Meet The President

With 20 years of service in higher education, Keith Elder, Ph.D., brings extensive leadership experience to the University, most recently serving as executive vice president at Mississippi College. Previously, he served as provost at Mississippi College and founding dean and professor of the School of Public Health at Samford University. Elder's doctoral training was completed at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he was a recipient of the National Institutes of Health Minority Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. He also served as chair for the Department of Health Management and Policy in the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University (SLU) and as faculty for the Department of Health Services Policy and Management at the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health.

Elder has spent the majority of his higher education career at faith-based institutions and has worked with colleagues to improve student success and access to higher education, regardless of socio-economic status. Elder remains an active scholar committed to evidence-based research that will help inform health programs, health policy, and health care delivery, with a specialized interest in men's health, chronic disease management, health information technology as a means to promote health, aging and disability research, cancer prevention and outcomes, and reducing health disparities and inequities. He's also served as principal investigator or investigator on funded projects by various health associations and institutes and is a member of the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Public Health.

Elder is honored to serve as the next president of Saint Xavier University and looks forward to working with the student-centered, mission-focused community. He is eager to help build upon Saint Xavier's stellar reputation and continue opening doors to bright futures.