LORMAN — Alfred Rankins Jr. will be the next president of Alcorn State University.

Members of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning announced the decision this afternoon during a press conference at the university’s Lorman campus.

Rankins is a Greenville native and Alcorn alumnus who also served for a year as president of Mississippi Valley State University.

Rankins will replace former president M. Christopher Brown II who resigned in December. Brown stepped down as the board moved to suspend him during an investigation into purchasing violations.

Alcorn’s main campus is located in Lorman, with satellite campuses in Natchez and Vicksburg. The historically black university is fully accredited with seven schools and degree programs in more than 50 areas, including a nursing program.