Contact: Joe Farris
MSU Dean Roy Ruby
After serving on an interim basis for the past year, veteran Mississippi State administrator Roy H. Ruby is the new dean of the university's College of Education. He has chosen to give up duties as vice president for student affairs when a successor can be appointed to that post.
A search committee formed last year to seek a permanent education dean recommended that Ruby continue to lead the 93-year-old college. The timing of the search and the total pool of candidates raised concerns about a successful outcome, committee members said.
As he has since last May, Ruby will continue double duty as vice president and dean, pending a search for a new leader for the Division of Student Affairs. As division leader since 1985, he has been responsible for student recruiting, admissions, housing, health services, and student organizations, among other functions.
Interim President J. Charles Lee said a search for Ruby's successor will begin promptly, with the goal of having the post filled by the fall. Sound associate and departmental leadership in place throughout the division should contribute to a smooth and fairly quick transition, Lee said.
"Roy Ruby has done an extraordinary job of handling two key administrative positions simultaneously during the past year, but that arrangement could not continue indefinitely," Lee said. "We appreciate his willingness to carry on as dean of one of our largest academic units, where the university has the greatest need of his talents at this juncture, and certainly we respect his decision to relinquish the vice president's role.
"He has served with distinction as Student Affairs vice president for 17 years and thousands of students have benefited from his leadership and interest in their future," Lee said.
Under Ruby's leadership, the education college, established in 1909 and now enrolling more than 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students, recently completed a reaccreditation review by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
"Roy Ruby has a deep understanding of Mississippi State's leadership role in preparing the teachers and other school personnel for this state, and his commitment to quality and productivity in the College of Education has been evident during the past year," said Interim Provost George Verrall, a longtime colleague.
"We can be confident that the quality of leadership in the college will be assured during his tenure, during which we will have ample time to plan and prepare for the long-term future of the college," Verrall added.
Ruby, a cooperative extension county agent's son who was reared in Yazoo City and Belzoni, holds faculty rank as an associate professor of counselor education and has taught courses in the department of counselor education and educational psychology for many years.
He received bachelor's and master's degrees in political science from Mississippi State in 1961 and 1966, and has worked for the university since 1964. He completed a doctorate in higher education and student personnel at the University of Mississippi in 1973.
Before leading the student affairs division, he was its dean of student administrative services, assistant to the vice president for student affairs, and, from 1974-78, directed MSU's degree-granting branch in Jackson.