KENNETT MAN NAMED NEW SEMO REGENT

Southeast Missouri State University has a new regent.

Gov. Mel Carnahan on Friday appointed Doyle Lee Privett of Kennett to the Board of Regents.

Privett, 43, will fill the remaining two years of the unexpired term of Kennett resident Mark Pelts, who resigned from the board earlier this year.

The Kennett Republican is a certified public accountant with Kraft, Miles & Co. He formerly worked as an internal auditor with the U.S. Treasury Department.

A 1973 graduate of Southeast, Privett believes a regent should serve as "a sounding board or listening post" for the public.

He said he is glad the southern part of the region will continue to have a voice on the university board.

Privett has a long history of community involvement. He is president of the Kennett Chamber of Commerce.

"I am pretty well known locally and I think most people know I am fairly easy to talk to," he said.

He describes himself as a "sit-back, listener type of person."

Privett and his wife, Bonnie, have one son and one daughter.