William F. Tate

William F. Tate Overview

William F. Tate IV, a distinguished African-American social scientist and higher education leader, achieved groundbreaking milestones when he assumed the role of president for the Louisiana State University (LSU) system and chancellor of its Baton Rouge flagship campus in May 2021. In doing so, he became the first Black individual to hold these positions and the inaugural leader from the Southeastern athletics conference. Before his LSU appointment, Tate served as the Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of South Carolina, where he also held the prestigious USC Education Foundation Distinguished Professorship with affiliations in Sociology, Family and Preventive Medicine, and Epidemiology & Biostatistics. His impressive career path included positions such as dean, vice provost for graduate education, and the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professorship in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, he occupied the William L. and Betty F. Adams Chair at Texas Christian University and contributed to the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tate's significant contributions to the field of education are underscored by his fellowship and past presidency in the American Educational Research Association, along with his election as a member of the National Academy of Education in 2016. Beyond his academic pursuits, Tate co-authored several influential mathematics textbooks, including Silver Burdett Ginn Mathematics, Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics, Scott Foresman Science, Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley enVisionMATH, and enVisionMATH Common Core.