Bounds Joins College of Education and Professional Studies
Posted on May 1, 2019 by CEPS
Dr. Hank M. Bounds has accepted a faculty position at the University of South Alabama in its College of Education and Professional Studies.
Bounds, a lifelong educator and outgoing president of the University of Nebraska, will join an engaged faculty team committed to students' success in the field of educational leadership.
“I am pleased to make this announcement,” said Dr. Andrea M. Kent, dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies. “The University community is excited about Dr. Bounds' selection and the vast leadership experience he will add to our college. He is uniquely qualified to help our students and faculty improve higher educational outcomes and efficiencies, and build effective partnerships.”
Bounds began his tenure at NU on April 13, 2015, bringing a demonstrated record of expanding opportunities for students, improving transformational collaboration and momentum, and building successful partnerships with policymakers, donors and business leaders. Bounds, a Mississippi native, will return closer to home with his family later this summer.
Bounds has devoted his 28-year career to helping change students' lives in the same way education opened doors in his own life. He began as a high school teacher, then rose to principal, superintendent and state superintendent before becoming Mississippi’s commissioner of higher education in 2009. In that role, he oversaw a complex system of eight public universities.
Starting this fall in his new role at South, Bounds will help guide student and faculty innovators by providing higher educational leadership, resources, connections and expertise.
"I am grateful to Dean Andrea Kent and members of the search committee for the opportunity to serve alongside a very talented group of faculty and staff in the College of Education and Professional Studies. I am eager to make a positive contribution to the University of South Alabama," said Bounds.