Dr. Reynold Verret serves as the sixth president of Xavier University of Louisiana and its second lay president. Xavier holds a unique place in American higher education as the nation’s only Catholic historically Black college or university among more than 100 HBCUs and over 250 Catholic colleges and universities.
Before assuming leadership at Xavier, Dr. Verret held senior academic positions at several institutions, including serving as provost at Savannah State University and Wilkes University. At Savannah State, he led wide-ranging academic initiatives focused on expanding enrollment, strengthening academic offerings, supporting faculty development, and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration—particularly across the humanities and sciences. He also worked to build partnerships with local schools, colleges, and community organizations.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Verret served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. His academic background includes faculty appointments in chemistry at Tulane University and Clark Atlanta University, where he also chaired the Department of Chemistry. While at Clark Atlanta, he held an adjunct appointment in immunology at the Morehouse School of Medicine and collaborated with faculty on research in immunology and microbiology.
Trained as a biochemist and immunologist, Dr. Verret’s research has explored immune cell function, including how cells resist destruction by cytotoxic T lymphocytes. His scientific work has also examined biological membrane properties and the development of biosensors and biomarkers. He has authored more than two dozen peer-reviewed publications. Throughout his career, he has been deeply committed to expanding access to STEM education, particularly for students from underrepresented backgrounds, and to strengthening the pipeline of future scientists and STEM educators.
Dr. Verret has contributed to numerous professional and advisory organizations, including service connected to the National Institutes of Health, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, and the Georgia Coastal Indicators Coalition. His teaching and scholarship have been recognized with multiple honors and fellowships.
Originally from Haiti, Dr. Verret earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, graduating cum laude from Columbia University, and completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Har Gobind Khorana. He later pursued postdoctoral research in immunology as a fellow at Yale University’s Howard Hughes Institute for Immunology and at MIT’s Center for Cancer Research.
