Elected and Appointed Government Officials 2017

Bill LaForge began serving as the eighth President of Delta State University in 2013. Before returning to his alma mater, he enjoyed a 37-year career in both the public and private sectors in Washington, DC, that spanned the fields of government, law, higher education, and public policy. This included a stint as Chief of Staff to Senator Thad Cochran.

Mr. LaForge has devoted his time and energy at Delta State to making excellence a hallmark of the university, and he has initiated numerous programs toward this end including: two signature annual conferences—Winning the Race Conference on Race Relations and the International Conference on the Blues; the Delta State University Colloquia Distinguished Lecture Series, which features prominent speakers from across the country; aggressive student recruitment and enrollment tactics, which has resulted in four consecutive years of enrollment increases; an emphasis on international recruiting, which reached record levels in Fall 2016; and, a formal educational partnership with GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi, which is contributing to Delta State’s reputation as a center of excellence for music and culture. President LaForge was tapped in 2015 to serve on the prestigious National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division II Presidents Council, the highest governing body of Division II responsible for implementing policies adopted by the NCAA Board of Governors. He also serves as president of the Gulf South Conference.

President LaForge grew up in Cleveland, Mississippi, where he attended public schools, and graduated with honors from Delta State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law, received an LL.M. in international law from Georgetown University, and studied international law at Cambridge University. He received fellowships to study government and public policy in the European Union and at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and he is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of laws from the Stetson University College of Law.