An Ohio University administrator Donna L. Clevinger is Mississippi State’s choice to lead the university’s Meridian campus.

Clevinger has served since 2004 as associate dean of Ohio University’s Zanesville campus. Prior to that, she was professor and chair of the theater department at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, and, in the mid-1990s, led the speech and theater department at Blue Mountain College in Northeast Mississippi.

Subject to formal approval by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor doctoral graduate will begin her new duties in early August. She is replacing Harold J. Nichols who is retiring from the MSU Meridian dean’s post.

Dennis J. Mitchell, chair of MSU-Meridian’s Division of Arts and Sciences is serving as interim dean until Clevinger arrives.

Clevinger was among three finalists for the MSU dean’s position that also included D’Ann Campbell, director of foundation and government relations at the U.S. Coast Guard Foundation and Dr. Jack Tucci, chair of MSU-Meridian’s Division of Business and Industry.

“We are pleased that Dr. Clevinger has accepted our offer to lead Mississippi State’s Meridian campus,” said university Provost Peter Rabideau, vice president for academic affairs. “She is a veteran administrator with a proven record of budget planning and preparation, as well as a deep commitment to community involvement in higher education.

“It’s also to her credit that she has prior experience in Mississippi collegiate education.”

In addition to a 1980 doctorate from Michigan, Clevinger holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Kentucky in 1973 and 1975, respectively. She also is a graduate of the Harvard University Institute for Management and Leadership in Education.

After beginning her career in Michigan, she held teaching and departmental leadership positions in Texas, Florida, Mississippi, and Virginia. She was at Blue Mountain 1996-1999.

Clevinger has been recognized as an outstanding college/university teacher by Ohio Magazine and received two statewide teaching awards while in Texas. Among her publications is the book “Practical Tips from the Hot Seat in Dreaded Job Interviews.” (Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001).

Established in 1972, MSU-Meridian offers upper-level undergraduate and selected graduate programs through its divisions of Arts and Sciences, Business and Industry, and Education. The campus also operates the downtown MSU Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts, and provides a cooperative degree program in nursing with the University of Southern Mississippi.

The campus has more than 700 students: approximately 500 at the bachelor’s level and more than 200 at the graduate level. Its more than 50 faculty numbers are joined by a staff of 40.

The MSU Riley Center features a 1,000-seat performing arts auditorium and a 30,000 square-foot conference center.