Zant to assume broader duties as Tuck retires
Veteran Mississippi State University Vice President Don A. Zant will assume broader duties in a campus reorganization plan unveiled by MSU President Mark E. Keenum after longtime Vice President for Campus Services Amy Tuck announced her retirement earlier this month.
“Over a very distinguished career in public service that has spanned more than three decades, Amy Tuck has been a faithful advocate for the people of Mississippi,” said Keenum. “In the State Senate, as lieutenant governor, and most recently as a senior administrator at Mississippi State, Gov. Tuck has been an outstanding leader. She will be missed at her alma mater. I have appreciated her support and wise counsel.”
At MSU, Tuck led the Division of Campus Services, which entailed Facilities Management, Parking and Transit, Sustainability, Faculty Housing, and the Office of Planning, Design and Construction Administration, among other vital campus services.
Also retiring this fall is longtime Assistant Vice President for Campus Services George Davis, a 40-year veteran MSU staff member.
Keenum said these retirements afford the university the opportunity to reevaluate administrative structures to maximize efficiencies and the university’s current goals. To that end, the president announced that MSU would return to a prior model that combines the Divisions of Finance and Campus Services to become the Division of Finance and Administration, to be led by Zant.
“Don Zant’s career at MSU has provided him an exhaustive knowledge of our financial operations and our administrative structures,” said Keenum. “His service as MSU's chief financial officer and his oversight of units that include controller and treasurer; procurement and contracts; accounts payable; property control; and receiving uniquely qualify Don for this expanded role.”
A native Texan, Zant holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Lubbock Christian University, from which he graduated magna cum laude. He earlier served as assistant director of internal audit at Texas Tech University, as well as a senior auditor with a private firm.
Zant joined MSU in 1997 as director of internal audit and was named vice president for budget and planning in 2010. His latest title was vice president for finance and chief financial officer (CFO).
As part of the reorganization, Keenum said current Division of Finance fiscal operations analyst Les Potts will be named associate vice president for administration and that a new executive director of campus services will be hired.
For the past 11 years, Potts has worked on university appropriations and budgets, long-term contracts, efficiency efforts and several special projects involving campus services. Most recently, he served as the university’s primary project liaison for the $70 million College View student housing development, the first public-private-partnership of its kind in Mississippi.
For more information on MSU’s Division of Finance and Administration and its programs, visit www.finance.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Sid Salter | Public Affairs
