The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff chancellor is among five people under consideration for the top job at the nation's only historically Black university system.
Laurence B. Alexander, 62, UAPB chancellor since 2013, was interviewed by the trustees for the president-chancellor's job at the Southern University System in Louisiana on Tuesday.
The Southern University System has more than 13,000 students across campuses in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
It also operates a law school and an agricultural research center.
Its president and chancellor, Ray Belton, retired in the fall.
The other semifinalists are:
• James Ammons, chancellor of Southern University at New Orleans.
• Walter Kimbrough, president of Dillard University in New Orleans. Kimbrough, 54, was president of Philander Smith College in Little Rock from 2004-2012.
• Dennis Shields, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
• Kent Smith, president of Langston University in Oklahoma.
Michael Tidwell, former chancellor of the University of Texas at Tyler, was also named to the semifinalist's round by the search committee. He has since withdrawn his application.
Interviews for the five semifinalists ended Wednesday.