Educational Leadership department head explores Higher Education Leadership and big-time athletics

It didn’t take Dr. Eric Moyen long to figure out that higher education was the place for him. Returning home from his first semester as a college freshman, he told his parents he wanted to spend the rest of his life on a college campus.

Moyen reminisced, “I loved interacting with people, especially those with different backgrounds. I loved the world of ideas, engaging with others who had diverse perspectives on politics and policy energized me. In addition, I enjoyed thinking strategically. All of these passions converged at a university.”

Moyen eventually told his college adviser he wanted to work at a university, and the mentor encouraged him to get his Ph.D. The Lexington, Kentucky native completed his undergraduate degree in social studies education and then earned a master’s degree in U.S. history from the University of Alabama. After gaining three years’ experience in the P-12 school setting, he enrolled in the educational policy studies department at the University of Kentucky to complete a Ph.D. in higher education. With nationally renowned historian of higher education John Thelin as his adviser and mentor, Moyen focused his research on the history of presidential leadership in higher education. 

In 2004, Moyen became a professor of education at Tennessee’s Lee University where he taught classes in educational foundations, methods and leadership. After directing the Office of First-Year Programs and serving as a department chair in the College of Education, Moyen was promoted to assistant vice president for Academic Affairs. During that time Moyen co-edited a text for a freshman seminar and authored “Frank L. McVey and the University of Kentucky: A Progressive President and the Modernization of a Southern University,” published by the University Press of Kentucky.  

Moyen, now head of Mississippi State’s Department of Educational Leadership, enjoyed his time at Lee University but had a desire to work at a research university in the Southeastern Conference. One reason was because Frank McVey, the subject of his first biography, served as the founding president of the SEC. 

“I learned that big-time athletic success involved less Xs and Os from coaches and more influence of presidential leadership. In both the 20th and 21st centuries, presidents from major research universities state that managing athletics is a key element in any administration,” said Moyen of the intersection of higher education and athletics, a connection that led him to his current research project. 

Moyen is co-authoring an autobiography of Jim Host, who is considered the pioneer of sports marketing for college athletics. “Host introduced corporate sponsorships to the NCAA and the idea of ‘bundled rights’ to individual universities. This led to an unprecedented boom in college athletics,” Moyen explained.

This pioneer’s company, Host Communications Inc., transformed the NCAA basketball tournament into its current “March Madness” and showed university presidents how to leverage athletics for the promotion of higher education. At its zenith, Host Communications managed sports marketing for nearly 30 big-time athletics programs, including Mississippi State University. Among other topics, the new book includes details on Host’s interactions with MSU President Donald Zacharias and Athletic Director Larry Templeton in expanding the “brand” of Bulldog athletics. 

After less than two years at Mississippi State, Moyen is glad to call Starkville home. “This university and the college town of Starkville are both special places to live and work. My family and I love it here. MSU is the ‘People’s University,’ and I hope to do my part in making sure that the educational leadership department at MSU does its part to better the education opportunities afforded to every child in Mississippi.” 

Moyen has been married to his high school sweetheart, Missy, for more than 20 years. They have two daughters, Anna Grace, 16, and Emmy, 15.