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.
Rabi Musah, an Environmental Chemistry professor at LSU, explores applications of chemical fingerprinting, including the identification of insects that feed on decomposing corpses and carrion. The lab’s move last year from New York to LSU brought many surprises.
LSU’s Advanced Microscopy and Analytical Core (AMAC) facility gives Louisiana researchers access to 16 state-of-the-art instruments, including a new Spectra 300 Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (S/TEM) for atomic-scale imaging and analysis.
LSU’s Erin Oberhaus is developing a hormonal treatment to jumpstart mares’ reproductive cycles with one injection, reducing reliance on months of artificial lighting and giving breeders a faster, cost-effective path to prized early foals.
LSU is leading two teams and contributing to two others that are finalists in the Gulf Futures Challenge, a national competition that funds innovative projects aimed at securing Louisiana’s energy independence and strengthening flood resilience.
LSU celebrated three faculty members during the Presidential Laurel recognition ceremony. The event recognizes the exceptional academic and research accomplishments of faculty over the past academic year.
