NATCHITOCHES – Four acting and interim academic administrators have been named at Northwestern State University, according to Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Greg Handel. The administrators will serve while national searches are underway for permanent successors.
Dr. Steve Horton has been named acting director of the School of Education. He will serve on a volunteer basis. Dr. Kayleigh MacQueen has been appointed interim head of the Department of Veterinary Technology; McKenna Marsh has been selected as interim head of the Department of Hospitality, Management, and Tourism and Dr. Charles Pellegrin has been named interim director of the School of Social Sciences and Applied Programs. The appointments are subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System.
“I am delighted to welcome these new academic administrators to their leadership roles at Northwestern State,” said Handel. “Each brings valuable experience, expertise and a genuine commitment to our students, faculty and University community. Their thoughtful leadership will help inspire collaboration, strengthen our programs and create new opportunities for those we serve. We look forward to the energy and vision they will bring as we continue advancing Northwestern State’s mission together.”
Horton retired on September 1, 2026, following a distinguished 40-year career in education and educational leadership. Most recently, he served as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (LSMSA), Louisiana’s premier state-supported residential high school for high-achieving students. In recognition of his exemplary leadership and enduring contributions to the institution, the LSMSA Board of Directors conferred upon him the honorary title of executive director emeritus at the time of his retirement.
Prior to leading LSMSA, Horton served Northwestern State for 28 years in a succession of academic and administrative leadership roles, including professor, department head, dean and interim provost. A fourth-generation teacher education graduate of Northwestern State, he earned both his master’s and doctoral degrees from Louisiana State University.
MacQueen is an associate professor in the veterinary technology program at Northwestern State and a practicing relief veterinarian. Now in her sixth year at NSU, she teaches courses including parasitology and radiology, serves as faculty advisor for the Veterinary Technology Club and takes part in university service through campus committees.
MacQueen earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana Tech University and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. She also volunteers with local animal shelters and rescue organizations and continues to practice veterinary medicine, bringing current clinical experience into the classroom.
One of the most rewarding aspects of her career is seeing former veterinary technology students succeed in clinics and hospitals after graduation. MacQueen has strong family ties to the university as her husband, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all graduated from Northwestern State.
Marsh is an assistant professor of hospitality management & tourism at Northwestern State. A graduate of NSU’s Hospitality Management program, Marsh also holds an MBA and is completing a Ph.D. in Hospitality Management at Iowa State University. Her academic work focuses on hospitality leadership, workforce development, experiential learning and career readiness. Since joining the NSU faculty in 2021, she has helped expand industry engagement, recruitment, student experiential-learning opportunities, curriculum development and professional partnerships within the hospitality management and tourism and culinary arts programs.
Pellegrin earned his bachelor’s degree at Nicholls State University, a master’s degree at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a doctorate at Mississippi State University. He has done additional study at the Japan Studies Institute at San Diego State University and the Combined Arms Center, Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
He has been a member of Northwestern State’s faculty since 2004. Pellegrin serves as director of the Southern Studies Institute and editor of Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South. His research covers a variety of subjects in history and has been published in state, national, and international journals.
Pellegrin was past president of the Louisiana Historical Association and the Louisiana Council for Social Studies.
He received NSU’s Mildred Hart Bailey Research Award in 2023 and was a past recipient of the Clyde Bostick Endowed Professorship.