Dr. Reynold Verret is the sixth president and second lay leader of Xavier University of Louisiana. Of the 107 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and 262 Catholic colleges and universities in the United States, Xavier is the only Catholic HBCU in the nation.

Prior to acceding to the presidency of Xavier, Dr. Verret has served as provost at Savannah State University and at Wilkes University. As chief academic officer, he led the university initiatives to enhance the quality and diversity of academic programs, develop the faculty and promote interdisciplinary efforts especially between the humanities and sciences, and to create cooperative relationships with neighboring institutions and with other partners at the K-12 and higher education levels.

He has served also as Dean of Arts and Sciences at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. As faculty in Chemistry at Tulane University and also at Clark Atlanta University, Dr. Verret took great pleasure and satisfaction in the education of students at the undergraduate and graduate level. For many years, he led the Department of Chemistry as its chair at Clark Atlanta University.

As a biochemist and immunologist, Dr. Verret studied the functions of immune cells, especially the mechanisms of resistance to the lytic properties of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Other areas of interest included fundamental properties of biological membranes and development and identifications of biosensors and biomarkers.

Throughout his career, he has dedicated effort to increase the number of US students pursuing degrees in STEM disciplines and continuing to advanced study, and to mitigate the shortage of qualified STEM teachers. He has served on a number of professional organizations and advisory bodies, including those of the National Institutes of Health, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and Catholic Relief Services. He has received awards and fellowships for teaching and scholarship.

Dr. Verret received his undergraduate degree cum laude in biochemistry from Columbia University and the Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the laboratory of the late Har Gobind Khorana. To these degrees, were added postdoctoral experiences as fellow at the Howard Hughes Institute for Immunology at Yale and the Center for Cancer Research at MIT.