Following a memorial held for the late President Dan Jones, a new interim president was named in Jones’s absence.

John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, announced on May 6th that Keck would take Jones’s position while the search for a permanent university president. His stay will last from June 1, 2016 to May 2017.

“In appointing Ray Keck as Interim President, we help insure that Texas A&M University-Commerce will be in capable hands during this difficult transition,” Sharp said.

Keck’s experience includes fifth president of Texas A&M International University for fifteen years, provost for two years, and chair for the Department of Literature, Language, and Art. TAMIU is also where Jones served as provost for five years before becoming president of the university.

“That Chancellor Sharp should entrust me with a new challenge is humbling,” Keck said. “I willingly embrace his mandate, to continue and build upon the legacy left by President Dan Jones at Texas A&M Commerce.”