Contact: Joe Farris
Mississippi State's provost and vice president for academic affairs will give up that position by June 30.
Derek J. Hodgson has headed the university's academic programs since August 1994. Hodgson, a tenured professor of chemistry, said Monday that he expects to return to classroom teaching and research at the university but also is considering other options.
Malcolm Portera, who will become president of Mississippi State on Jan. 1, said a national search for Hodgson's successor will get under way in January.
"It is critical to the future of Mississippi State that we secure high quality leadership in this important position in academic affairs," Portera said. "We are going to be very diligent in working with the faculty and the academic leadership of the university to ensure that we identify the best possible candidates and that we select an academic administrator of the highest caliber."
Hodgson came to Mississippi State from the University of Wyoming, where he had served since 1987 as professor and head of the chemistry department and as vice president for research. He had spent the previous 18 years as a member of the chemistry department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.