Randy Dunn

Randy J. Dunn
Randy Dunn as president of Murray State University in February, 2011
President of Southern Illinois University
In office May 1, 2014 – present
Preceded by	Glenn Poshard
President of Youngstown State University
In office July 15, 2013 – March 21, 2014
Preceded by	Cynthia Anderson
Succeeded by	Ikram Khawaja (interim)
President of Murray State University
In office December 1, 2006 – July 8, 2013
Preceded by	F. King Alexander
Succeeded by	Tim Miller
Personal details
Spouse(s)	Dr. Ronda Baker Dunn (since 2007)
Alma mater	B.S, Illinois State University M.S., Illinois State University Ed.D., University of Illinois

Randy J. Dunn is president of Southern Illinois University. He formerly served as president of Youngstown State University and Murray State University. Both of his previous presidential terms ended in controversy.

Randy Dunn graduated from Westmer High School in Mercer County, Illinois in 1976. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in teacher education from Illinois State University in 1980. He also completed his master's degree in educational administration and foundations from Illinois State in 1983. Dunn received his doctorate in educational administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1991.

Randy Dunn began his career as a fourth-grade elementary teacher at Gibson City, Illinois Grade School, where he worked from 1980 to 1983. He moved into educational administration when he took the position of principal at Paw Paw, Illinois Grade School for the 1983-84 school year. He then moved on to Roanoke-Benson Middle School in Benson, Illinois, where he served as principal from 1984 to 1989. Dunn worked as superintendent of schools in Argenta, Illinois from 1989 to 1991. He then served as superintendent of schools in Chester, Illinois from 1991 to 1994. After leaving Chester, Dunn worked as an assistant professor at Memphis State University for one year before taking a position as an associate professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1995. Dunn later became a department chair at SIU in 2000.

In 2004, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich handpicked Randy Dunn be the interim Illinois State Superintendent of Education. Soon after his appointment to the position, Dunn affirmed his allegiance to Blagojevich, stating "I am a member of the governor's leadership team, and I didn't come on board to take a position that is at odds with the governor's stated positions." In Dunn's first move as superintendent, he hired two high level employees, a new budget director and a new general counsel, who had been pre-selected for the positions by the Blagojevich administration. In August 2005, the Illinois State Board of Education made Dunn's appointment permanent, by removing "interim" from his title and extending his contract through January 2007.