(AUSTIN) - The Board of Regents of the Texas State University System unanimously confirmed Alisa White, Ph.D., as president of Sam Houston State University during a special called meeting today. Dr. White will officially assume the presidency Aug. 10.
Dr. White, a Texas native, has served as president of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, since 2014. She previously served as vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas at Tyler and Midwestern State University.
Dr. White earned a Ph.D. in Mass Communication and an M.S.L.S. degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and a B.A. in Business from Lee College (now Lee University) in Cleveland, Tennessee. In addition to her experience in Tennessee and Texas, she has held faculty and leadership positions in Alaska, Louisiana, and Georgia.
Dr. White and her husband, Elliott Herzlich, a jeweler, have three married children and five grandchildren. She succeeds Dr. Dana Hoyt, who is retiring after serving as president of SHSU since 2010.
Sam Houston State University is a member of the Texas State University System, which consists of seven institutions including Lamar University (Beaumont), Sul Ross State University (Alpine, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, and Uvalde), Texas State University (San Marcos and Round Rock), Lamar Institute of Technology (Beaumont), Lamar State College Orange, and Lamar State College Port Arthur, serving more than 86,000 students.