BEAUMONT, Texas — The national search for the new president of the Lamar Institute of Technology is over.
The Board of Regents of the Texas State University System has confirmed Sidney E. Valentine, Ph.D., as president of LIT. He was named the sole finalist for the position in July 2022.
(Editor's note: The above video is from a July 25, 2022 newscast.)
Valentine will start assume office on August 16, 2022, succeeding Dr. Lonnie Howard. Howard has served as the president of LIT since 2016.
The new LIT president has a master's degree and doctorate in computer engineering. He also earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.
Valentine has served as chief academic and student services officer at South Florida State College since 2015. While at the university he, “provided academic leadership for the college’s transfer, vocational, technical, adult and community education, and workforce education programs.”
Valentine also served as the associate vice president of industrial and engineering technology at York College in South Carolina. Before that, he was the director of workforce and economic development at the West Virginia Community and Technical College System.
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From an LIT release:
(AUSTIN) - The Board of Regents of the Texas State University System has confirmed Sidney E. Valentine, Ph.D., as president of Lamar Institute of Technology in Beaumont. Dr. Valentine was named sole finalist for the position last month following a national search. He will assume office August 16.
Since 2015, Dr. Valentine has served as chief academic and student services officer at South Florida State College, where he provided academic leadership for the college’s transfer, vocational, technical, adult and community education, and workforce education programs. He also supervised the college’s applied research activities, grants, and institutional effectiveness efforts.
From 2011 to 2015, Valentine served as associate vice president of industrial and engineering technology at York Technical College in South Carolina. Prior to that, he was the director of workforce and economic development at the West Virginia Community and Technical College System.
Valentine earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from The University of South Carolina and holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University Institute of Technology. He succeeds Dr. Lonnie Howard, who has served as president of LIT since 2016.