President of the University of Southern Mississippi to Step Down

Martha Saunders, president of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, has announced that she will leave her post on June 30. Next fall she will take a faculty position at the Gulf Coast campus of the University of Southern Mississippi in Long Beach.

Dr. Saunders became president of the University of Southern Mississippi in 2007. Previously, she was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she was the first woman chancellor. Prior to that position, Dr. Saunders was vice president for academic affairs at Columbus State University in Georgia.

A native of Hattiesburg, President Saunders earned a bachelor’s degree in French at the University of Southern Mississippi. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in communication theory and research from Florida State University.