IHL welcomes new president, retires four trustees. Learn more about new president

The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning welcomed a new president, Bruce Martin, during a regular board meeting Thursday morning.

Martin, stepping up from vice president, has served as an IHL trustee since 2018, when former Gov. Phil Bryant appointed him.

Martin is taking over for outgoing president, Alfred McNair, who will now retire from the board. McNair, during the final minutes of his last meeting as president, literally handed the gavel over to Martin.

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Per IHL bylaws, Martin will serve as president for one year.

After accepting the gavel from McNair, Martin addressed the board and audience, which included the presidents for all major Mississippi state-funded universities, except Mississippi University for Women President Nora Miller, who had a scheduling conflict.

After the meeting, Martin told the Clarion Ledger he is excited to continue the work already put in place by the board.

"Of course, in life, there's always challenges everywhere," Martin said. "We have a great board. We have great institutions that we work with, and I'm so pleased with all the universities and how they work to help do the same thing, which is prepare the future of our state and our people."

Martin did not share any specific projects or ideas that he will work on in the upcoming year but said he hopes to continue to "try to do what we're doing better."

Martin has three children with his wife, Julie, all of whom graduated from Mississippi public universities; all three received undergraduate degrees from Mississippi State University and one also attended law school at the University of Mississippi.

Leading up to his term on the IHL board, Martin built a decades-long career at Meridian-based insurance agency Meyer and Rosenbaum. After graduating from Mississippi State in 1977, Martin started working at the company. Today, he still spends his day-to-day at the company, serving as its owner and president.

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Thursday's meeting also marked the final meeting for trustees Chip Morgan, J. Walt Starr and Tom Duff. Each trustee has completed their nine-year term after Bryant appointed them in 2015.

Current Gov. Tate Reeves is responsible for filling the now open seats.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: IHL welcomes new president, retires four trustees