A Vicksburg native has been named the first president of the University of North Texas at Dallas.

“I am delighted to be selected to lead the new university,” said Dr. John Ellis Price.

UNT Dallas currently operates as a branch of UNT Denton, which is part of the UNT system, but will become an independent, four-year university in 2010.

Price was born and reared in Vicksburg and is the son of the late George and Willie Virginia Price. He is married to the former Carolyn Wells, also of Vicksburg, and they have a son, John Ellis Price Jr.

Price graduated from the former Rosa A Temple High School and attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and his master’s in accounting. He has a doctorate in accounting from the UNT Denton and is a certified public accountant.

Price started his career at UNT as a faculty member in the accounting department, then became a professor and chairman of the accounting department.

“Dr. Price has a good track record of achieving the goals set for a start-up institution by the State of Texas and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board,” said UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson in a statement.

Price has served as vice-chancellor at the Dallas campus, and his official title will be vice-chancellor and president-designate until the transition occurs. The curriculum of the new university will focus on business, education, information technology and life sciences programs. Price said his job will be “to build a new university.”

Price is a member of the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants, American Accounting Association and American Taxation Association. He is chairman of the Minority Initiatives Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and has chaired a congressional subcommittee on Relations with the IRS and the Treasury.

He was a professor and dean of the School of Business at Jackson State University and assistant professor of accounting at the University of Southern Mississippi.

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchanprasith@vicksburgpost.com.