William F. Tate IV Named 22nd President of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Tate to begin presidency on July 1
William F. Tate IV, a renowned social scientist and president of the Louisiana State University (LSU) system since May 2021, has been appointed the 22nd president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
The Rutgers Board of Governors, with the advice and consent of the Rutgers Board of Trustees, today approved Tate’s appointment at a joint meeting of the two boards. The Board of Governors also appointed Tate as a University Professor and Distinguished Professor.
He will begin serving as president on July 1, 2025, succeeding Jonathan Holloway, who served as president for five years.
Tate, who also serves as the chief executive and academic officer of both the LSU system and the LSU flagship campus in Baton Rouge, holds faculty appointments in sociology, psychiatry and behavioral medicine, epidemiology, and population and public health at the Baton Rouge campus, LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, and Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
"When the presidential search committee began the search for Rutgers’ next president, with community input, we sought a transformative leader who embodies Rutgers’ values and our multi-campus identity – someone who is intentional, collaborative and unafraid to think big – someone who understands well the broad, higher education environment and sees the unique opportunities for Rutgers to succeed through it all. Dr. Tate is that extraordinary leader, a scholar, an innovator and a transformative force whose vision will unite academic excellence with public impact," said Board of Governors Chair Amy L. Towers. "I am confident that Dr. Tate’s strategic vision and approach to leadership make him very much the right leader at the right moment for Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey."
As LSU president, Tate has provided overall leadership, vision, and direction for all of the campuses across Louisiana. The LSU system has more than 55,000 students, including 12,000 graduate students and 2,000 professional students in the university health centers. Like Rutgers, LSU is a member of one of the five most prominent conferences in college athletics – LSU in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Rutgers in the Big Ten Conference.
Before joining LSU, Tate served as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina (UofSC), where he also held the Education Foundation Distinguished University Professorship. Prior to that, he served as a department chair and dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education at Washington University in St. Louis from 2002 to 2020. In addition, he held the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professorship in Arts & Sciences. Before joining Washington University in St. Louis, he served as the William L. and Betty F. Adams Chair at Texas Christian University (TCU) and as a tenured faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“I am honored to join the Rutgers family, where the Rutgers Edge is more than a concept. It is reflected in a history of leading with outstanding research, clinical excellence, insightful pedagogy, innovative partnerships and storied athletic feats,” President-designate Tate said. “Together, we have an opportunity to align our efforts and push to greater levels of impact. We can compete and win at new heights if we work together.”
At South Carolina, Tate oversaw the 13 schools and colleges on the UofSC Columbia campus, UofSC School of Medicine Columbia, and the UofSC School of Medicine Greenville, as well as being responsible for the overall leadership of academic affairs of the university, including curriculum development, program assessment, establishment of academic standards and university accreditation.
While there, he launched Carolina Online to deliver degree programs and professional credentials online; established the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program, which offers postdoctoral fellowships to increase research productivity on campus; and guided, in collaboration with the Faculty Senate, the development of a “Founding Documents” course for incoming freshmen.
“Dr. Tate has enthusiasm for creating excellence in academics, research, and clinical care,” said Board of Trustees Chair Amy Mansue. “Rutgers will continue to excel under Dr. Tate’s leadership, in service both to New Jersey and to our nation. We welcome this next era in our great history.”
Tate earned a bachelor of science degree in economics with a minor in mathematical sciences from Northern Illinois University, a master of arts degree in mathematical sciences education from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Ph.D. in mathematics education with a cognate in human development from the University of Maryland, College Park. Subsequently, he was awarded the Anna Julia Cooper post-doctoral fellowship to study social and public policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He completed a second postdoctoral fellowship at the Washington University School of Medicine, where he earned a master of psychiatric epidemiology degree.
Tate is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Education, Sigma Xi, and a fellow in the American Educational Research Association.
Tate’s selection as president follows the efforts of a 20-member presidential search committee, which convened last fall and represented a cross-section of Rutgers’ diverse campuses and constituencies, including students, staff, faculty, alumni and community partners.
The committee was co-chaired by Board of Governors chair Amy Towers and Alberto Cuitiño, dean of the School of Engineering.
