Six semifinalists named for GSU president

The candidate field for Grambling State University’s next president has been narrowed to six.

After a nearly three-hour private meeting in Baton Rouge to discuss the 11 applicants, the University of Louisiana System’s search committee unanimously named six semifinalists that will proceed to interviews: Gregory Ford, Martin Lemelle, Markey Pierre, Edwin Smith, Roderick Smothers and Monica Williams.

These semifinalists will be interviewed on Grambling State campus Feb. 6-7. Afterward the search committee will select finalists, and if the schedule holds, the full UL System Board of Supervisors will name GSU’s next president on Feb. 22.

“The variety of candidates is very strong,” UL System President and former GSU President Rick Gallot told the Leader Friday. “A lot of strong backgrounds in education, some in industry and some with a combination of both.”

Gallot is chairman of the search committee to find his replacement at GSU but does not get a vote. UL System board members have eight of the nine voting seats on the search committee, along with one representative of GSU faculty. Other Grambling community members are on the committee as non-voting advisers.

The semifinalists

Ford is a tenured associate professor of biology and former vice chancellor at Southern University at New Orleans. He attended GSU for his bachelor’s degree.

He’s also the brother of Gordan Ford, the executive director of Lincoln Preparatory School in Grambling, a charter school that was affiliated with GSU until 2016.

Lemelle was one of two former GSU administrators who applied for the job, having served as an executive vice president and COO from 2016 to 2021. He also earned a bachelor’s at GSU.

He’s now the executive vice president and CFO of Maryland Institute College of Art. Lemelle also ran for Congress in Louisiana’s 5th congressional district in 2020, a race won by the late Luke Letlow.

The other former Grambling administrator in the pool, Marc Newman, did not make the semifinalist cut.

Pierre is vice chancellor of external affairs and chief of staff for LSU Health Shreveport. She was president of the political advocacy firm Southern Strategy Group of North Louisiana from 2006 to 2020.

When asked by the Leader, UL System board member and search committee member Liz Pierre said she knows Markey Pierre but is not related to her.

Smith is the senior director of alliances and channels at the London Stock Exchange Group. He was an executive at IBM from 2005 to 2019.

He went to GSU for his undergraduate degree.

Smothers is a professor of education and executive director of the Center for the Study and Preservation of HBCUs at Virginia Union University. He’s also the CEO of Novel Strategies and Solutions, LLC, and a former president of Philander Smith College.

Williams is foundation president/CEO and vice president of advancement at the University of North Texas at Dallas. She’s also a former executive at Houston Works USA.

Of the six semifinalists, three went to school at GSU, and one, Lemelle, worked there.

Speaking to the Leader Saturday before the semifinalist selection, UL System Board Chairman Jimmy Clarke said that mix of those familiar and unfamiliar with GSU is something the board hopes to see in a candidate pool.

“We have those with direct experience at Grambling State and a variety of ties to the institution,” Clarke said. “That’s good. I also am glad there are those who have external experience — fresh ideas, new experiences and different ways to look at things.”

The search committee’s advisory members include city of Grambling Mayor Alvin Bradley, longtime GSU baseball coach Wilbert Ellis, and several others representing GSU faculty, alumni, students and the broader community.

They don’t get a vote. Clarke said nonetheless their input is highly sought after.

“The insights they provide are always taken seriously,” he said.

The semifinalists’ visit to campus will include opportunities for the university and surrounding communities to give public feedback on the candidates and selection process.

“You’ve got to remember that Grambling is first,” Ellis said to close Monday’s search committee meeting. “Grambling is important, and Grambling will live on.”