Outgoing Southern Miss President Saunders praised for leadership | Schools

Dr. Martha Saunders returned to The University of Southern Mississippi in 2007 pledging to “build trust, build a team and build a campus.” After five years of leading her alma mater as its ninth president, she returns to its faculty having done that and much more.

Saunders announced her resignation from the presidency in April and will leave her post on Friday, at which time she will join the faculty at Southern Miss Gulf Coast. There she will also serve as co-director, along with Southern Miss Gulf Coast Vice President and Campus Executive Officer Dr. Frances Lucas, of the new Evelyn Gandy Women's Leadership Institute. Dr. Aubrey Lucas, who previously served as the University’s president for more than two decades, will serve as interim president.

“Some years ago, I attended a new presidents’ academy, where I spent time listening to seasoned executives as they prepared my colleagues and me for what we might encounter in our new roles,” Saunders said. “A member of the faculty told us when we come to the end of our time as presidents, if we have left our institutions a little bigger, a little richer and a little more beautiful, we would have done a good job. I believe I have, at least, done that for Southern Miss.”

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