Alexander to take top spot at UM-Flint

UAPB Chancellor Laurence B. Alexander announced Monday that he will likely be the next chancellor at the University of Michigan-Flint.

“I have some bittersweet news to share,” he wrote in a letter to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff faculty shortly before the UA System sent out its own press release. “I have been recommended as the next Chancellor of the University of Michigan-Flint effective July 1. The recommended five-year appointment is pending approval by the University of Michigan Board of Regents at its regularly scheduled meeting on May 16. The Chancellor also serves as an Executive Officer of the University of Michigan.”

Alexander, who was hired as the UAPB chancellor in 2013, said he would miss the Pine Bluff post.

“After serving at the helm of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and developing so many great relationships in Pine Bluff, the state, and the nation, the decision to leave is not an easy one,” he wrote. “I will miss our students, our faculty, our staff, our retirees, our alumni, and our supporters, and I will miss my executive cabinet. All of you represent the Golden Lion Pride with excellence.”

University of Arkansas System President Donald R. Bobbitt said in the UA System press release that Alexander’s tenure at UAPB had been “transformative” and that his leadership would be missed.

“While we wish Dr. Alexander and the UM-Flint campus much success moving forward,” Bobbitt said, “I am confident that an institution as unique and respected as UAPB will draw the interest of many highly qualified individuals on a national scale and future leadership will be well-equipped to keep UAPB on its upward trajectory.”

Bobbitt said an interim would be selected in the next few months and that a search committee “representative of the UAPB campus and Pine Bluff communities, the UA System, the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas member and other constituents” would be named to conduct a national search for the next chancellor.

Alexander wrote that he appreciated the support given him by Bobbitt and the UA System Board of Trustees.

“I would like to thank University of Arkansas System President Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt and the Board of Trustees for the outstanding opportunity to serve UAPB, the UA System, this community, and the state of Arkansas for the last 11 years, the longest current tenure among public university campus leaders in the state,” Alexander wrote. “Since my arrival, my primary aim at UAPB has been to work with all constituents to carry out the mission, vision, and values of the institution and to leave the university better than I found it.”

Col. Nathaniel Todd of Pine Bluff, a member of the UA System Board of Trustees, said Alexander had been “part of the rebirth of Pine Bluff.”

“He has put the university on a great trajectory for the next chancellor at UAPB, formerly Arkansas AM&N,” Todd said. “He has put up high marks on retention and graduation and those are measured at the state level. I say that over the next few years, we will see student life improvements that were started on his watch, and we see strong improvements in the school’s endowment during this tenure. I’m proud of his work. We are all better for it, as he has been part of the economic prosperity experienced by the state. He will do well.”

Local leaders praised Alexander for his success at the Pine Bluff campus but also for his enthusiasm for and involvement in all things Pine Bluff.

“I’ve seen him show up at a little bit of everything,” said Mayor Shirley Washington. “He was there with us passing out food at a food pantry. He was very visible and supported so many causes. I think he has exemplified the character of a leader, an academician, a Christian and a family man.”

Washington said Alexander has worked to upgrade the UAPB campus and expand academic programs there, optimizing revenue streams that have increased the financing for scholarships.

“He will leave a void,” Washington said. “We wish him continued success as he opens the next chapter of his career.”

Allison Thompson, president and CEO of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County, said Alexander was a plus in many ways for Pine Bluff and the region.

“He was absolutely active and engaged in the community,” Thompson said. “He is on the Alliance board of directors, and we collaborated with him on many events and initiatives. It is definitely a loss to our community.”

Thompson said the Alliance had worked with Alexander to engage with UAPB students.

“We wanted to make that campus connection,” she said, “and he always had time for us. We always appreciated his open-door policy. He’s always been a huge positive for the community. He’s good at what he does so he’ll definitely be a benefit to them. But we will be sad to see him go.”

George Makris, head of Simmons Bank, said Alexander had been a “stabilizing force” on the UAPB campus.

“During his tenure, there have been very good, very solid results,” Makris said. “This is a new opportunity for him, and I am sorry to see him go.”

Makris said Alexander had “not been shy about getting involved.”

“We’ve served together on the board of directors for JRMC,” Makris said. “He’s a practical thinker, and we are going to miss his leadership both at UAPB and in the Pine Bluff community. He has been one of the most positive people I’ve ever met.”

Said Chuck Morgan, head of Relyance Bank, “We will certainly miss him. He did a great job and was a great contributor to Pine Bluff and Jefferson County.”

Although the University of Michigan Board of Regents is scheduled to consider Alexander’s hiring on Thursday, an article on the school’s website appeared to remove any doubt about the decision.

“We are honored to have Dr. Alexander join the U-M family,” President Santa J. Ono said in an email to the Flint campus community, according to the article. “His exceptional professional experience coupled with his extraordinary achievements as an administrator and university leader make him an outstanding fit for UM-Flint.”

A reception to welcome Alexander to UM-Flint was scheduled Friday for students, faculty and staff, according to the article.

Alexander was quoted in the article saying he was eager to start in the new position.

“I am thrilled to join the University of Michigan-Flint community,” said Alexander, whose selection caps a 10-month national search. “I’m pleased to become a part of one of the world’s greatest universities. I’ve been impressed by the people, existing programs, facilities and the solid foundation that’s been laid by previous leadership, and I can’t wait to get to campus and build on those things with the experience I’ve gained throughout my career.”

Alexander will hope to duplicate some of his UAPB successes to his new position at the Flint campus, which, according to the article, has had problems with enrollment and graduation rates.

“Together we have transformed the institutional profile of UAPB by fostering excellence across the university through innovation, entrepreneurship, and student-centered approaches and outcomes to improve UAPB’s standing as a destination institution,” Alexander wrote in his letter to the UAPB campus. “In the last 11 years, the university has substantially increased retention and graduation rates, launched several new marketable academic programs, received reaffirmation of 10-year university accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, reached higher levels of research investment and grant funding, acquired funding for new construction and renovation of capital projects, increased public funding through engagement of federal, state and local government officials and community leaders.

“We’ve also developed new corporate and foundation partnerships with premier national and global firms leading to dozens of major-gift donations to the university that included several of the largest investments in university history and contributed to raising the endowment by 250 percent. In addition, we have received additional state land-grant matching funds virtually every year from the governor and legislature, which has led them to a commitment of 100 percent land-grant matching funds annually.”

UAPB recently announced that it had received 6,000 applications — the most the school has received in the past five years, he wrote.

“The increase is also being driven in part by our growth in new programs for the professional and managerial workforce, including a Master of Business Administration, master’s degree programs in Educational Leadership and Addiction Studies, and Baccalaureate programs in Engineering, Cybersecurity, Hospitality Management, and several others,” he wrote. “We’ve also added Addiction Studies as our first online program. Our first-year student retention has climbed to 70 percent, and our graduation rate stands at a historic high, rising above 40 percent.”

Alexander noted in his letter some of his accomplishments, ranging from on-campus restaurant outlets to millions of dollars in capital projects.

“Amid tough economic times, we have also continued to move the university forward through renovating our existing facilities and building new ones,” he wrote. “We have developed $170 million in capital projects ($80 million completed and $90 million in various stages of development), including the largest project in university history — the Student Engagement Center. We have completed construction of the STEM building, the Delta II residence hall, the baseball clubhouse, a Wi-Fi campus refresh, a solar array with an energy savings performance contract, new eateries-Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and a P.O.D store — that resulted from an Aramark partnership, and major renovations of Kountz-Kyle Hall, the L.A. Davis Sr. Student Union, Douglas residence hall, Caldwell Hall, Walker Research Center, Simmons Bank Field, H.O. Clemmons Arena, the Fitness Center, the exterior of the James Hazzard Building, campus-wide roof replacement, and numerous smaller renovation projects to improve campus facilities. We also added to the facilities management division a new fleet of motor coach busses, campus shuttles, and police cruisers all with university brand elements.

“In addition to the Student Engagement Center, new facilities that are underway for completion in the coming years include the Nursing Program building, the track and soccer stadium, the softball clubhouse, and a campus pedestrian mall. Renovation projects include the Larrison Hall research building, the Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts Auditorium, the interior of the Hazzard Building, the Soccer locker room, and an upgrade of HVAC systems campus-wide.

“I have confidence that this important work will continue at a rapid pace and that UAPB will continue to rise to greater heights.”

Other highlights of Alexander’s career, which has spanned more than three decades, include the following, according to the UA press release:

Alexander was appointed in 2022 by President Joe Biden to chair the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, a seven-member, presidentially appointed advisory board to USAID to ensure that the agency brings the assets of U.S. universities to bear on development challenges in agriculture and food security and supports their representation in USAID programming.

Prior to joining University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Alexander served 22 years as a professor and administrator at the University of Florida, where he held key leadership roles, including Provost Administrative Fellow in the Office of Academic Affairs, associate dean of the Graduate School, director of the Office of Graduate Minority Programs, chair of the Department of Journalism, and Distinguished Teaching Scholar. He earned a bachelor’s degree in drama and communications from the University of New Orleans, master’s degree in journalism and communications from the University of Florida, Juris Doctor from Tulane University, and a doctoral degree in higher education from Florida State University.