Austin Peay State University has announced three finalists to become the next president and they will also make their official visits to the Clarksville campus this week.
Dr. Michael Licari will visit Austin Peay on Tuesday and Wednesday. As provost at Indiana State University, he oversees all academic functions of that university, as well as enrollment management and university marketing.
Dr. Jaime Taylor will visit APSU on Wednesday and Thursday. After earning both a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Engineering Science at the University of Tennessee Space Institute, Taylor began his academic career at Austin Peay in the Department of Physics. He spent four summers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center as a NASA Faculty Fellow with a focus on applications of soft computing.
At APSU, he served as Physics Department chair, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, and interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.
Dannelle Whiteside was appointed earlier this year by the APSU Board of Trustees as interim president, making her the first Black president of the more than 90-year-old institution. Whiteside originally joined the University in 2017 as Austin Peay’s general counsel. In the spring of 2019, she was named vice president for Legal Affairs.
She will make her official visit Thursday and Friday.
During her career at Austin Peay, she has also served as Secretary to the Board of Trustees. She is also adjunct faculty at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville. Prior to her time at APSU, Whiteside served as General Attorney for the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, General Counsel for the Tennessee State Board of Education and District Policy Advisor for Metro Nashville Public Schools.
Dr. Licari
Dr. Taylor