The ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in the Johnson Coliseum, with a reception to follow in the Lowman Student Center. Classes have been dismissed for the event from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Representatives of student organizations and university alumni, faculty and staff will participate in the formal procession and in the investiture proceedings. Guests from throughout the state, the educational community, and the Huntsville community have been invited. The ceremony is open to the public.
Marks was selected for the position by the Board of Regents of The Texas State University System June 4, 1996, after serving as interim president since Oct. 16, 1995.
Before being appointed interim president, Marks served 11 years as a vice president in the area of academic affairs and student services, and prior to that, 15 years as an academic dean.
Marks' service to Sam Houston State was interrupted twice--in 1963-'64 when he was an instructor of business administration at the University of Arkansas and in 1972 when he was a professor in that university's European Masters Program in Turkey and England.
Marks has served eight times in the past 22 years on Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board projects and as a consultant to a number of individual and private industry groups.
He has also been active in community service, holding key positions in the Huntsville/Walker County Chamber of Commerce including serving as president and chairman of the board in 1990.
Among the many other community groups with which he has worked are the Economic Development Corporation, Huntsville Leadership Institute, Walker County United Fund, City of Huntsville Planning Commission, and Walker County Industrial Development Corporation.
Professional activities have included the Association of Chief Academic Officers of the Southern States, with service since 1991 on the executive council, as vice president in 1994, and as president in 1995.
He has also had a number of publications and textbook reviews on such subjects as university structure and teacher education organization, enrollment management, cost containment, and management principles.
Born in Louisiana and raised in Beaumont, Marks earned his bachelor's degree at Lamar University, his master's at the University of North Texas, and his doctorate at the University of Arkansas.
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