July 5, 1995
      Kemp      1


SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY GETS NEW PRESIDENT
     
     HAMMOND -- Sally Clausen, Louisiana's Secretary of Education and former
Commissioner of Higher Education, has been named president of Southeastern Louisiana
University.
     Dr.  Clausen, who succeeded G. Warren Smith, was chosen from 38 applicants by the
Louisiana Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities. She took office July 1. 
     Southeastern's new president has had a long career in Louisiana education and state
government.  She has played key roles in several state and national higher education
organizations and commissions, including most recently the Higher Education Commission for
the 21st Century--a blue-ribbon panel to advance education in Louisiana.  
     From 1968 to 1971,  Clausen taught in the East Baton Rouge Parish (county) public
school system and in 1975 joined Louisiana State University as an assessment teacher. Six years 
later, she returned to the East Baton Rouge Parish school system as coordinator of assessment
and psychological services while continuing to teach parttime at LSU.
     Between 1984 and 1988, Clausen temporarily left education to become the state's Deputy
Commissioner of Administration. In 1988, with top-level administrative experience added to her
vita, the Louisiana Board of Regents appointed her Commissioner of Higher Education. The
following year, Clausen, who has a doctorate in school administration and management from
LSU, returned to university life as Southeastern's Assistant Dean of Students and Director of
Legislative and Community Relations.
     In 1992 she was appointed Louisiana's Secretary of Education and education adviser to
the governor. As secretary, she was Louisiana's representative on educational issues to various
national and regional organizations such as the National Governors' Association, Education
Commission of the States, Southern Regional Education Board, and the United States
Department of Education.
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