Profile

H. Ray Hoops, President

H. Ray Hoops became the second president of the University of Southern Indiana in July, 1994. During his tenure, he has forged important community partnerships and has overseen dramatic growth in the University’s enrollment, facilities, and academic programs.

A native of Illinois, Dr. Hoops received his undergraduate degree from Eastern Illinois University and master's and doctoral degrees in Audiology and Speech Sciences from Purdue University. He also completed an M.B.A. at Moorhead State University.

His career as a scientist and educator has included a faculty appointment jointly at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. He published extensively and was nationally recognized for his contributions in the areas of rehabilitation of post-surgical patients with cancer of the larynx and in the analysis of language dynamics resulting from brain damage. Among his numerous publications in a variety of behavioral and medical journals was the report on a study which received the National Research Award, the highest honor of the American Speech and Hearing Association. Dr. Hoops also was named Fellow of the Association.

His administrative appointments included the directorship of the Division of Marketing in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. He received two national service awards for that work. He also was a Senior Fulbright-Hayes Research Scholar in the College of Medicine at the University of the Philippines. Other appointments included dean of the Graduate College of the University of Northern Iowa, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs for the Oregon State System of Higher Education, vice president for Academic Affairs at North Dakota State University and president of South Dakota State University.

In the six years prior to becoming the president of the University of Southern Indiana, Dr. Hoops served as the vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Mississippi. While at "Ole Miss," Dr. Hoops received the National Council of State Governments Association Award for his pioneering work on Project '95, a blueprint for the reform of education in the state of Mississippi. He also received the Peterson's Guide Award for contributions to the education of minority students in the innovative and highly successful graduate participation initiative.

President Hoops serves on the Deaconess Hospital Board of Directors, the Evansville Education Roundtable, and the Southwest Indiana Economic Development Task Force. He formerly was a member and chair of the WNIN Board of Directors and a director of the Metropolitan Evansville Chamber of Commerce. In 2004, he was honored as the recipient of the Evansville Rotary Civic Award. He has served the American Association of State College and Universities (AASCU) as a member of its Committee on Professional Development and its Council of State Representatives and is a former director and chair of the Indiana Conference of Higher Education.

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