MC Alumnus Fred Slabach Named Texas Wesleyan President

Kenneth Jones, chairman of the Texas Wesleyan University Board of Trustees, and Frederick Slabach, president-elect of Texas Wesleyan University

Mississippi College graduate Fred Slabach was recently named the new president at Texas Wesleyan University.

Slabach begins his duties as the 19^th president of the private 3,376-student Fort Worth university on January 1. He’s completing his duties as executive secretary and chief executive officer of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation in Washington, D.C. At that post, the Mississippi native is responsible for the selection process, programming of the national scholarships and financial management of its $55 million trust fund.

Slabach, who grew up in Pike County, also earned degrees at the University of Mississippi School of Law and the Columbia University School of Law. He served as dean of the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law and served in senior staff positions on Capitol Hill, including as legislative counsel to the late U.S. Sen. John Stennis of Mississippi.

“This is an exciting time to be a part of Texas Wesleyan University,” Slabach said when school trustees selected him in November. “Applications are up; admissions test scores are up; and enrollment is up.”

He said he and his wife, Melany, who’s a Pulitzer Prize nominated author, are “excited to be part of such a vibrant and thriving university that combines an exceptional undergraduate experience with excellent academic programs.” They are the parents of twin 12-year-old sons and a six-year-old daughter.

Slabach’s “leadership skills and fiscal acumen are ideally suited to Wesleyan,” said Kenneth Jones, chairman of TWU’s Board of Trustees.

Slabach, who graduated from MC in 1979, “was very active” at the university including performances as a singer in the show choir on the Clinton campus. “Fred was a very talented young man, sharp as a tack and had a keen mind,” said Doc Quick, the former dean of students. ’’He was an excellent student. You could see the potential he would go a long way in life. Whatever he’s done at life he’s done well.”

A Truman Scholar when he graduated from Mississippi College, Slabach headed to Ole Miss law school in Oxford before getting a master’s in law at Columbia in New York.

The 120-year-old Texas university is the latest institution in American higher education to name an MC alumnus to serve as president.

Since January 2009, Mississippi College graduate J. Randall O’Brien has led Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. The McComb native previously served as executive vice president and provost at Baylor University in Waco. A decorated Vietnam War veteran, O’Brien first met his wife, Kay, when they were students at Mississippi College.

O’Brien is the 22th president at Carson-Newman. MC and Carson-Newman are Baptist-affiliated institutions.  He is also among the best preachers in the Southern Baptist Convention, Quick said.

Among others in higher education leadership posts is 1969 Mississippi College graduate Woodrow Burt, Jr. The Mississippi native has served for years as president of Hannibal-LaGrange College in Missouri.