The LSU Energy Institute has named John Flake as its new executive director. He has also been named associate vice chancellor for research. Flake takes over from Greg Upton, who previously served as interim executive director. Meg Sunstrom, chief communications officer for the LSU System, confirmed the leadership change, saying Flake assumed the role Sept. 16.
Flake, a longtime LSU chemical engineering professor and research administrator, has a background in electrochemistry, energy storage and carbon utilization. He is a co-founder of Encore CO2, a Baton Rouge startup that converts captured CO2 into chemical feedstocks and consumer products.
Upton, formerly executive director of the LSU Center for Energy Studies, had been serving as the Energy Institute’s interim executive director since the institute launched in September 2025. The Energy Institute is an interdisciplinary research hub that unified several long-standing programs, including the Center for Energy Studies and the Louisiana Geological Survey.
Upton is now publicly listed as the Energy Institute’s director of energy policy and associate research professor.
Asked why the leadership change took place, Sunstrom shared the following:
“Dr. Flake is well qualified and brings faculty experience to the position in support of LSU’s top 50 research goal.”
LSU President Wade Rousse and LSU Chancellor James Dalton have been vocal about their goal of making LSU one of the nation’s top 50 research universities since they were appointed in late 2025.
In August, Dalton put a number on how far the university still has to go. LSU reported $601 million in research expenditures for fiscal year 2025, and to crack the top 50, that figure needs to rise to roughly $750 million, he said.
