BATON ROUGE - Dr. Orlando McMeans has been appointed to be the interim Southern University president.

McMeans is the current chancellor of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center and dean of the College of Agricultural, Human and Environmental Sciences.

He's stepping into the president's role that will be left vacant by Dennis Shields, whose departure was announced in late November.

"He's extraordinarily committed to the success of this institution, and he has a good team of chancellors to support him," Shields said about McMeans.

During his speech to the Southern Board of Supervisors, McMeans said he had previously turned down the role of Southern president.

"When I was approached by board members and just talking about the fact that this is the Southern University and I love that swag in how they put that, I prayed about it, I know it's a challenge, but I love challenges," McMeans said.

McMeans says that Shields has been mentoring him since he arrived at the university, with both sharing many of the same goals.

"Number one is student success. Recruitment, retention, graduation. That is very, very critical. Now I am a research scientist. I will promote and push research. I think research is critical, and we still need to maintain our R2 status," McMeans said.

With McMeans serving as interim president, he says that one of his vice-chancellors serves as the interim leader of the AgCenter.

"Since 2019, I've been working with a lot of young administrators to make sure that when I leave, or when I step down and go back to the classroom, those people will transition easily into the leadership capacity," McMeans said.

McMeans was asked what his plans are for the first two months of his tenure.

"Really, it's going to be looking at data. 100 percent looking at data. Communicating with all 16 board members to look at what their priorities are, but I will tell you right now, I will be looking at all types of metrics," McMeans said.

McMeans' message to the students is that the institution will continue to be student-centered.

Whatever we do is for the best of the students, and we want to make sure that you cross that finish line in a timely manner," McMeans said.

A search for the permanent president will begin in 2026.