Tomikia LeGrande chosen as next Prairie View A&M University president

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Tomikia P. LeGrande has been chosen to be the next president of Prairie View A&M University, one of many state’s two traditionally Black public universities.

LeGrande, who was introduced Thursday as the only finalist for the place by the Texas A&M System Board of Regents, at the moment serves as the vice president for technique, enrollment administration and scholar success at Virginia Commonwealth University, the place she has labored since 2018.

The announcement kicks off a required 21-day interval earlier than the board will take a closing vote on the finalist. If formally permitted, LeGrande will take over on the finish of the present educational yr.

“Dr. LeGrande will provide great leadership for the Panthers for many years to come,” mentioned Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp in a news launch. “Her experience and leadership in enrollment management and student success is exactly what PVAMU needs at this juncture to build on the great work Ruth Simmons has provided these past five years. I’m excited by where PVAMU is headed.”

Simmons, the present president, announced in March that she would step down. She got here to Prairie View in 2017, not lengthy after leaving Brown University, the place she had served for a decade. Simmons mentioned she’s going to grow to be president emerita and a professor at PVAMU whereas additionally serving to with fundraising and creating a brand new college management coaching program. Simmons, a Houston native, is broadly recognized as an innovator within the greater schooling world.

LeGrande has labored in Texas greater schooling earlier than. Between 2012 and 2018 she served as a scholar affairs and enrollment administration administrator on the University of Houston-Downtown. She additionally earned a doctorate in greater schooling administration from Texas Tech University, a bachelor’s diploma in chemistry from Savannah State University and a grasp’s diploma in chemistry from North Carolina A&T State University.

Prairie View A&M’s enrollment at the moment hovers round 9,200 college students, based on preliminary enrollment numbers for the autumn semester. That quantity has remained largely flat even through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“PVAMU has a strong legacy of transforming the lives of its students and contributing to the surrounding region and state of Texas, both educationally and economically,” LeGrande mentioned in an announcement. “I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, and community as we honor and build upon the university’s powerful legacy and upward trajectory.”

Disclosure: Prairie View A&M University, Texas Tech University and University of Houston-Downtown have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Find a whole list of them here.

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