BATON ROUGE - LSU's Vice President for Agriculture and Dean Matt Lee will be stepping into the role of the university's interim president. 

President William Tate announced his departure for Rutgers on Monday, with his start date for that job being July 1 — the start date for Lee's new role. 

Lee has served in interim roles before, acting as the interim provost after Executive Vice President & Provost Stacia Haynie stepped down in 2021. 

“Matt’s long-term commitment to LSU, paired with his research and leadership expertise, made him the obvious choice to lead the LSU enterprise through this transitional phase,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott Ballard. “Considering his exceptional performance as head of the LSU AgCenter, his service as interim provost, his time with the LSU Office of Research & Economic Development and his deep involvement in working to solve crime in Baton Rouge and Louisiana as a whole, I can’t imagine a better person to steer us through this time.”