HSU Insider

Hardin-Simmons University Names New President

• By Janlyn Echols Thaxton
• Posted March 5, 2009 5:21 PM
• 0 Comments

Dr. Lanny Hall, President of Howard Payne University was named President of Hardin-Simmons University today during a special called meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Hall will be the 15th president in HSU's 118-year history as he returns to the university where he started as a student over 40 years ago.

Chairman of the HSU Board of Trustees, Hilton Hemphill says, "Dr. Hall knows and loves the school and has an exciting vision for enhancing its academic excellence and facilities. He has extensive experience in fundraising and in the financial management of a university."

Hall began his administrative career in higher education in 1986 as the Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at Howard Payne, leaving there to take over the reins as President of Wayland Baptist University in Plainview.

Hall served as President at Hardin Simmons for 10 years before being named chancellor in 2001. As Chancellor, he held the Haggerton Chair of Political Science and served as Executive Director of the HSU Institute for Leadership.

During his administration, HSU experienced growth in many areas, including enrollment, endowment, academic programs, and campus facilities.

Under his leadership, HSU added numerous new campus buildings, including the Skiles Social Sciences Building and the Connally Missions Center. Hall also managed to more than double the University's endowment.

"Carol and I love the work in which we have been engaged over the last twenty years," says Dr. Hall. "We welcome the opportunity to put all of our experience, ability, talent and energy to work again for Hardin-Simmons University."

Two committees, the Presidential Search Committee and the Search Advisory Committee, jointly evaluated numerous candidates who were identified and attracted from across the country. The search committees were made up of people from a wide variety of roles at the University -- trustees, faculty, staff, members from various HSU boards, and the HSU student body president. Committee Chairman Hemphill said, "Personal interviews were conducted with the top ten candidates with more in-depth visits with the four finalists."

Hall has a distinguished career in education and government. It includes service as a public school teacher, congressional aide, state agency executive, and university professor, vice-president, president, and chancellor.

He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1979 to 1984 and served in key government leadership positions at the national level.
Hall earned his Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Texas in Austin in 1985.

He and his wife, Carol, have two children - Lana McCutchen and Chad Hall - and three grandchildren.

Hall says, "With an understanding of HSU's history and heritage, and with abiding respect for the solid fiscal foundation that the University enjoys today, I look forward to the high privilege of leading HSU."

HSU began looking for a new president shortly after Dr. Craig Turner left last summer to be closer to his grandchildren. Turner took the presidency at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina.

HSU was founded in 1891 and is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Jon McRae of Jon McRae and Associates, Inc. served as a consultant to the University for the search of the new president.