Langston University is promoting interim president Ruth Ray Jackson to the role permanently.

Jackson has been the interim president since last summer, stepping in for Kent Smith after he retired. Smith had spent 11 years at the top of Oklahoma’s only historically Black college. Jackson had been an important deputy.

She has an education career spanning more than three decades. Before working in her interim role, she was Langston’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and was previously a dean in the university’s School of Education and Behavioral Sciences.

“Our mission must be focused on empowering students, celebrating student success, and contributing to the betterment of Oklahoma and beyond,” she said in an announcement of her hiring. “Together, we will build upon Langston’s legacy and create a future where excellence knows no bounds.”

Before Langston, she was an educator for more than 20 years in Louisiana. She will be the university’s 17th president.