With the departure of Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young from the presidency of Texas Southern University, many want to know who will be steering the ship until a new CEO is appointed.
According to the university’s official statement regarding Crumpton-Young’s resignation, authored by TSU Board of Regents Chairman, Albert H. Myers, it will be leadership by committee.
“All divisional vice presidents will continue to lead their TSU areas of daily responsibility (and) serve collectively in the executive function role during this interim period,” Myers said.
This collective body will report to the TSU Board of Regents, effective immediately, through a board Transition Oversight Committee, chaired by Dr. Mary Sias.
Who then, is Mary Sias, the person tasked with overseeing this latest TSU leadership transition?
Sias is a TSU Regent, appointed to the board by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in October 2020. She was then reappointed to the board on April 22, 2021 with her term scheduled to end Fe. 1, 2027.
But beyond her TSU Board appointment dates, Sias is a nationally known higher education leader who currently serves as the director of the Millennium Leadership Initiative, a premier professional development program for senior higher education leaders who want to become university presidents and chancellors.
Sias is also assistant to the president for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Moreover, Sias has amassed more than three decades of executive-level leadership, including serving as president of the HBCU Kentucky State University (2004-2014).
Sias also served as senior vice president for student affairs and external relations at the University of Texas at Dallas (1995-2004) and as CEO of the YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas (1984-1995).
And as stated on TSU’s website, “Regent Sias brings a broad range of administrative experiences and valuable state and national perspectives on higher education issues and policies. She served as chair of two of the big six national organizations in higher education: The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and The American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Other board experience includes; service as Chair of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, President of the Tejas Council of Girls Scouts, and of The Dallas Summit.”
A member of numerous boards of directors beyond TSU’s board, and recipient of countless leadership and service awards, Sias, in 2019, had the honor of having Kentucky State University unveil the “Mary Evans Sias Pedestrian Walkway,” named in her honor.
A graduate of Leadership Dallas, Leadership Texas and Leadership America, Sias holds a Bachelor of Science in sociology from Tougaloo College and both a Master of Science and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Additionally, she received an MBA from Abilene Christian University and an honorary doctorate in public service from Central Michigan University. She is married to Shadrach S. Sias III and they have one daughter, Adrienne M. Sias.
