Texas Southern Names Former Tuskegee University President Interim Dean of Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs

HOUSTON, Feb. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Southern University has named longtime higher education leader and former President of Tuskegee University, Dr. Gilbert L. Rochon, as the interim dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs (SOPA).

Dr. Rochon served as the sixth president of Tuskegee University from November 2010 to October 2013. He was also named university professor. Additionally, Dr. Rochon was appointed by the governor of Alabama to serve on the Governor's College & Career Ready Task Force.

"Dr. Rochon brings more than 30 years of higher education and public administration experience to the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs," said Dr. Carl B. Goodman, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. "Our School of Public Affairs is a national research and career preparation leader. We are pleased that Dr. Rochon will bring his research-driven leadership to assess and evaluate the school's future direction while the University engages in a national search for a permanent Dean."

Dr. Rochon's wide-ranging experience includes work in academia and the federal government. Before Tuskegee, he served as the Associate Vice President for Collaborative Research and Engagement at Purdue University for over eight years. He also served as a Research Community Planner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and spent 18 years as Conrad Hilton Endowed Professor and Director of the Urban Studies & Public Policy Institute at Dillard University.

"I am excited about the opportunity to lead the accomplished faculty and staff of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs in this interim capacity," Dr. Rochon said. "This school is known industry-wide, and throughout academia, for the research, these men and women do daily and for the opportunities it provides students to commence from their program prepared to thrive in their chosen field. I look forward to identifying ways to enhance the services we provide students to prepare them in an even more relevant way for the careers of their dreams."

He earned his Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a Master of Public Health in health services administration from Yale University School of Medicine, and a bachelor's degree from Xavier University of Louisiana. He also held federal appointments with NASA, DoD NAVOCEANO, USDA Forest Service, and EPA.

Dr. Rochon's first day will be February 10.  

Kerrigan Williams
713-313-7421
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[email protected]

SOURCE Texas Southern University