Drama continues at Texas A&M after Murano resigns
. . . continued from page one
Murano, who had only served as TAMU president since January 2008, will apparently take a year off before returning to the campus as a member of the faculty and president emerita. Regents now face a nationwide search for a new president, which they say they would like to have completed within six months.
Before coming to TAMU, Loftin was a professor at Old Dominion University, was the university's director of simulation programs and executive director of the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center. He also previously served as professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and the director of the NASA Virtual Environments Research Institute at the University of Houston. He holds a bachelor's degree from A&M and a master's and Ph.D. from Rice University.
McClendon will serve as in an acting capacity during the period that Loftin serves in the College Station position. McClendon currently serves as executive associate vice president and chief operating officer for the Galveston campus. McClendon is a former chief of staff to a former TAMU President, serving from 2002 to 2008. He also is an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Resource Development. Prior to joining TAMU as coordinator of student retention and development for the Department of Multicultural Services in 1995, he was a residence hall director at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He later was promoted to assistant provost. McClendon holds a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College, a doctor of jurisprudence from the Emory University School of Law and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M.
