James Llorens, an assistant chief administrative officer for Mayor Kip Holden, has been chosen as chancellor of Southern University's Baton Rouge campus. Llorens is the former Dean of graduate studies at Southern University and had been employed there since 1989. Currently, he serves as East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden’s chief administrative officer. Llorens has worked in several positions in City-Parish government, including personnel coordinator, director of Human Services and Federal Aid coordinator. Llorens was responsible for a $33 million budget and a personnel allocation of 500 people.

Llorens has a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Loyola University, a Master of Science degree in urban affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a doctorate in political science from LSU. In 1993 Llorens received the Teacher of the Year award by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. He has also been an ACE Presidential Fellow.