Nicholls names Jay Clune 6th University President

At the end of the special meeting of the Board of Supervisors for the University of
Louisiana System, the board announced that the sixth university president of Nicholls State
University will be Jay Clune. Clune was chosen out of three finalists for the position, which also
included John Doucet and Marcheta Evans.

Clune has worked at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Fla., since 1997, serving
in various capacities including professor of history, chair of the history department, academic
coordinator of regional accreditation, acting dean of the college of arts, social sciences and
humanities, interim associate vice provost for academic programs, associate vice provost for
academic program and interim vice provost of academic affairs. He currently serves as the
interim dean of the graduate school at UWF, a position he has held since July 2017.

Additionally, Clune served in the Peace Corps in Guatemala 1987 to 1989. He is also a
founding partner of the Next Exit History mobile application and a creator and writer for the
Mistory Project podcast.

Clune holds a Ph.D. in History with specializations in Latin American History, European
History and Cultural Geography from Louisiana State University, M.A. in Latin American Studies
with concentrations in History and International Business from the University of Alabama and
B.S. in Marketing from Nicholls State University.

During the interview held by the UL System Board, Clune expressed his enthusiasm and
desire to come back to Nicholls.

Tommy Thibodeaux, Student Government Association president, expressed his
excitement about the new president.

“Very excited. Obviously, the future is very bright. He was a wonderful candidate
throughout the entire process so I’m just very excited. And I’m looking forward to seeing what’s
going to come,” said Thibodeaux.

Paula Rome, president of the Nicholls Alumni Association, discussed the benefit of
having an alumnus as the incoming president.

“I’m very excited about Dr. Clune coming to Nicholls. I think that he’s an insider. We’re
very happy that he’s an alumnus from here, but he also has left our region and brings in some
great innovative experience that I think will be great for our campus,” said Rome.

UL System president and Nicholls Presidential Search Committee member Jim
Henderson conveyed optimism for the future of the university when asked about the incoming
president.

“Well I think it’s a new day at Nicholls. I think that the future couldn’t be brighter. We
had an extraordinary list of candidates that we brought to campus. The involvement of the
students and the faculty and the staff made this process work, but now the real work begins.
We get a new president and it’s a new era at Nicholls, and the future is certainly bright,” said
Henderson.

Clune expressed excitement as well as eagerness to get started in his new role.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s a dream come true. But I really can’t believe it right now. We’re
so excited. We want to come here. We want to be home. This is out home, this is my alma
mater, this is where our family is, and there’s no place else in the world we want to be,” said
Clune.

Clune will take on the title of university president officially on Jan. 1, 2018, when he
takes over the position for current university president Dr. Bruce Murphy.