The Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning voted to extend the contract of Delta State University President Dr. John M. Hilpert another four years.
The Board also extended the contract of University of Southern Mississippi President Dr. Martha Saunders.
“We feel very fortunate to have such dedicated and visionary leaders at these universities,” said Dr. Bettye Neely, president of the Board of Trustees. “We appreciate their leadership and commitment to putting students first, even in the difficult economic times we are facing today.”
Dr. John M. Hilpert has served as president of Delta State University in Cleveland since 2003 and has worked with the campus community toward becoming the Best Regional University in America. Delta State has met enrollment and fund raising goals. Budgets are sound and faculty leaders participate regularly in institutional governance.
Since 2003, he has served as board president for the Delta Health Alliance and was elected president in 2008 of the Mississippi Association of Colleges and Universities. He also serves as chair of the Commission on Colleges Board of Directors (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), the regional accrediting body for more than 800 colleges and universities.
Hilpert’s degrees include a Ph.D. from the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Michigan, an M.Div. from Concordia Seminary in Missouri, and a B.A. from Concordia Senior College in Indiana. He also holds a two-year diploma from St. Paul’s College in Missouri.
