D E LT A S T AT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Bill LaForge began serving as the eighth President of Delta State University on April 15, 2013. Before returning to his alma mater, he enjoyed a 37-year career in both the public and private sectors in Washington, DC, that spanned the fields of government, law, higher education, and public policy.

During his tenure as President of Delta State University, LaForge has devoted his time and energy to making excellence a hallmark of the university, and he has initiated numerous programs toward this end. Under his leadership, Delta State completed a visioning process involving the entire campus that is laying the ground work for the university’s future.

Soon after his arrival, LaForge established two signature annual conferences: Winning the Race Conference on Race Relations and the International Conference on the Blues. He also began the Delta State University Colloquia Distinguished Lecture Series, which features prominent speakers from across the country; implemented the Dedicated Statesmen Association program, focused on keeping retirees and alumni involved in university activities; created the prestigious “Legends of Delta State University” program, which recognizes lifetime achievement, service, excellence, and success in serving the university; and, helped to create Delta State’s new campus and community radio station—WDSW-LP 88.1 FM—which offers engaging programming that celebrates the diversity of Delta State University and the Mississippi Delta. GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi, the only GRAMMY Museum outside of Los

Angeles, opened on Delta State’s campus in Spring 2016, and is contributing to Delta State’s reputation as a center of excellence for music and culture. This state-of-the-art museum is also providing academic opportunities for Delta State’s students, and LaForge worked with museum officials to establish a formal educational partnership between the museum and Delta State.

LaForge has worked to implement aggressive student recruitment and enrollment tactics, including an emphasis on international recruiting, which reached record levels in Fall 2018. He has been actively involved in student recruitment by visiting numerous high schools and community colleges, leading to numerous consecutive years of enrollment increases at Delta State. He has placed a greater focus on student retention through various initiatives such as First Year Seminar, Early Alert systems, and Okra Scholars. And, he has helped to spearhead new marketing initiatives in Memphis, Jackson, and the Gulf Coast.

Expanded outreach efforts with students, employees, and the community have been put in place including forums with campus constituency groups, residence hall meetings, Greek organizations, establishment of the President’s Leadership Class, regular lunches with employees and visits with departments, and quarterly lunch meetings with community leaders. Fundraising levels have reached an all-time high during LaForge’s presidency, including Delta State receiving the largest gift in university history, $4 million for scholarships. Campus infrastructure has expanded and improved during LaForge’s tenure.

William N. LaForgePRESIDENT

CLEVELAND, MS | 1.800.GO.TO.DSU | WWW.DELTASTATE.EDU

William N. LaForgePRESIDENT

Delta State UniversityKent Wyatt Hall, Suite 255Cleveland, MS 38733

P: 662.846.4000F: 662.846.4014E: president@deltastate.edu

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The Math and Science Building—Caylor-White/Walters Hall—received a major facelift and now houses the latest technology and equipment for students and faculty. It is also home to the recently refurbished Wiley Planetarium, the only one at a public university in the state. The Music building—Zeigel Hall—received substantial renovations, as did the university’s dining hall, Young-Mauldin. The university also has a new corridor to its athletic venues via the new Statesmen Boulevard project.

LaForge’s focus on excellence in the classroom and beyond has contributed to Delta State’s athletic teams delivering high-end Division II winning seasons in almost every sport, while setting records in academic performance. LaForge was tapped in 2015 to serve on the prestigious National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division II Presidents Council, the highest governing body of Division II responsible for implementing policies adopted by the NCAA Board of Governors. He also serves on the NCAA's Planning and Finance Committee and the NCAA's Ad Hoc Committee on Sports Wagering. He also served as president of the Gulf South Conference.

LaForge grew up in Cleveland, Mississippi, where he attended public schools, and graduated with honors from Delta State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of

Law, received an LL.M. in international law from Georgetown University, and studied international law at Cambridge University. He received fellowships to study government and public policy in the European Union and at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and he is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of laws from the Stetson University College of Law.

A member of the bars of Mississippi and the District of Columbia, LaForge is Past National President of the Federal Bar Association. For more than 30 years, he was an adjunct professor at George Washington University where he taught courses in the fields of commercial law, public policy, lobbying, and business-government relations. He has been a visiting professor of law at universities in Poland and Bulgaria, and he served as a Fulbright Fellow in Russia.

As an attorney and registered lobbyist in the private sector in Washington, DC, he specialized in federal government relations and represented businesses and organizations with public policy interests before the United States Congress and federal executive branch agencies. On Capitol Hill, LaForge served as chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, and culminated his government career as Chief of Staff to United States Senator Thad Cochran

of Mississippi. He is the author of the award-winning book, Testifying Before Congress, a comprehensive treatise on preparing and delivering congressional testimony.

As an alumnus of Delta State, LaForge served as National Alumni Association president and a trustee of the university’s foundation. He was selected Delta State’s Alumnus of the Year in 1992, and a charter member of the Delta State Alumni Hall of Fame in 2007. As a student at Delta State, he was a faculty scholar, president of the student government association, charter president of Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honorary, and one of the first four students inducted into Delta State’s Student Hall of Fame.

A daily runner, LaForge is a veteran of 61 marathons, including 24 Boston Marathons, and he has logged more than 74,000 miles running. He is married to Nancy Davidson LaForge of Kosciusko, Mississippi, and they have two adult children, Caroline LaForge Solano and Clayton LaForge, and one grandchild, Isla.

LaForge is known for his green ties, which he has worn to work every day since serving as president at Delta State. Also, he is frequently seen distributing green guitar picks to prospective students, and proudly plays guitar with his makeshift band called “The President’s Cabinet,” which comprises faculty and students.

CLEVELAND, MS | 1.800.GO.TO.DSU | WWW.DELTASTATE.EDU