LSU’s front office is on a rollercoaster ride amid the coaching carousel chaos. After ousting football coach Brian Kelly, the program also parted ways with athletic director Scott Woodward, the man who had signed Kelly to a hefty $95 million contract. Now, Wade Rousse is the new Tigers president. Before him, William Tate IV held the job.

Under the previous administration, LSU’s research spending surged to a record $543 million in the 2023-24 academic year. However, Tate abruptly left LSU in mid-2025 to become the president of Rutgers University. Dr. Matt Lee stepped in as interim president starting June 1, 2025. On the other hand, the LSU Board of Supervisors launched a thorough search for a permanent replacement.

This search included several strong candidates, but Wade Rousse, then president of McNeese State University, emerged as the eventual pick.

Wade Rousse’s education and early Career

Born and raised in Golden Meadow, Louisiana, Rousse started his college journey at McNeese University in 1989 as a first-generation college student and football player. He later transferred to Nicholls State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in business in 1993. The educational pursuit continued. He earned an MBA from the University of New Orleans in 2002, which helped him advance in the marine transportation business.

He eventually became a partner and played a key role in the company’s sale. Wanting to deepen his expertise, he pursued a Master’s and then a PhD in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, finishing his doctorate in 2009 while teaching as adjunct faculty. He transitioned into higher education leadership at McNeese in various roles, including dean, vice president, and eventually president in 2024.

What is Wade Rousse’s ethnicity?

LSU’s newly minted president carries with him a rich cultural heritage that’s deeply tied to Louisiana’s Cajun roots. Wade Rousse grew up immersed in the Cajun culture that dominates the southern part of the state. This Cajun identity, with its unique blend of French, Creole, and Native American influences, is an essential part of who he is.

What is Wade Rousse’s net worth?

Wade Rousse’s actual net worth is not available. But let’s take a look at his previous job remuneration. At McNeese State, Rousse was not just president but also previously served as executive vice president, vice president for university advancement, and dean of the College of Business. For context, McNeese’s average employee salary hovers around $53,000 annually, with top executives naturally earning much more.

Comparatively, presidents at regional universities often pull between $200,000 and $300,000 per year, depending on the size and budget of the institution. But in Baton Rouge, that figure might just boost up. William Tate earned a base salary of $750,000 a year during his tenure. But that was just the starting point. His contract included hefty performance-based incentives that could nearly double his pay to around $1.4 million annually.

It was completely based upon the completion of a series of ambitious goals. For example, Tate could earn $75,000 bonuses for each fiscal year that LSU hit or exceeded new research grant awards and maintained strong freshman-to-sophomore retention rates. LSU also offered big fundraising bonuses like $75K to $100K, depending on how much the school brought in.

Upon completing his fourth year under this contract, Tate was also eligible for a lump sum of $500,000. That means Rousse is in for a treat at Baton Rouge.

Wade Rousse’s Family: wife Angela, and supportive partnership

Wade Rousse is married to Angela, who worked as a NICU nurse. It’s a detail that reveals the family’s dedication to service and care. While Rousse was working on his doctorate, he and Angela fell in love with higher ed. When Rousse took over as president of McNeese in 2024, the couple faced tough circumstances. The university president’s residence was still under repair from the devastation caused by Hurricane Laura years earlier, so they lived in a remodeled dorm room and shared meals with students in the cafeteria.

Wade Rousse’s vision for LSU

For six long months, LSU’s presidential search felt like a drawn-out game of musical chairs. After all that searching, they finally landed on three names, one of them was Rousse. And as a part of their selection process, all the candidates were allotted a day to share their visions with LSU students, staff, and faculty, if they are selected. Rousse’s vision? Absolutely gold. He wasn’t shy about saying that having Louisiana roots isn’t a deal breaker for the job, but it sure helps. Some folks raised eyebrows about his lack of experience at a big research university, but Rousse shrugged it off.

Leadership, he said, is what counts most, and he’s been through the deep dive of research enough to grasp the complexity behind it. “My first priority is going to be very aggressive in trying to get structure in place,” he said. “Second thing is obviously you’re going to have to go on this crazy listening tour from what’s going to be nine campuses pretty soon, and trying to gain trust as quickly as you can. It’s going to take some time.” What’s inspiring? The students. What needs work? The campus itself.

“Some of the deferred maintenance that I’ve read about as you walk across campus becomes more real. In terms of the condition of our campus and how we fix the aesthetics to really make this a world-class institution,” Rousse said.