The board of trustees at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, has named Sandra Harper as the educational institution’s next president. She will begin her new job immediately as president-elect until she is officially inaugurated. Dr. Harper is the first woman to be named full-time president of a university in the Abilene area.
Since 2006, Dr. Harper has been serving as president of Our Lady of the Lake College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. From 1998 to 2006, she was a professor of communication, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. She is a former professor and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at McMurry University.
Dr. Harper is a graduate of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at the University of North Texas.