Connie Walton Is the New Leader of Grambling State University in Louisiana

The board of supervisors for the University of Louisiana System’s Executive Committee appointed Connie Walton as interim president of Grambling State University. Dr. Walton has been serving as the institution’s provost and vice president for academic affairs and has worked at Grambling for over 30 years.

Grambling State University enrolls just over 4,200 undergraduate students and more than 850 graduate students, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 64 percent of the undergraduate student body.

“My life is a testimony to the impact that this university can have on a student’s life. I knew as an undergraduate student at Grambling State University that I wanted to come back and be a part of the faculty,” Dr. Walton said. “This appointment provides an additional way to serve this great institution and help shape the lives of students.”

Dr. Walton has been a professor of chemistry at the university. Her research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of molecules that exhibit liquid crystalline behavior and polymer synthesis. She holds two U.S. patents. She was named interim provost in May 2019 and provost in January 2020.

Professor Walton is a graduate of Grambling State University. She earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Southern Mississippi.