Dr. George E. Ross, selected earlier this year as president of Alcorn State University, announced Friday that his leukemia is in remission, said a press release from the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning.

&#8220My wife Elizabeth and I continue to appreciate the thoughts and prayers from both the Alcorn State and Central Michigan communities,” Ross said in the release.

A Utica native, Ross, 55, had originally been scheduled to report to work on the Lorman campus Sept. 1. But, the release said, the state College Board is expected to approve an updated start date of Jan. 3, 2008, at its next meeting, set for Aug. 15. Classes at Alcorn begin Aug. 20.

Ross was selected April 3 by the board to lead Alcorn, which also offers courses in Vicksburg and Natchez. He has more than 30 years of experience in higher education and has served in administrative roles at Clark Atlanta University and Tuskegee University. His most recent job was vice president of finance and administrative services at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant.

Ross will replace interim president Malvin Williams, who has led the 3,100-student school since last August, when president Clinton Bristow Jr. died on campus of an apparent heart attack.

Ross was released from a hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the end of June, after being treated for acute leukemia for about three weeks.

&#8220We are thankful the leukemia is in remission and look forward to Dr. Ross assuming the presidency in January,” Commissioner of Higher Education Thomas C. Meredith said in the release.