Baton Rouge, LA – LSU recently announced that Alena Allen, the first woman and first Black person to serve as dean of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, will step down at the end of the 2025–2026 academic year.
Allen, who assumed the role in July 2023, will remain at the university as a full-time faculty member after leaving the deanship. Her tenure marked a historic milestone for LSU, where she broke multiple barriers in one of the institution’s most prominent academic leadership positions.
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Interim LSU Provost Troy Blanchard said the university will launch a national search for her successor, with the new dean expected to take office at the end of the spring 2026 semester.
Allen’s departure adds to a growing list of high-profile exits among Black leaders at LSU this year. In June, William Tate, the university’s first Black president, left to assume the presidency at Rutgers University. Earlier, Winston DeCuir, LSU’s first Black general counsel, stepped down in January to accept a one-year faculty post at the law school. Kimberly Lewis, the university’s chief administrative officer, was asked to resign in February and has since joined Tate at Rutgers.
The leadership shuffle leaves LSU with multiple critical vacancies. In addition to the law dean position, three other deanships on the Baton Rouge campus are being filled on an interim basis. The university is also searching for a permanent president, provost, and a new chancellor for LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport.
Allen’s historic tenure, though relatively brief, will likely be remembered as a symbol of progress in LSU’s leadership ranks, even as her departure underscores the challenges of stability and retention in the university’s top administration.
