Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The dean of Mississippi State's Meridian campus is retiring.
University Provost Peter Rabideau said Monday [Jan. 22] that Harold "Nick" Nichols has announced that he will conclude his administrative tenure at the end of June. A search to name a replacement will begin soon, Rabideau added.
During Nichols' tenure, MSU completed a massive restoration of the Grand Opera House in downtown Meridian. The historic facility and an adjacent former commercial building form the Riley Education and Performing Arts Center, both extensions of the MSU-Meridian campus.
With considerable fanfare, the opera house reopened late last year.
"Nick has made valuable contributions to the Meridian campus and to the development of the Riley Center since his arrival in 2002," Rabideau said.
In his notification to colleagues on the Lauderdale County campus, Nichols said, "Working with you all has been a wonderful experience and we will treasure our time here and the privilege of knowing all of you."
He said he and his wife Anna Marie plan to spend more time with their grandchildren, who are "scattered across the country."
Before coming to the Magnolia State, Nichols was arts and sciences dean at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus. He holds a doctorate in theater history from Indiana University.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.