(February 6, 2014)

Centenary President elected to NAICU Board of Directors

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary President David Rowe has been named to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). The membership of NAICU ratified the election of Dr. Rowe and 14 other members to its board at the 2014 NAICU Annual Meeting held in Washington, D.C. this week.

"NAICU's new board members and officers were elected by their peers because of their commitment to America's college students, leadership experience, and interest in advancing the cause of private, nonprofit colleges and universities," said NAICU President David L. Warren. "They assume their responsibilities at a time of great challenge and transformation for American higher education."

President Rowe will serve a three-year term on the board, representing the association's Region VI, which covers Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.

He has been President of Centenary College of Louisiana since 2009. The financial and educational transformations that have taken place during President Rowe's leadership have led Moody's to upgrade the institution's fiscal outlook from negative to positive, have moved Centenary into US News and World Report's Tier One of National Liberal Arts Colleges, and were recognized in The Chronicle Higher Education's July 3, 2011 article: "In Louisiana a Small College Gives Itself a Makeover."

Prior to joining Centenary, President Rowe served as Vice President for Advancement at LaGrange College for nine years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Southwestern University, a Master of Divinity, cum laude, from Emory University and a Certificate in Ecumenical Studies from the World Council of Churches and the University of Geneva. He earned the PhD from Georgia State University.

The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) serves as the unified national voice of private nonprofit higher education. With more than 1,000 members nationwide, NAICU reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit higher education in the United States.