He succeeds Bishop Sam Jacobs, who was appointed head of the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese in August 2003.
Bishop William Friend of Shreveport has been serving as apostolic administrator of Alexandria.
Ronald Herzog was born in Akron, Ohio, on April 22, 1942. He studied at St. Joseph Seminary, Louisiana, and at the pontifical college Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, Mississippi, in 1968.
Monsignor Herzog held several pastoral assignments, served as director of the diocesan Office of Liturgy from 1980 to 1985, and has been pastor of Immaculate Conception parish, Laurel, Mississippi, since 1988.
Bishop-designate Herzog also served as military chaplain of the National Guard where he held the rank of brigadier general. He recently retired from the military.
The Diocese of Alexandria has a Catholic population of about 48,000 in a total population of more than 392,000.
