Health Sciences Center – Shreveport; and Penington Biomedical Research Center

Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost

Louisiana State University (LSU) is a comprehensive, statewide flagship research university serving Louisiana and the world and holding designations as a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution. LSU enrolls more than 45,000 students, employs more than 13,000 faculty and staff, and operates with a budget exceeding $3.3 billion.

The Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost (SVCAAP) will sit at the crafter’s table in this newly designed LSU Flagship and serve as the University’s chief academic officer for the LSU Flagship, which consists of the historic Baton Rouge A&M campus, LSU Agricultural Center, LSU Health Sciences Center – New Orleans, LSU Health Sciences Center – Shreveport, and Pennington Biomedical Research Center. The position has direct oversight of the collective of academic colleges and schools as well as student enrollment and support units based at the Baton Rouge campus. The role also coordinates academic matters on the university level across all institutional components across the state. Reporting to LSU Chancellor Jim Dalton and collaborating closely with the senior vice chancellors at Pennington Biomedical, the LSU Agricultural Center, the Health Sciences Center – New Orleans, and the Health Sciences Center – Shreveport, the successful candidate will be responsible for facilitating academic excellence and student success, promoting robust research and scholarly activity, and advancing a unified academic and research vision across the full LSU Flagship that reflects LSU’s role as the comprehensive, multi-campus research institution in the State of Louisiana.

LSU includes 23 college-level units across three locations. The Baton Rouge campus serves as a comprehensive academic site and supports a broad array of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. The Baton Rouge campus enrolls approximately 42,000 students across nearly 200 bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and specialist degree programs. The campus includes the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana’s only School of Veterinary Medicine, and a wide range of colleges, schools, and research centers that contribute to LSU’s statewide academic and research mission.

LSU’s land-grant mission is primarily fulfilled by the LSU Agricultural Center, which integrates agricultural research and Cooperative Extension to advance food systems, environmental stewardship, economic development, and community resilience across the state. The Pennington Biomedical Research Center, a globally recognized institute specializing in chronic disease, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic health. The Health Sciences Center – New Orleans and the Health Sciences Center – Shreveport deliver high quality patient care, health professions education, clinical training, and research across healthcare and biomedical sciences.

The Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost has a truly unique opportunity in American higher education to participate in the reorganization of the LSU System and integration of the unified LSU Flagship that reflects LSU’s role as the comprehensive, multi-campus research institution in the State of Louisiana. The LSU Board of Supervisors directed a consequential restructuring of its flagship enterprise – one designed to align academic leadership, research strategy, and institutional scale in support of national competitiveness and distinctive student success. This effort brings together five distinct but complementary research-intensive campuses into a single statewide, Flagship University with a shared academic direction and coordinated scholarly agenda. The goal is clear and disciplined: to position LSU among the nation’s Top 50 public research universities and to meet the long-term criteria associated with AAU eligibility, while remaining grounded in LSU’s public mission to serve Louisiana.

The SVCAAP will ensure that LSU’s academic and research missions are aligned, coordinated, and positioned for national competitiveness. The role balances institutional ambition with operational clarity, strengthening academic quality and supporting faculty and students. The SVCAAP will serve as the academic “connective tissue” for the new LSU Flagship, working to foster alignment of academic strategy, research priorities, and educational outcomes across campuses while respecting the distinct missions of each unit. In close partnership with the leadership team, the SVCAAP will help translate University goals into coherent academic and student success execution. The role emphasizes collaboration, shared governance, and disciplined coordination, ensuring that LSU’s scale becomes a strategic advantage rather than a structural barrier.

The Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost must hold a doctorate or equivalent terminal degree and possess a record of distinguished scholarship and teaching at an institution designated by the Carnegie Foundation as “Research 1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production” and appropriate for appointment as a tenured full professor at LSU. LSU seeks a proven leader having experience at the dean level or higher at a Research 1 institution and who has overseen major academic units with responsibility for managing faculty with research duties. A successful candidate should have demonstrated ability to operate and lead effectively within a large, complex public research university. The candidate should have a clear ability to craft and communicate a strategic vision and execute with operational discipline, paired with the managerial skill necessary to lead across multiple campuses, missions, and constituencies.

Additional information, including full lists of preferred qualifications and leadership characteristics, is available in the search profile available at: www.lsu.edu/svcaap-search.

How to Apply: Applications should consist of a substantial letter of interest, a CV, and a list of five professional references with full contact information and a note indicating the nature of the working relationship with each. No references will be contacted without the explicit permission of the candidate. Applications, nominations, and expressions of interest can be submitted electronically, and in confidence, to:

LSUProvost@academicsearch.org

The position is open until filled but only applications received by Tuesday, March 31, 2026, can be assured full consideration. The university is being assisted by Academic Search. Confidential discussions about this opportunity may be arranged by contacting consultants Ann Hasselmo at Ann.Hasselmo@academicsearch.org and Chris Butler at Chris.Butler@academicsearch.org. Further information about Louisiana State University is available at https://www.lsu.edu/.

LSU is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

All candidates must have valid U.S. work authorization at the time of hire and maintain that valid work authorization throughout employment. Changes in laws, regulations, or government policies may impact the university’s ability to employ individuals in certain positions.