Office of
Academic Affairs
Interim Executive Vice President & Provost Troy Blanchard
Troy Blanchard currently serves as the Interim Executive Vice President & Provost of Louisiana State University. Blanchard, the Chief Operating and Chief Academic Officer of LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge, maintains executive oversight over instruction, student support, and research while simultaneously serving as the chief academic officer for all LSU campuses across the state and chief academic advisor to the President.
Blanchard joined the faculty of the LSU Department of Sociology in 2007 and has since held multiple leadership positions, most notably serving as dean of the LSU College of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS)—one of LSU’s largest colleges— from 2019 through 2025.
Academic Enterprise
The Office of Academic Affairs supports the Executive Vice President & Provost in ensuring university excellence in learning, discovery, and engagement. The office works closely with the faculty senate and the president to advance LSU using a shared governance model. We also make communication and transparency a hallmark of the office. Lastly, the essence of our academic core--our faculty and staff--are preeminent in everything we do.
LSU ELEMENTS & DISCOVERY
LSU's faculty information system, Elements, allows for robust faculty activity data collection, maintenance and reporting on the teaching, research and service activities while the Discovery Module provides an interface for faculty collaboration and integration which allows collaborators to connect with faculty.
LSU scientists and the LSU AgCenter are transforming Louisiana’s cattle industry by crossbreeding Brahman and Wagyu, improving beef quality, producer profits, and sustainability while training students and supporting local ranchers.
The Professor Index app, or PI, was built by an LSU researcher as a secure, fair, and ad-free alternative to Rate My Professors to help students compare courses and provide feedback.
Syngenta, a science-based agriculture company with a key production site in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, has partnered with LSU and FUEL to transform how digital twins are created for chemical processing facilities.
The LSU Board of Supervisors has named six faculty members as Boyd Professors, the university’s highest academic honor. This historic cohort—the largest ever—includes four from LSU, one from LSU Shreveport, and one from Pennington Biomedical.
The LSU Energy Institute is a new, interdisciplinary research institute designed to strengthen the university’s leadership—and resulting impact—in energy research, natural resource management, and innovation. This strategic move aligns with LSU’s Scholarship First Agenda, where energy is one of five core focus areas for research critical to the future of Louisiana and the nation.
The LSU Faculty Brass Quintet kicks off a three-stop September tour with performances at the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia, and Florida State University.