DR. REYNOLD VERRET
President, Xavier University of LA
Dr. Reynold Verret was unanimously elected Xavier University of Louisiana’s president by the Board of Trustees, taking office on July 1, 2015. Prior to his appointment as president, he has served as provost and chief administrative officer at Savannah State, Georgia’s first public historically black university. Immigrating from Haiti in 1963, Dr. Verret went on to complete his undergraduate degree with honors from Columbia University, a doctorate in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Howard Hughes Institute for Immunology at Yale University and the Center for Cancer Research at MIT. In addition to his role at Savannah State, Dr. Verret served as provost at Wilkes University in Northern Pennsylvania and as dean of the Misher College of Arts and Sciences at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He also served as the chair of the chemistry at Clark Atlanta University, where he helped allocate close to $10 million in grant funding. His background in the sciences makes him particularly suited to Xavier, having developed programs to prepare STEM teachers, secure tuition support for teacher certification in STEM fields and affirm joint instructional and research programs. As President of Xavier University, Dr. Verret leads the initiatives to build enrollment, enhance the quality and diversity of academic programs and to create cooperative relationships with neighboring institutions and with international partners. His current vision for the future of Xavier to be a globally recognized University that celebrates diversity, fosters an intellectual environment of academic excellence, honors the legacy of Xavier as a historically black, Catholic University founded upon the teachings of St. Katherine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, and educates our future leaders to build a just and humane society.
Quick Facts
Education
Ph.D. (1982) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biochemistry
B.A. (1976) Columbia College, Columbia University, Biochemistry, Cum Laude
MDP (2004) Harvard Graduate School of Education, Higher Ed Programs
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana, founded by St. Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1925, is Catholic and historically Black. The ultimate purpose of the University is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society.
The only historically Black, Catholic university in the United States, XULA is a private, liberal-arts based, co-educational institution offering 40 undergraduate majors, 5 master’s degree programs and a doctor of pharmacy program. More than one-half of its 3,100 students are from Louisiana, but it draws students from nearly all fifty states and 35 countries.
Languages Spoken
English | Français | Kreyol Ayisyen | Español
Selected Awards and Honors Honorary
- Doctorate of Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2019)
- 1804 List of Haitian-American Changemakers (2016)
- USP-Office of Sponsored Programs Award (2006)
- First-Year Advising Award –University of the Sciences (2004)
- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) Award for Academic Excellence and Student Mentoring (1999)
- Fogarty International Center Fellow – Biocentrum, Turku, Finland (1997)
- Educational Resource Center Teaching Award, Tulane University (1990)
- Karl Taylor Compton Prize, M.I.T. (1980)
- Greenlaw Fellowship, M.I.T. (1976)
- Phi Beta Kappa, Columbia University (1976)
- King Crown Award, Columbia University (1976)
- Charles Hubsman Prize in Biology, Columbia College (1975)
Selected Appointments
- Immediate past Board Director, Georgia Coastal Community Indicators Coalition Steering
- Past Executive Committee and Board Director, Pennsylvania Humanities Council
- Past Board Member, Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce
- Past Technical Advisory Board Member, Georgia Governor’s Cancer Initiative
- Past Board Member, Lyke House Catholic Center, Atlanta University Center
- Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences • Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)
- American Chemical Society • Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
- American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology • American Association of Immunology
- National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers,
- American Association for the Advancement of Science