The current president of the University of Montevallo will take over at McNeese State University in Louisiana after finishing his tenure in Shelby County.

Philip Williams, who is resigning from his job at UM July 31, will become McNeese State’s sixth president after he departs UM.

The University of Louisiana System’s board of directors named Williams president of McNeese, which is in Lake Charles in Southwestern Louisiana, during an April 23 meeting.

Williams will succeed Robert Hebert, who has served as McNeese’s president for the past 23 years.

“Dr. Williams has a unique combination of experience in the public and private sector,” University of Louisiana System Board Chairman Winfred Sibille wrote in a press release. “Hebert has successfully led McNeese for 23 years, and I look forward to president-elect Williams building upon that success.”

“We are very proud to have Dr. Philip Williams as part of the University of Louisiana System,” UL System President Randy Moffett wrote in the press release.

Williams has served as the UM president since 2006, but announced he planned to resign from the school in November 2009.

In March, the UM Board of Trustees named John Stewart III as the school’s 15th president.