Named the next chancellor of Missouri State University’s West Plains campus, Zora Mulligan will be returning to her hometown.
The MSU executive vice president grew up in Howell County and views this job as a homecoming of sorts, which will bring her closer to her mom and extended family.
“I’ve been trying to think of ways to get back to West Plains for 10 years,” she said, adding that until now, the time was not right.
MSU President Richard “Biff” Williams, who has worked with Mulligan for the past year, announced Friday that she will move into the chancellor job July 1, succeeding the retiring Dennis Lancaster.
“Zora has an impressive record of advancing higher education initiatives throughout Missouri,” Williams said in a news release.
“As our current executive vice president, she brings exceptional leadership skills to this important position. Zora’s experience in enrollment management and strategic planning, along with her West Plains roots, makes her uniquely qualified to guide MSU-West Plains into the future.”
An attorney, Mulligan has an undergraduate degree from Drury University and a master’s degree in higher education administration and a juris doctorate from the University of Kansas.
She worked under Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon and was general counsel for the Missouri Department of Higher Education.
As executive director of the Missouri Community College Association, Mulligan said she “fell in love with the mission of two-year” institutions — including MSU’s West Plains campus — and has tremendous respect for the students, staff and faculty.
“Throughout my career, my motto has been, ‘Education changes lives.’ That belief began in Howell County, where I witnessed firsthand MSU-West Plains’ transformational impact,” Mulligan said in the release. “I’m delighted to come home to serve this exceptional campus and continue its tradition of providing quality education for rural Missouri.”
Mulligan spent three years as chief of staff for the University of Missouri system. In 2016, she was named the Missouri Commissioner of Higher Education.
In an interview Friday, Mulligan said she is excited to lead a campus that has been life-altering for many in the region. “The attraction is that I’ve just seen the impact on the lives of family and friends.”
Mulligan steps into the role with a lengthy record of higher education leadership. The No. 2 official on the Springfield campus, she has been the executive vice president for three years.
She was the point-person for the university’s role in the new Alliance for Healthcare Education, which aims to address urgent workforce shortage, and led the team revamping enrollment strategies. She has taken the lead on legislative issues and is deeply entrenched in the creation of a new strategic plan.
Mulligan said Friday that she has a full plate of work to keep her busy on the Springfield campus through the end of June.
As time allows, she will learn as much as possible about the relationship between Missouri State and its West Plains campus, with an eye toward expanding partnerships.
She plans to reach out to Lancaster, who has been part of the West Plains campus for three decades, and spend time on campus there to learn more details about top priorities and ongoing initiatives.
“The list of reasons to take this job was very long,” she said Friday, noting the hardest part will be leaving her colleagues and friends in Springfield.
Suzanne Shaw, vice president for marking and communications, said Mulligan will retain her current pay, which is $259,560.
In the release, Missouri State said Mulligan’s background closely aligns with needs identified by the community, which included input from listening sessions.
The university said Mulligan exhibited the following: leadership experience, strategic vision, relationship-building skills, student focus and community engagement.
Asked if Williams plans to hire an executive vice president to replace Mulligan, Shaw said the job will shift slightly. The university will hire a chief of staff, who can also take over the legislative liaison role that Mulligan currently fills.