The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has named Richard A. Carvajal, interim president of Darton State College in Albany, Ga., president of Valdosta State University in Valdosta. Carvajal will assume his post on January 1, 2017, according to USG Chancellor Hank Huckaby.

“Dr. Carvajal is a proven leader in the System having already led two USG institutions,” said Huckaby. “I am looking forward to what he will bring to Valdosta State and the Valdosta community.”

Regent Rusty Griffin, chair of the Regents’ Special Committee for the presidential search at Valdosta State University, added, “Carvajal shows tremendous ability to lead a campus and I am confident that choosing him to lead VSU is the right decision for the success of the faculty, staff, students and VSU community.”

He will replace Valdosta State University Interim President Dr. Kelli Brown, who has served in that capacity since June 1.

Prior to his appointment as interim president of Darton State College in December 2015, Carvajal served as president of Bainbridge State College in Bainbridge, which he began January 2011.

Before joining the University System of Georgia, Carvajal was vice president for student success services at Cascadia Community College in Bothell, Washington. Other previous appointments include dean of student services at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas; associate dean of student services at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina; and an executive officer of the Washington State Student Services Commission.

Carvajal holds a Ph.D. in educational administration with emphasis in higher education conferred in 2005 by The University of South Carolina in Columbia, a master of science in college student personnel administration earned in 1995 from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a bachelor of science in mass communication/sociology earned in 1993 and conferred by East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma.