Appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), the President of The University of Southern Mississippi is charged with serving as both the chief executive officer and principal educational officer. In general terms, the President is responsible to the Board of Trustees for every facet of institutional operations.

Specifically, the IHL Board delegates to its university presidents administrative control of the universities over which they preside. This includes responsibility for the administration of the divisions and departments of each institution and for keeping its expenditures strictly in harmony with the budget authorized by the IHL Board.

The President also must take the initiative in shaping the University's educational policy and academic standards in cooperation with the State Commissioner of Higher Education. The President has final authority over all employees. The President also is charged with the responsibility of maintaining appropriate standards of student conduct.

Dr. Martha Dunagin Saunders comes to the University of Southern Mississippi from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she served as its first-ever female Chancellor. During her tenure, she brought the campus together with a widely inclusive strategic planning process; hosted a successful Higher Learning Commission re-accreditation review; and finalized plans for major building projects totaling $110 million, including a new University Center and a new building for the College of Business and Economics.

Prior to her appointment at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, she was vice president for academic affairs at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, where she led an effort to create the Centers of Excellence to further the academic outreach of more than 30 private-public partnerships. She was on the leadership team for a successful $100 million capital campaign, led the campus strategic planning process, and developed several initiatives to increase student enrollment, recruit and retain outstanding faculty and staff, improve the first year experience, and strengthen preparation of teachers in mathematics and science.

She previously held the position of Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of West Florida (UWF), where she had already earned the rank of tenured professor of communication. At UWF, she also worked as Director of the University Honors Program.

Throughout her 30-year career in higher education, Dr. Saunders has taught thousands of students. Her philosophy of education follows three simple guiding principles: know your students, connect them to bigger things, and set a good example.

Dr. Saunders' training and experience in the field of communication led to numerous publications on crisis communication and public relations; widely anthologized published speeches; and the Public Relations Society of America's highest national award for the "Just 2 It!" public safety communication campaign.

A native of Mississippi, Dr. Saunders earned her B.A. in French from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg; her M.A. in Journalism from the University of Georgia in Athens; and her Ph.D. in Communication Theory and Research from Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Dr. Saunders is married to Joseph Bailey, who recently retired from the telecommunications industry. They have seven grown children and three grandchildren.