The New President of Tuskegee University

Tuskegee University in Alabama was founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington. Since that time it has had only five presidents. Now the board of trustees has announced that on November 1, Gilbert L. Rochon will become the sixth president of the institution.

Dr. Rochon has a solid background in science. He is currently senior research scientist at the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing and director of the Terrestrial Observatory at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He has also served as associate vice president for collaborative research and engagement at Purdue. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Terrestrial Observation.

Earlier in his career Rochon was director of the Dorchester Mental Health Center at Boston State Hospital and the Conrad Hilton Endowed Professor and director of the Urban Studies and Public Policy Institute at Dillard University.

Dr. Rochon is a native of New Orleans and graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana. He holds a master of public health degree from the Yale School of Medicine and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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