CSU-Pueblo will see several administrative changes in the next few months starting with the arrival of a new interim president next week.

Julio Leon, who served as president of Missouri Southern State University for 25 years, Colleagues, will take over as interim president of CSU-Pueblo on Nov. 29. During his tenure as president, MSSU earned university status and enrollment doubled to 6,000 students.

A native of Chile, Leon holds a master of business administration degree from the University of North Texas, and a doctorate in business administration from the University of Arkansas.

Russ Meyer and JoAnne Ballard, who is provost, and vice president of Finance and Administration for CSU-Pueblo, will retire at the end of the academic year.

Meyer joined CSU-Pueblo in 2000 as dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He served as interim provost and interim president prior to assuming his current position in 2007. In 2008, he assumed the duties of chief academic officer for the CSU System, serving as lead academic representative with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Since 2003, Ballard has guided the fiscal and administrative operations of the university, navigating through an era of budget cuts, unprecedented enrollment growth, and a major facilities expansion. Starting on Jan. 1, Ballard will be working to assist both campuses and the system with a variety of special projects that will benefit from her experience.

Mike Farley, who is director of budgets, will serve as interim vice president of finance and administration.

 On Dec. 17, Michael Fronmueller will step down as dean of the Hasan School of Business to return to the faculty and focus on his scholarship. 

 In a Nov. 17 campus-wide e-mail, Tony Frank, who is interim president of CSU-Pueblo, said transition at any university is difficult, but more so when the university is in a search process for a new president.

“I want to assure you that the institution will be in good hands with Dr. Leon, who has significant experience guiding institutions such as this through complex transitions,” Frank said.

“I know that we have solid faculty leadership, strong and experienced administrators at the college and central levels, a well-defined vision for the institution’s future growth… I have every confidence that faculty, staff, and students will come together to support the interim president in keeping this great university very much on track.

CSU-Pueblo TODAY will feature in-depth stories on these people in the upcoming weeks.