Dr. Frances Lucas-Tauchar will take the helm as the new incoming Millsaps president. Like her father, Aubrey Lucas, who retired as president of the University of Southern Mississippi several years ago, Lucas-Tauchar has proven leadership to move Millsaps into a bold new future. She has returned to her Mississippi roots as a proven senior leader in higher education.

After providing 22 years of distinguished leadership, Millsaps President George Harmon announced last spring that he would step down from the presidency on June 30, 2000. Chairman of the Board Bud Robinson then launched a national search for a successor that would continue the college's tradition of academic excellence. Robinson proclaimed, "Over the last eight months, we have searched long and hard for the right person to build on the College's success, and I'm proud to say that we have found her. It is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Frances Lucas-Tauchar as the 10th President of Millsaps College."

Currently Senior Vice President for Campus Life at Emory University, Dr. Lucas-Tauchar will be the first woman president of the 110-year-old college.

"Frances possesses virtually all of the skills that the College's search and selection committees were looking for," noted Search Committee Chairman and trustee Maurice Hall. "When you add the fact that she is a native Mississippian and a life-long Methodist, we knew we had found a dynamic leader who would move Millsaps beyond our current successes."

Lucas-Tauchar, who was introduced to the media and the Millsaps community at a press conference recently, was exuberant about her appointment, which was unanimously approved by the Millsaps College Board of Trustees that morning. "I am grateful to have been selected as the 10th President of Millsaps College. Millsaps is a nationally respected and prominent institution of higher learning, and it sets the standard for academic excellence in our state."

Lucas-Tauchar is familiar with maintaining and increasing the stature of nationally respected institutions. She comes to Millsaps from a sister Methodist institution, Emory University in Atlanta, where she has had a profound impact on student life over the last eight years.

As Senior Vice President, Lucas-Tauchar has developed, initiated and managed more than 50 unique programs, many of which have been nationally recognized. Most recently her renowned "Pheonix Plan," a renaissance for fraternities, was reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education as being on the cutting edge of student life trends. While she presently supervises a budget of $43 million and 900 employees, what may have won the presidency for Lucas-Tauchar was not her heralded background, but her charismatic personality, passion for excellence and continuous drive towards success.

Robinson commented, "Considering all the interviews I have conducted over my professional life, I don't know if I have ever met a more engaging and articulate leader than Frances Lucas-Tauchar." Indeed, when the search and selection committee sat down on Tuesday to review the evaluations from the College's faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends, it was clear that Dr. Lucas-Tauchar should be the next Millsaps President.

Hall noted, "It was apparent that Frances's on-campus presence, poise, passion and grasp of the College's challenges and opportunities carried the day and landed her the selection committee's recommendation." Upon being informed of her selection, Lucas-Tauchar noted that several items will get priority attention when she formally assumes her new role on July 1, 2000. "I'll first want to become acquainted with the students, faculty and staff, alumni and friends, and board of trustees that make Millsaps a great institution."

"With an understanding of the goals of these constituents, I will seek not only to challenge them to achieve even greater heights, but also to proclaim the benefits that Millsaps offers to everyone I encounter. Together, we will create a strong and unified community supported by an energetic base of alumni and friends who will help us recruit and retain the best students and faculty from across the nation."

While these tasks will not be easy, they are just the type of challenges for which Lucas-Tauchar has long prepared.

She commented, "It has been my life-long dream to lead an institution like Millsaps toward a bold new future. As I have studied the College, it is obvious that the stage is set for Millsaps to become a significant force in the national academic arena. As most of the pieces are already in place, my role will be to help develop a plan and community of scholars who can put the parts together in order to position Millsaps for long-term success."

Lucas-Tauchar's husband, Paul Tauchar, will remain with his company, Cintas - The Uniform People, as the new sales manager of the Jackson plant that is scheduled to open in June 2000. Their son, Michael, is seven years old, and their daughter, Anna Catherine, is six years old.