Martha Dunagin Saunders

Martha Dunagin Saunders

Martha Dunagin Saunders is an American academic official and the ninth and current president of The University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Saunders was elected to the post in April 2007 and replaced embattled president Dr. Shelby F. Thames. Dr. Saunders, a 1969 alumna of USM, became the first woman ever elected to the presidential post at USM.

Biography

Dr. Martha Dunagin Saunders comes to the University of Southern Mississippi from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she served as its first-ever female Chancellor. During her tenure, she brought the campus together with a widely inclusive strategic planning process; hosted a successful Higher Learning Commission re-accreditation review; and finalized plans for major building projects totaling $110 million, including a new University Center and a new building for the College of Business and Economics. During her time at Whitewater she dismissed two African American deans. Saunders and the rest of her administration were sued for racial discrimination.

Prior to her appointment at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, she was vice president for academic affairs at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia for just two years, where she led an effort to create the Centers of Excellence to further the academic outreach of more than 30 private-public partnerships. She was on the leadership team for a successful $100 million capital campaign, led the campus strategic planning process, and developed several initiatives to increase student enrollment, recruit and retain outstanding faculty and staff, improve the first year experience, and strengthen preparation of teachers in mathematics and science. Before she became President of USM she had less than five years of administrative experience.

She previously held the position of Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of West Florida (UWF), where she had already earned the rank of tenured professor of communication. At UWF, she also worked as Director of the University Honors Program.

Throughout her 30-year career in higher education, Dr. Saunders has taught thousands of students. Her philosophy of education follows three simple guiding principles: know your students, connect them to bigger things, and set a good example.

Dr. Saunders' training and experience in the field of communication led to numerous publications on crisis communication and public relations; widely anthologized published speeches; and the Public Relations Society of America's highest national award for the "Just 2 It!" public safety communication campaign.

A native of Mississippi, Dr. Saunders earned her B.A. in French from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg; her M.A. in Journalism from the University of Georgia in Athens; and her Ph.D. in Communication Theory and Research from Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Dr. Saunders is married to Joseph Bailey, who recently retired from the telecommunications industry. They have seven grown children and three grandchildren.

External links

• USM names Dr. Martha Dunagin Saunders as ninth president 4/5/2007
• Southern Miss Inauguration Video 4/28/2008

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