Austin Lane has been selected to be the next chancellor of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. When he takes office on July 6, he will be the first African American chancellor in the 150-year history of the Carbondale campus.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale enrolls nearly 10,000 undergraduate students and more than 3,200 graduate students, according to the latest data supplied to the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 15 percent of the undergraduate student body.
In February 2020, Dr. Lane was dismissed from his post as president of Texas Southern University in Houston. Dr. Lane denied any wrongdoing and later reached a settlement where hs was paid $560,000 — $100,000 of that compensation for “alleged emotional distress, damage to reputation and mental anguish.”
Dr. Lane was named president of Texas Southern University in 2016. Earlier, he was executive vice chancellor of the Lone Star College System based in The Woodlands, Texas. From 2009 to 2015, Dr. Lane was president of the Montgomery campus of Lone Star College.
Dr. Lane went to Odessa Junior College in Texas on a basketball scholarship. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Langston University in Oklahoma. Dr. Austin holds a master’s degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Alabama.
Congratulations to one of the most fervent supporters of students pursuing their dreams through an attainment of a college degree. I wish you much success and I will miss having you as “my” president at my alma mater, Texas Southern University.
Congratulations Dr. Lane, wishing you much success on your next assignment!
HI! Just wanted to say congratulations!!! I spoke with your dad, he’s so proud of you!!! Carol