Hattiesburg, Miss.    Members of the media greeted Dr. Martha Dunagin Saunders today at the door of the Aubrey K. Lucas Administration Building to record the beginning of her first day as the ninth president of The University of Southern Mississippi. She is the first woman to hold the position.

Media interviews and meetings with students and university cabinet members marked her first day on the job. 

Saunders, a Mississippi native and Southern Miss alumna, was named president on April 5 by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), following a day-long slate of interviews with numerous campus and community constituency groups. She succeeds Dr. Shelby F. Thames, whose term as president concluded May 20. 

Saunders schedule over the next couple of weeks includes more meetings with various vice presidents, university directors and constituency groups, including the Athletic Foundation Executive Committee, Faculty Senate Officers and the presidential transition team.

A group of 18 student representatives met with Dr. Saunders today for lunch and had opportunities to share their views of the university and to ask questions of the new president. 

Im personally excited that we have a woman president at Southern Miss, said Wren Ward, a speech communication major from Little Rock, Ark., and Panhellenic president. This is such a time of change for our campus and for the Greek system in particular with The Village residential complex opening this fall. Im excited about all the changes.

Dr. Saunders told the students that much of what they describe about Southern Miss is what she remembers from being a student herself at the university -- the family atmosphere, educational opportunities and freedom to be yourself.

This place I fully credit for giving me a good start in my career, said Saunders. Its gotten better in a number of ways, but the essence hasnt changed throughout the years.

Saunders is among only 23 percent of women nationally who held higher education presidential positions in 2006, up from 9.5 percent in 1986, according to a February 2007 study by the American Council on Education. 

She previously was chancellor of the university of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the first woman to hold that position. 

With nearly 30 years in higher education, Saunders also served as vice president for academic affairs at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga., and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, where she also worked as director of the University Honors Program.  

Dr. Saunders has extensive training and experience in the field of communication, and her scholarship in the area has led to numerous publications and national awards.  A native of Mississippi, Saunders earned her B.A. in French from Southern Miss; her M.A. in journalism from the University of Georgia in Athens; and her Ph.D. in communication theory and research from Florida State University in Tallahassee.  

Saunders is married to Joseph Bailey, who recently retired from the telecommunications industry. They have seven grown children and three grandchildren.

The couple will move into the presidents home on Jamestown Road in Hattiesburg sometime later this week. For the past several weeks, the home has been undergoing a number of repairs and renovations. Plans also are in place for a refurbishment of the homes master suite over the next few months.