BATON ROUGE — The Southern University System Presidential Search Committee has named six semifinalists in its search for a new president.

The semifinalists are:
- Dr. Brian Bridges, senior adviser at education policy consulting firm Whiteboard Advisors and former secretary of higher education for the state of New Jersey
- John Belton, district attorney for the Third Judicial Court of Louisiana
- Dr. Jaffus Hardrick, former president of Florida Memorial University
- Dr. Roscoe Jones, former dean of Drake University Law School
- Dr. Larissa Littleton-Steib, Chancellor of Delgado Community College
- Dr. Willie Smith, chancellor of Baton Rouge Community College

The semifinalists will participate in interviews in the coming weeks, a university spokesperson said. The committee will select which candidates will advance to the finalist stage. 

The university system has been without a permanent president since the end of last year. Dr. Orlando McMeans has served as interim president in the meantime.

The committee originally intended to install a new leader by July 1, but the group extended that timeline in May.