After a decades-long career in Mississippi spanning a range of leadership roles in post-secondary and secondary education, Dr. Glenn F. Boyce became the 18th chancellor of the University of Mississippi in October 2019.
As chancellor, Dr. Boyce is committed to strengthening how Ole Miss builds leaders, empowers student success, drives progress through research and economic opportunity, and champions communities. He is leading efforts to increase graduation rates and retention rates and to implement a student success model that expands innovative opportunities to support all student populations throughout a student’s entire academic tenure.
Under Dr. Boyce’s leadership, freshman enrollment hit record numbers as he prioritized investments in technology, marketing, and recruitment staff, including the restructuring of admissions and financial aid personnel into a new Office of Enrollment Management. The freshman retention rate reached a new all-time high of 89.3% in fall 2022, which exceeds the national average.
Dr. Boyce promotes entrepreneurship and economic development to champion Mississippi, bolster its communities, and create fulfilling jobs for Ole Miss graduates in Mississippi. An example of a key milestone in those efforts is the university’s largest single construction project ever on the Oxford campus, the Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation, which is on pace to open by Spring 2024. The transformational impact of the Duff Center will be widespread in producing graduates who will be the driving force in furthering economic advancement not only in the state of Mississippi but throughout the country.
Chancellor Boyce is a strong promoter of research, and during his tenure the university reaffirmed its Carnegie Classification of “Doctoral/Very High Research Activity” or “R1” category, the highest rank among research universities. He has focused on investing strategic resources to enhance faculty and staff outcomes through a more robust research enterprise.
Dr. Boyce outlined a series of measurable goals designed to strengthen a diverse and equitable campus environment in the university’s Pathways to Equity strategic plan. The overarching goals are to advance institutional capacity for equity, cultivate a diverse and equitable community, and foster an inclusive campus climate.
During his tenure, the university’s endowment hit more than $825 million, the largest endowment for any Mississippi university and the largest in university history. In 2021, the university launched the largest comprehensive campaign in the history of Mississippi universities, Now & Ever, to generate at least $1.5 billion in private support. And, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the new Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower at Children’s of Mississippi opened, which more than doubled the square footage of the state’s only children’s hospital, providing significant renovations and updates to spaces dedicated strictly to pediatric care.
On the athletics front, Ole Miss Women’s Golf captured the 2021 NCAA Championship, the Ole Miss cheer team won the Universal Cheerleaders/Dance Association College Nationals twice in five years, all 18 Rebel varsity teams advanced postseason play in the 2021 calendar year, and the Ole Miss baseball team secured the university’s first-ever men’s NCAA National Championship in 2022. With student success as a priority, Ole Miss Athletics set a new department record with a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 88% in 2022.
Dr. Boyce served previously as Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Mississippi, leading the state’s university system that serves more than 95,000 students at four research universities, four regional universities, and the academic health science center. Under Commissioner Boyce, the university system set record enrollments, awarded record numbers of degrees, launched a statewide program to increase the number of degree holders in Mississippi, prioritized the needs of business and industry and streamlined operations to increase efficiencies. Boyce joined IHL after serving as president of Holmes Community College for more than nine years.
A first-generation college graduate, Boyce earned his bachelor’s degree in education and a doctorate in education leadership from the University of Mississippi. He and his wife, Emily, met while Ole Miss undergraduates, attending an Ole Miss basketball game on their first date.
The Boyces’ three daughters — Brittany, Danielle and Madeline — also hold degrees from the university. Brittany is a certified public accountant in Nashville, Danielle is a sales director for a technology company in Atlanta, and Madeline is a physician assistant in Jackson. Chancellor and Mrs. Boyce enjoy golf, pickleball, snow skiing, working out, and family vacations in the mountains, and they have three grandchildren, Lela Marie, Riley and Boyce.
