Finalists for top New Orleans university post include 2 with Arkansas ties

August 17, 2023 at 5:53 p.m.

by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Three of the five semifinalists for the presidency of the University of New Orleans as of Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, are shown in these undated courtesy photos. From left are Michael Moore, vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas System in Little Rock; Walter Kimbrough, former president of Philander Smith University and current interim executive director of Morehouse College’s Black Men’s Research Institute in Atlanta; and Kathy Johnson, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. An earlier version of this photo included a different Michael Moore with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. (Courtesy photos)
Three of the five semifinalists for the presidency of the University of New Orleans as of Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, are shown in these undated courtesy photos. From left are Michael Moore, vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas System in Little Rock; Walter Kimbrough, former president of Philander Smith University and current interim executive director of Morehouse College’s Black Men’s Research Institute in Atlanta; and Kathy Johnson, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. An earlier version of this photo included a different Michael Moore with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. (Courtesy photos)

The University of New Orleans Presidential Search Committee has selected five semifinalists to interview for the school's top post, including a current University of Arkansas System administrator and a former president of Philander Smith University in Little Rock.

According to a news release from the University of Louisiana System , the semifinalists are:

• Michael Moore, vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas System in Little Rock since January 2013. He was chief Academic and Operating Officer (Chancellor/Provost) of University of Arkansas System eVersity — the UA System's online university at the time — from July 2015-July 2022.

• Walter Kimbrough, president of Philander Smith University, then Philander Smith College, from 2004-2012. He now works as interim executive director of Morehouse College’s Black Men’s Research Institute in Atlanta. Kimbrough was president of Dillard University in New Orleans from 2012-2022.

• Kathy Johnson, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

• Darrell Kruger, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs and executive director of Research and Economic Development at the University of New Orleans.

• Larissa Littleton-Steib, chancellor of Delgado Community College, which is based in New Orleans.

The committee will interview the semifinalists the week of Aug. 28 with opportunities for student and campus community involvement. The next University of New Orleans president will be selected by the full Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System at a special meeting Sept. 14.

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