Michael L. McFrazier was named acting president of Prairie View A&M University. His tenure will be a short one. He is taking over for Ruth Simmons who stepped down three months earlier than planned due to a dispute with the university system. (See JBHE post.) Dr. Simmons will join Rice University in Houston as a President’s Distinguished Fellow, effective April 1.
Dr. McFrazier will serve as acting president for three months until Tomikia P. LeGrande, the current vice provost for strategic enrollment management at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, will become president of Prairie View A&M on June 1. (See JBHE post.)
“Prairie View A&M University has an established legacy of achieving excellence in teaching, research, and service, and I will work assiduously to continue that legacy,” Dr. McFrazier said. “The importance of this job is humbling, and I am indeed honored to have been asked to serve.”
Since 2020, Dr. McFrazier has been dean of Prairie View A&M University’s Whitlowe R. Green College of Education. Dr. McFrazier began his professional career as a public school teacher and administrator in the Waco Independent School District. He joined the faculty at Prairie View A&M in 1998. Over the years, he has served as coordinator of the educational administration degree program, coordinator of the doctoral program in educational leadership, associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Northwest Houston Campus, and vice president for administration.
Professor McFrazier holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and two master’s degrees from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He earned a doctorate in educational administration at the University of Arkansas.
