The following copy is available for use in introducing President Floyd at speaking engagements.
Elson S. Floyd, the tenth president of Washington State
University, is a nationally known academic
leader with depth and breadth of administrative
experience in American higher education.
Before returning to the State of Washington in May 2007 to lead WSU, he was president of the four-campus University of Missouri for four years. He was president of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo for more than four years before that and also held administrative posts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his alma mater.
In the 1990s, President Floyd was vice president for student services, vice president for administration, and executive vice president at Eastern Washington University. He was then tapped to serve as executive director of the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board.
A native of Henderson, North Carolina, Dr. Floyd holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and speech, a master of education degree in adult education, and a doctor of philosophy degree in higher and adult education, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He was honored several times for excellence in communication and public service while in Missouri. Among other honors, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from his high school, the Darlington School in Georgia, and the 2004 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
He believes deeply that Washington State University – as Washington’s global, land-grant research university – plays a vital role in the social and economic vitality of the state and wider world. He is leading WSU to the next level of excellence and service.
