The board of trustees of the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville has selected Ronald S. Rochon as its next president. Dr. Rochon will take office on July 1.
The University of Southern Indiana enrolls nearly 10,000 undergraduate students and more than 1,000 graduate students, according to the latest data supplied by the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up only 4 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Rochon has served as provost at the University of Southern Indiana since 2010. Previously, he was the inaugural dean of the School of Education and associate vice president for teacher education at Buffalo State University in New York. Earlier, Dr. Rochon was director of the School of Education and director of the Research Center for Cultural Diversity and Community Renewal at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.
In accepting the appointment, Dr. Rochon said that “my love for this institution comes directly from my love of teaching, and I’m proud that USI has some of the best educators at any university in the country. The relationship between our faculty members and our students is crucial to our success. The responsibility to shepherd and continue the growth of this amazing institution is something that I am grateful for and take very seriously.”
Dr. Rochon is a graduate of Tuskegee University in Alabama. He holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in educational policy studies from the University of Illinois.
