Greetings From President Verret
Dear Members of the Xavier Community,
Xavier University of Louisiana has a long history of welcoming students to its family to advance the work of our foundress, Saint Katharine Drexel, and to advance the work of creating the more just and humane society that every person deserves.
The mission set forth nearly 100 years ago is as relevant today as ever. And, every person that comes through Xavier’s door is an essential part of that mission, for we are a community dedicated to academic excellence and much, much more.
At Xavier, we live the mission by offering co-curricular programming, serving the community around us, and continue fulfilling the legacy of generation after generation of Xavierites to be leading voices for change and justice. The growth and development experienced by our students throughout their time at Xavier is the result of a communal support system designed to provide the resources they need to realize their personal goals, and where we are also enriched by the talents and gifts that they bring to Xavier.
Our reach is global! Xavier alumni are serving the nation and the world in fields of medicine, law, pharmacy, social and physical sciences, public health, art, humanities, music, and education. Xavierites finish with a degree recognized nationally and renowned for positively impacting the economic future of its recipient. Additionally, that degree signifies a readiness to contribute to the improvement and wellbeing of the communities that Xavierites go forth to serve and lead.
At Xavier, we are committed to the development of the whole student and the Xavier family's commitment to support the development and success of every student.
I welcome you into Xavier’s collective and communal eXcellence.
Reynold Verret
President
About Reynold Verret
Dr. Reynold Verret is the sixth president and second lay leader of Xavier University of Louisiana. Of the 107 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and 262 Catholic colleges and universities in the United States, Xavier is the only Catholic HBCU in the nation.
Prior to acceding to the presidency of Xavier, Dr. Verret has served as provost at Savannah State University and at Wilkes University. As chief academic officer at Savannah, he led the university initiatives to build enrollment, enhance the quality and diversity of academic programs, develop the faculty, promote interdisciplinary efforts especially between the humanities and sciences, and to create cooperative relationships with neighboring institutions and with other partners at the K-12 and higher education levels.
He has also served as the Dean of Arts and Sciences at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. As faculty in Chemistry at Tulane University and also at Clark Atlanta University, Dr. Verret took great pleasure and satisfaction in the education of students at the undergraduate and graduate level. For many years, he led the Department of Chemistry as its chair at Clark Atlanta University. During his tenure at Clark, he also joined Morehouse School of Medicine as an adjunct professor of immunology while taking part in a research collaboration with the School of Medicine Immunology and Microbiology faculty.
As a biochemist and immunologist, Dr. Verret studied the functions of immune cells, especially the mechanisms of resistance to the lytic properties of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. Other areas of interest included fundamental properties of biological membranes and development and identifications of biosensors and biomarkers. He has published over two dozen scientific articles on various biochemical research. Throughout his career, he has dedicated effort to increase the number of students, especially those from underrepresented groups, pursuing degrees in STEM disciplines, encouragement in continuing to advanced study, and mitigating the shortage of qualified STEM teachers.
He has served on many professional organizations and advisory bodies, including those of the National Institutes of Health, the Board of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, and the Georgia Coastal Indicators Coalition. He has received awards and fellowships for teaching and scholarship.
A Haitian native, Dr. Verret received his undergraduate degree cum laude in biochemistry from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the laboratory of the late Har Gobind Khorana. Beyond his degrees, he has postdoctoral experiences as a fellow at the Howard Hughes Institute for Immunology at Yale and the Center for Cancer Research at MIT where he completed research regarding immunology.
DR. REYNOLD VERRET
President, Xavier University of LA
Dr. Reynold Verret was unanimously elected Xavier University of Louisiana’s president by the Board of Trustees, taking office on July 1, 2015. Prior to his appointment as president, he has served as provost and chief administrative officer at Savannah State, Georgia’s first public historically black university. Immigrating from Haiti in 1963, Dr. Verret went on to complete his undergraduate degree with honors from Columbia University, a doctorate in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Howard Hughes Institute for Immunology at Yale University and the Center for Cancer Research at MIT. In addition to his role at Savannah State, Dr. Verret served as provost at Wilkes University in Northern Pennsylvania and as dean of the Misher College of Arts and Sciences at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He also served as the chair of the chemistry at Clark Atlanta University, where he helped allocate close to $10 million in grant funding. His background in the sciences makes him particularly suited to Xavier, having developed programs to prepare STEM teachers, secure tuition support for teacher certification in STEM fields and affirm joint instructional and research programs. As President of Xavier University, Dr. Verret leads the initiatives to build enrollment, enhance the quality and diversity of academic programs and to create cooperative relationships with neighboring institutions and with international partners. His current vision for the future of Xavier to be a globally recognized University that celebrates diversity, fosters an intellectual environment of academic excellence, honors the legacy of Xavier as a historically black, Catholic University founded upon the teachings of St. Katherine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, and educates our future leaders to build a just and humane society.
Quick Facts
Education
Ph.D. (1982) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biochemistry
B.A. (1976) Columbia College, Columbia University, Biochemistry, Cum Laude
MDP (2004) Harvard Graduate School of Education, Higher Ed Programs
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana, founded by St. Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1925, is Catholic and historically Black. The ultimate purpose of the University is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society.
The only historically Black, Catholic university in the United States, XULA is a private, liberal-arts based, co-educational institution offering 40 undergraduate majors, 5 master’s degree programs and a doctor of pharmacy program. More than one-half of its 3,100 students are from Louisiana, but it draws students from nearly all fifty states and 35 countries.
Languages Spoken
English | Français | Kreyol Ayisyen | Español
Selected Awards and Honors Honorary
- Doctorate of Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2019)
- 1804 List of Haitian-American Changemakers (2016)
- USP-Office of Sponsored Programs Award (2006)
- First-Year Advising Award –University of the Sciences (2004)
- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) Award for Academic Excellence and Student Mentoring (1999)
- Fogarty International Center Fellow – Biocentrum, Turku, Finland (1997)
- Educational Resource Center Teaching Award, Tulane University (1990)
- Karl Taylor Compton Prize, M.I.T. (1980)
- Greenlaw Fellowship, M.I.T. (1976)
- Phi Beta Kappa, Columbia University (1976)
- King Crown Award, Columbia University (1976)
- Charles Hubsman Prize in Biology, Columbia College (1975)
Selected Appointments
- Immediate past Board Director, Georgia Coastal Community Indicators Coalition Steering
- Past Executive Committee and Board Director, Pennsylvania Humanities Council
- Past Board Member, Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce
- Past Technical Advisory Board Member, Georgia Governor’s Cancer Initiative
- Past Board Member, Lyke House Catholic Center, Atlanta University Center
- Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences • Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)
- American Chemical Society • Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
- American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology • American Association of Immunology
- National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers,
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
Since President Verret has taken the helm of the university, we've accomplished a number of things our entire university community can be very proud of:
- We have seen consistent growth of incoming Freshman over these four years, peaking most recently in the Fall of 2018 with a 20% growth of incoming first-year students in the fall semester of 2018; boosting Xavier's overall enrollment to its highest level in 8 years.
- But even more importantly we have also seen consistent increases in our student retention and matriculation rates: A 3% increase in first to second-year retention.
- As New Orleans is a laboratory for innovation in K-12 Public Education, we developed a strategic alliance with local public schools to serve as a pipeline for African American teachers, as well as created a Doctoral program in Educational Leadership.
- We’ve expanded our partnership with Ochsner Health Systems, who we have had a symbiotic relationship with our College of Pharmacy since the 1980s, to include another clinical learning experience and to be the first HBCU in the south to launch a new Xavier Physician Assistant program.
- Over the last few years, we have substantially expanded the institution's program offerings and continue to do so, at the undergraduate and graduate level. These include non-degree certificate programs as well.
- Xavier is ranked as the nation’s No. 2 HBCU (Historically Black College and University) in Money magazine’s “Best Colleges for Your Money” 2018-19 college guide.
- We've secured a $1.5 million gift from the Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation.
- Xavier was one of the premier HBCUs to be chosen for scholarships from Beyoncé, Google, and Kevin Hart.
- Despite Xavier’s relatively small size of 3,300 students, we continue to be the nationally recognized leader in the STEM and the health sciences, producing more African American students who graduate from medical schools each year than any other university in the United States.
- Founded the Center for Equity, Justice, and the Human Spirit at Xavier University of Louisiana, vibrant and critical research, teaching, and public engagement space.
- Xavier took a lead role in organizing a coalition of HBCUs across the Gulf Coast and among a bipartisan congressional delegation to work with Congress and the US Department of Education to receive loan forgiveness for over $388 million in post-Hurricane Katrina and Rita disaster funding. For us and our partner institutions, the loans were an existential threat and could have wreaked operational havoc. The loan forgiveness was a huge burden of all affected HBCUs backs. Based partly on that, as well as other strategic initiatives and enrollment growth, Xavier is in a good financial position -- and Xavier can now address important institutional needs, such as housing, to meet our growing enrollment rate.
Given our current success and a myriad of other accomplishments, we are very confident about the future of the institution as we enter our 95th anniversary.