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UT Tyler Names Dr. Rodney Ellis as Longview University Center Director 

TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler announced the  appointment of Dr. Rodney Ellis as director of the UT Tyler Longview University Center. 

For 28 years, Ellis has worked in higher education in the states of Georgia and Louisiana. Most  recently, he served for nearly nine years as professor of education and chancellor on the  Shreveport, Louisiana, campus for the only historically black college and university system in  the world and chancellor of the technical and community college with the largest geographic  service area in Louisiana.  

“Dr. Rodney Ellis brings extensive knowledge and experience in higher education leadership  and community engagement to his role as director and is devoted to working closely with  faculty, staff, students and the community to expand the resource opportunities the Longview  University Center offers to the greater Longview community,’’ said UT Tyler President Kirk A.  Calhoun, MD, FACP. 

Ellis was chancellor of Southern University at Shreveport, chancellor of Central Louisiana  Technical and Community College and provost/executive vice president for academic and  student affairs at Atlanta Technical College. In those roles, he led all operations including  academic affairs, workforce development, institutional effectiveness and research, student  affairs, financial and facility services, institutional advancement and community partnership  development.  

Over his career, he has secured nearly $50 million in federal grant funding and nearly $20  million in private sector/nonstate funding and resources to support programs and services.  Ellis was appointed to the White House Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and  Universities in 2018 and as civilian aide to the secretary of the army for North Louisiana in  2019. 

Ellis earned a Doctor of Education in higher education administration from the University of  Georgia, Master of Science in judicial/legal administration from Auburn University at  Montgomery and Bachelor of Arts in political science from The University of Alabama. He is  also a certified economic developer trainer by the Technical College System of Georgia and  certified nonprofit manager by The Advancement Executive Network and the Technical  College System of Georgia. 

The Longview University Center offers the entire Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum,  allowing Longview-area students to experience reduced travel expenses and greater flexibility  in class scheduling while earning their UT Tyler degree. Longview University Center also  works in partnership with Kilgore College to provide seamless pathways for students with dual  credit and associate degrees to earn UT Tyler baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate degrees.  For more information, visit uttyler.edu/luc.

With a mission to improve educational and healthcare outcomes for East Texas and beyond,  UT Tyler offers more than 80 undergraduate and graduate programs to 10,000 students. UT  Tyler recently merged with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (now  known as UT Tyler Health Science Center). Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health  Science Center (HSC) and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve  Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by  Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national  university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston. 

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