BATON ROUGE — Each of LSU's three finalists for the university's next president has their own designated day to meet with LSU students, staff and faculty.

Thursday, Oct. 30, was James T. Dalton's day. He is currently the Executive Vice President & Provost for the University of Alabama.

A graduate of the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University, Dalton has also served as the Dean of the University of Michigan College of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He believes his experience makes him a great choice for LSU.

"Research is a fabric of what we do," he said. "It helps us recruit excellent faculty, retain excellent faculty, and when you, as a student, walk into a classroom, it's got to be comforting to know that the person at the front of that classroom is an expert in that area."

Dalton prides himself on three principles: curiosity, hard work, and mentorship. He said he wants to come in and learn about the university, its people, its opportunities and challenges.

"I'm a very student-centric person. That means we've got to have great academic programs, which means we've got to have great faculty and staff to support their dreams and then achieving their dreams while they're here, so that's setting high expectations, it's working hard," Dalton said.

He also said that it's important to align LSU's priorities with those of Louisiana's government.

"I say that as a broad context. I think, at the very highest level, our Governor, our legislature, our board of supervisors, they want what's best for the state of Louisiana, and I think that's the shared attitude that we need to have as a university president and the university as a whole."

Dalton praised LSU for how it already brings together science, humanities and engineering, but he did point out areas he thinks need improvement.

"I've looked at some of your student graduation retention statistics. I would like to find a way that we can work together to improve those. It's not a problem. You still have 84 percent of students making it to the second year, 70 percent of them graduating in six years," he said.

On Oct. 31, former University of Arizona president Robert Robbins will have his opportunity to meet with students, staff, and faculty. McNeese president Wade Rousse is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 3. The LSU Board of Supervisors will then choose one of them to be the next president on Tuesday, Nov. 4.