cNeese Cowboys Basketball U niversity A d ministration
Dr. Philip C. Williams University President
Dr. Williams earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of North Carolina, graduating with honors in history. He earned his law degree at the Columbia University School of Law in New York City. During the course of his legal profession, he practiced corporate law and served as administrative vice president and counsel for Sea World, Inc. During the 1980’s he and his wife Sandra were active writers, publishing a series of children’s mysteries, adult mysteries, and non-fiction works. In 1994, Dr. Williams returned to Chapel Hill to earn his M.P.H. and Ph.D. degrees in Health Policy and Administration. He served for one year as a post-doctoral research fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, then accepted a faculty position at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina, where he taught health law and management courses in the College of Business and was appointed to serve as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs. He joined the staff of Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 2003 as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, and in 2006 he became President of the University of Montevallo in Alabama. In the spring of 2010 he was selected to serve as the 6th President of McNeese State University. Since his arrival at McNeese, he has presided over the development of a new strategic plan, which features the promotion of innovative teaching and learning, regional partnerships, service-learning opportunities, applied research, cultural engagement, and athletic excellence. He has frequently stated his desire for McNeese to play an active role in the civic and economic renaissance likely to transform Southwest Louisiana over the next five years.
McNeese Facts • Established in 1939, McNeese State has an enrollment of 8,900. The university is located in Lake Charles, a city with a population of 90,000. The city is located in the Southwest corner of the state, 30 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico and 30 miles east of the Texas-Louisiana border. • In 1993, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction was awarded to Dr. Robert Olen Butler, then a member of the university’s Department of Languages. • Among former McNeese athletes who have gone on to professional stardom have been basketball’s Joe Dumars (Detroit, now president of basketball operations), baseball’s Ray Fontenot (New York Yankees) and football’s Kerry Joseph (Canadian Football League). • McNeese is the first public university in the state to offer a concentration in Forensic Chemistry • McNeese now has seven Senior Fulbright Scholars on its faculty that have traveled to Greece, Finland, Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, China and Korea. • The College of Nursing is nationally accredited by the National League of Nursing and continually has a high passing rate on the nursing licensing examination. • The College of Business has an intership program which places students nationwide. Dr. Williams at the dedication of the new “The Cowboy” statue greeting fans near the entrance of the • McNeese offers a degree in Athletic Training. Jack V. Doland Field House.
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