A bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering from LSU in 1935 was the foundation for a long and successful 38-year career in the oil business for Dolphe Gueymard. In 1973, he became self-employed and now oversees various investments including some independent oil productions and farming interests.

While at LSU, Gueymard was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Omicron Delta Kappa, Scabbard and Blade Society, and the Geological and Mining Society. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having received many military decorations while serving as a Major with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.

Gueymard currently serves as president of Production Technologies, Inc. and chairman of the board of Campanile Charities, Inc. He has served on numerous boards and is a past president of the LSU Foundation. His professional memberships include the American Petroleum Institute, Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Houston Geological Society, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Gueymard is a loyal supporter of LSU and the LSU Alumni Association. In 1997, he endowed the Adolphe G. Gueymard Professorship in Geology, and in 1999, he was a major contributor to the Bill LeBlanc LSUAA Departmental Professorship in Education. He is a member of the Alumni Association's Lewis Spencer Graham Society for his Tower Club level contribution to the Annual Fund. Gueymard has also received the LSU Foundation President's Award for Lifetime Support at the Grand Benefactor Level.

Young Alumnus of the Year

Amanda Martin Brock has spent her career building and managing global infrastructure businesses.

Following law school at Louisiana State University, where she was a member of the Law Review, Brock joined the international law firm of Vinson & Elkins in Houston.

In 1991, Brock joined Enron where she worked in finance and asset securitization and on the start of the Power Group. Two years later, she was promoted to president of a newly created division responsible for the management of power plants, related assets, and joint ventures worldwide.

In late 1998, Brock joined Azurix, a start-up global water company. There she was responsible for the development, growth, and management of the emergent water business in North and South America focusing on the water treatment and services business.

In November 2006, Brock joined WATER STANDARD as CEO to develop and execute a comprehensive global business plan. She was responsible for one of the largest equity commitments ever made in the water industry for a start-up in March 2008 when WATER STANDARD received an equity commitment for $250 million.

Brock has served on numerous boards and has received several professional accolades. She was named one of the top 10 women in energy in the USA by the Houston Chronicle in 1996 and she was named the under 40 Alumni of the Year in 2001 for Louisiana State University. Brock serves as a member of the Water Environment Federation's Global Water Strategies Council. She also serves on the Board of the Texas Business Hall of Fame, and has served on the Board of Trustees of LSU Law School and the Texas Water Commission.

Originally from Mbabane, Swaziland, Martin attended the University of Natal in South Africa as a pre-law student, graduating with a cum laude degree in English and Political Science. Brock attended law school at Louisiana State University.

She enjoys life with her husband and two young sons in Houston, Texas.

Alumnus of the Year

Dalton Woods is a successful independent oil operator, serving as CEO of Dalwood Corporation and Woods Operating Co., Inc. He is also the founding director of the Trinity Heights Christian Academy, as well as a World War II veteran serving as a Major in the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

He received his bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering and his master's degree in geology from Louisiana State University. During his 53 years of experience in the oil industry, Woods has spent 34 years as an independent wildcatter and producer exploring parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska. He is also the author of Fractured Chalk Reservoirs-Sabine Parish Louisiana and The Smackovers Prolific Walker Creek Field. Woods has been a member of the National Petroleum Council, the Republican National Finance Committee, the State Republican Finance Committee, the Republican Senatorial Trust, the Shreveport Geological Society and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He has also been active in the United States Industrial Council, as well as serving on the State Board of Commerce and Industries.

A loyal supporter of Louisiana State University and the LSU Alumni Association, Dalton Woods is a past member of the LSU Board of Supervisors and a past chairman of the LSU Foundation in Shreveport. His generosity is also evident in his major contributions to the LSU War Memorial and to the Lod and Carole Cook Conference Center. Woods has received the LSU Foundation President's Award for Lifetime Support at the Benefactor level.

Jack Broome is a native of Chicago and a 1941 graduate of Louisiana State University. He has enjoyed a successful career as a pilot, farmer and business developer. He enjoys the distinction of having been a passenger on the inaugural flight of the Concorde on May 25, 1976, as well as having been a congressional guest at the landing of the first Space Shuttle on April 14, 1981. Broome's initial solo flight came at the age of 17. While a student at Washington and Lee University, he was appointed by the Governor of Virginia to represent the state at the founding of the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Following his graduation from LSU, he served as flight supervisor, flight standardization specialist, and acting chief of the flight section for the War Training Service's pilot training program. From 1943 to 1946, he served as a pilot for American Airlines, flying both domestic and international routes.

Jack Broome began farming and ranching in 1946, producing diversified field crops and tree crops and raising cattle in Ventura, Kern, and Monterey counties in California. He has also developed several mobile home parks in Ventura, CA.

He is founder of the Conejo Savings and Loan Association and has served on the board of directors for several associations. He currently serves on the University Board at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, and on the steering committee for the University of California at Channel Islands in Camarillo.

Broome received a Presidential Citation in 1978 from President Jimmy Carter for ‘advancing job opportunities in the business sector for disadvantaged citizens, needy youth, veterans and ex-offenders.’ He also received a California Legislative Resolution for his contributions to the Pleasant Valley County Water District.

He is a longtime supporter of the LSU Alumni Association and is a member of the Association's Lewis Spencer Graham Society for his Tower Club level contribution to the Annual Fund. He has been active in the Southern California chapter of the LSUAA for many years.

His hobbies include hunting and offshore yacht racing. Broome has been married to the former Patricia Prichard since 1946, and they have three children and eight grandchildren.

Young Alumnus of the Year

John Mese was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After graduating from the Masters of Fine Arts program at Louisiana State University, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he began appearing in film and television.

John as appeared in such high-profile television series as Law & Order, Medium, The X-Files, and Without A Trace. In a starring role capacity, John played ‘Dr. Billy Peale’ in American Gothic and as ‘Sean Kelly’, Marlee Matlin's love interest, in Reasonable Doubts. Another highlight to John's career was when he starred as ‘Astronaut Donn Eisele’ in the Tom Hank's produced mini-series for HBO From The Earth To The Moon.

In addition to his many memorable television roles, John Mese has also stared in several films such as Schizopolis, directed by Stephen Soderbergh. Other movies include Night of the Scarecrow, Excessive Force II, Dangerous Proposition, R2PC, Red Dirt and most recently Song of the Vampire.

Not limiting himself just to acting, John has been writing screenplays for the past 7 years. One of his scripts was selected as one of the ‘Top 50’ out of over 5000 entries in HBO's ‘Project Greenlight Contest.’ Based on this success, John just completed production on a short film that he both wrote and directed entitled Perfect Day.

In June 2004, John married his wife, Dawn Kelsey. John and his wife have written several successful children's books based on the characters ‘Flippy & Toadpole’ which they also created. John and his wife currently live in Los Angeles, California.

Young Alumnus of the Year

Kirt Bennett was born in Brooklyn, New York before moving to New Orleans, La. where he graduated from Eleanor McMain Magnet Senior High School.

He then attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge on an athletic scholarship. He lettered in track and field: the shot-put, discus, and the hammer. He was elected president of the LSU Student Government Association becoming the second African American SGA president in LSU's history. In 1991, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science

In 1993, Bennett founded the Young Leaders Academy of Baton Rouge, an institution for the education of African-American boys. Youngsters from the school appeared twice on the syndicated The Oprah Winfrey Show and won Winfrey's ‘Use Your Life’ award. In 1998, the school was presented the ‘Points of Light’ award by former U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush. Other citations include three U.S. President Service awards from former President Bill Clinton and an FBI Community Service designation in 2006.

A republican, Bennett ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1993 and 2004 and Lieutenant Governor in 2003.

Bennett was a representative of the Northwest Mutual Financial Network. He also served as the treasurer of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge board of commissioners, under appointment from Governor Bobby Jindal.

Young Alumnus of the Year

Mike Futrell is an attorney, United States Navy officer, public official, and Republican politician from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

From 2000 to 2005, Futrell served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 66 in East Baton Rouge Parish. He resigned a year into his second term to become the state director for freshman U.S. Senator David Vitter.

In 2002, he received the ‘Golden Apple Legislators Support of Education’ award. In 2004, he obtained the Louisiana Municipal Association Leadership Award. In 2005, he procured the Louisiana Family Forum Legislative Advocate Award.

From 1997-2000, Futrell was the District 8 member of the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council. In 2008, after leaving Vitter's staff, Futrell became the assistant chief administrative officer of the City of Baton Rouge, serving under Walter Monsour. In 2009, upon Monsour's retirement, Futrell was elevated to chief accounting officer by Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden.

A native of Baton Rouge, Futrell was reared in the Sherwood Forest subdivision. In 1978, he graduated from Baton Rouge High School. In 1982, he received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In 1985, he received the Juris Doctor degree from the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

He is a U.S. Navy veteran and also a graduate of the Air Force Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. From 1987 to 1993, Commander Futrell served two tours of duty as an officer on nuclear submarines.

In 2006, while on Vitter's staff, Futrell was recalled to active duty for six months during the Iraq War. For that service, he won the Bronze Star.

In 2008, Futrell completed the leadership course offered by the interest group, the Council for a Better Louisiana. He then joined the Holden administration.

Pete deGravelles, a native of Franklin, LA, is the second of eight children. He graduated from Hanson Memorial High School and then attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In 1950, he joined his father, recognized as one of the leaders of the Louisiana sugar industry, to form a partnership to grow sugar cane. The business was later incorporated under the name Teche Planting Company Inc. and was sold to a consortium of employees in 1986.

Pete deGravelles lobbied for the American Sugar Cane League in Washington, D.C., for more than 20 years. During that time, he served as chairman of the Board of Directors from October 1977 through September 1979, chaired several committees, and was appointed president and general manager in 1988. As CEO he was responsible for the overall operations of the association, including legislative and research activities and public relations.

deGravelles has been active in many organizations, especially in St. Mary Parish. He has also been active at LSU by organizing and serving as the first chairman of the LSU Parents Association. He was a member of the LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors from 1985 to 1990 and is a member of the Association's Lewis Spencer Graham Society for his Tower Club level contribution to the Annual Fund. Recently he organized and served as chairman of the Task Force that instituted the LSU Agricultural Leadership Program.

Among his many achievements, deGravelles received the Jaycee Outstanding Young Farmer Award in 1957 and the Jaycee Distinguished Service Award in 1962. In 1978, he was honored by the St. James Agricultural Tour for his outstanding service to the Louisiana sugar industry for his work in sugar legislation in Washington, D.C. He was presented with the ‘Man of the Year in Service to Louisiana Agriculture’ award in 1979 by Progressive Farmer Magazine. deGravelles is a former officer and member of the Board of Directors of St. Mary Sugar Co-operative, and he was also selected to serve as King Sucrose XXXV in the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival and Fair Association in 1976. The LSU Co-operative Extension Service awarded him the ‘Louisiana 4-H Recognition Award’ in 1979 as well as the ‘Friend of Extension’ award in 1988. He was also recognized for his lifelong involvement in the production and promotion of the sugar industry at a luncheon in Newark, NJ, in 1993 where he received the ‘Sugar Man of the Year-1992’ and the coveted Dyer Memorial Award.

After retiring from the American Sugar Cane League in 1993, deGravelles moved to Lafayette where he has recently ended six years on the Board of Directors of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra. Mr. And Mrs. deGravelles, the former Jane Roane of Jeanerette, are the parents of five daughters and have seven grandchildren.

P. J. Mills is the retired president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and its subsidiaries, Southern National Life Insurance Co., HMO Louisiana, and Southern National Marketing, Inc. A Baton Rouge native, he received his bachelor of science degree from the College of Business Administration in 1957 and a master of arts degree in government in 1959. Mills was awarded the first J. Kimbrough Owen Fellowship for Graduate Study of Louisiana Government while earning his master's degree and working on the staff of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana.

Mills moved to Shreveport in 1959 to head the Government Department of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce. He remained until 1961 when he joined the Pioneer Bank and Trust Co., as assistant vice president in charge of Business Development and Marketing of bank services. He was promoted to vice president of the Bank in 1966, and became a candidate for State Representative from Caddo Parish in 1967. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1968 to 1972. In 1972, Mills was picked to head the newly created Louisiana Superport Authority, created in an attempt to gain license from the federal government for the first deep-water supertanker terminal in the United States. In 1976, he joined the New Orleans insurance brokerage firm of Leon Irwin and Company as executive vice president and was made president of the firm in 1981. He later purchased the firm and operated it until 1985 when he sold it to a national firm and remained as an officer until 1989. He then joined his longtime friend Buddy Roemer, who had been elected Governor of Louisiana, to become his chief of staff until 1992. After 1992, Mills established a consulting firm in Baton Rouge where he was recruited by Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown to work as a consultant on the takeover of Blue Cross Blue Shields of Louisiana by the Department of Insurance. Eventually, he was asked to serve as administrative supervisor for the Department and president and CEO once the new board of directors was formed. He held this post until his retirement in March of this year.

Always seeking involvement in numerous charitable and civic organizations, Mills has received many honors. He was named the 1996 Marketer of the Year in Baton Rouge by the Sales/Marketing Association and received the Champion for Children Award from the Louisiana Council on Child Abuse that same year. He was also recently named Business- person of the Year for Baton Rouge in 1999. Mr. Mills has also served and is currently serving in many organizations. He is chairman of the Caring Program for Children Foundation, vice chairman of the Louisiana Guaranty Association for Life and Health Insurance, chairman of the National Fund Campaign for LSU Alumni Federation (1981), chairman of the Caddo Parish LSU Alumni Federation (1966) and chairman of the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals (1988-1989). He also serves on the board of directors of many community organizations such as the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the LSU Museum of Art. Mills is married to the former Genevieve Barnett Grace of Plaquemine and they have six children and nine grandchildren.

A native of New Orleans, Rene Latiolais is the retired president and CEO of Freeport-McMoRan, Inc and Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners, LP. He currently serves as vice chairman of the Board of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, Inc. and McMoRan Exploration Co., and is also a managing consultant to both.

Latiolais received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Louisiana State University in 1965; he then completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration in 1977. In 1965, he joined the Freeport Sulphur Company, where he held several operations management positions. He was transferred in 1979 to the New York headquarters of Freeport Minerals Company as a corporate development officer and was later named president of Freeport's National Potash Company. He held management positions in the domestic and international mining entities and the fertilizer businesses of the corporation between 1982 and 1993. In 1993, Latiolais was elected president and CEO of Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. and named as a director of Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. He retired from full-time employment in 1998, after 33 years with the corporation, but continues as a managing vice chairman.

Latiolais also has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations. They include Inroads, Inc. of New Orleans, Abbot's Advisory Council of St. Benedict Abbey, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the President's Council of Contemporary Arts Center, and the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. He also remains a faithful supporter of Louisiana State University through his relationship with LSU Foundation, the advisory councils to the LSU Deans of the College of Engineering, and the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration, as well as the LSU Campaign Leadership Council. In 1995, Latiolais was honored by the LSU College of Engineering with his election to the Engineering Hall of Distinction.

Rene Latiolais and his wife, Joan, currently reside in Austin, TX, and Newnan, GA. They have three children, Renelle Margaret Latiolais Brame, Craig Attilio Vincent, and Christopher Ashley, and two grandsons.

Ronnie Anderson is currently serving his tenth term as president of Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation after serving as vice-president from 1985 to 1989. He is a past president of the Feliciana Parish Farm Bureau. He presently raises more than 400 head of cattle and farms row crops in both East and West Feliciana Parishes.

Anderson, a native of Ethel, LA, is a 1970 graduate of Louisiana State University where he received a bachelor of science degree in animal science. In addition, he was the recipient of the American Society of Animal Science Scholarship and is a member of Alpha Zeta and Gamma Sigma Delta societies. Serving as a member of the LSU Agricultural Development Council within the College of Agriculture, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Agricultural Leadership Program within the Agricultural Center, Anderson continues to show his support for LSU. In 1997, he was appointed to the LSU Board of Supervisors representing the 6th Congressional District and currently serves as the Board's vice chairman.

In addition to holding a seat on the Louisiana Feed and Fertilizer Commissions, Anderson is a member of the American Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors and served as past chairman of the American Farm Bureau Wetlands Study Committee. He was elected president of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company in February of 1994 and is a member of the Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company Board of Directors as well as a past member of the American Farm Bureau Trade Advisory Committee. Anderson also serves on the Board of Directors of Hancock Bank.

In 1995, he was named Progressive Farmer Magazine's ‘Man of the Year in Louisiana Agriculture’ and also honored by the LSU College of Agriculture with its Agriculture Alumnus of the Year Award. Anderson also received the Award of Merit from LSU's Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society in April of this year. He is married to the former Vivian Norsworthy of Jackson, LA, and has two children, Erin and Ron, and one grandson, William Sirmon IV. Anderson and his wife are members of the Ethel United Methodist Church.

There is no award for the ‘First Lady of American Restaurants,’ but if there were, Ruth Fertel, founder of Ruth's Chris Steak House, would surely qualify for it.

Ruth's Chris Steak House is the nation's largest upscale restaurant company with 72 locations in the United States and Puerto Rico and six international locations, selling more than 12,000 steaks a day and grossing more than $275 million annually. By virtue of this volume, Ruth Fertel is the country's most successful woman restaurateur.

Born in New Orleans in 1927, Fertel earned a degree in chemistry with a minor in physics at LSU at 19 years-of-age. She taught briefly at McNeese Junior College in Lake Charles and eventually left to marry and raise a family.

Fourteen years later, and by then divorced, Fertel re-entered the work force as a lab technician at the Tulane Medical School. In 1965, after four years in that position, she became convinced that she couldn't earn enough to send her two sons to college. While scanning the classified section of the newspaper, Fertel found an ad for a steak house for sale. It was then that the Ruth's Chris success story was born on a hunch and a gamble.

Against the advice of her lawyer, her banker, and her best friend, Fertel mortgaged her home to buy the small restaurant, then called Chris Steak House. She compensated for her lack of experience with plain hard work. In the first six months, she cleared more than double her previous annual salary. Her restaurant became popular with the city's media personalities, political leaders, sports figures, and business people. ‘Ruth's Chris’ became identified with quality and fine steaks.

In 1977, at the urging of a loyal customer, Fertel granted the first franchise for a locally owned Ruth's Chris Steak House. Today, 31 are company-owned and 41 restaurants are franchised. Ruth Fertel has been the recipient of numerous awards: Executive of the Year - 1997 (Restaurants and Institutions), Horatio Alger Award - 1995, Women of Achievement - 1993 (National Association of Women Business Owners), and Restaurateur of the Year - 1990 (Louisiana Restaurant Association).

Dan Borne' is a native of Thibodaux, Louisiana. He is a graduate of Nicholls State University and earned his master's degree from the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication.

Borne' is President of the Louisiana Chemical Association and the Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance, which represent the interests of 70 Louisiana chemical manufactures and nearly 1000 suppliers. Before joining LCA 12 years ago, Borne' was a Vice President for Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation.

In the 1970s, Borne' was executive secretary and chief executive assistant to Governor Edwin Edwards and was a Washington assistant to U.S. Senators Russell Long and Allen Ellender. He has also worked in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Louisiana State Senate, and has anchored news, sports, and public affairs programming for WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge.

Dan Borne' is on the area board of Hibernia National Bank. He is also a member of the boards of the Council for a Better Louisiana; the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry; and the Greater Baton Rouge YMCA. He has also been Chairman of the Board of the General Health System; President of the Louisiana Arts and Science Center; and President of the Louisiana Council on Economic Education. He has also served on the executive committees for the Louisiana Educational Television Authority and the Public Affairs Research Council and has chaired the Governor's Annual Prayer Breakfast.

Borne' is an adjunct member of the LSU faculty and serves on the Board of Visitors of the Manship School. He is the immediate past chairman of the Manship Excellence Fund Drive, which set a record for contributions this year.

His hobby is following LSU athletics. He is entering his 16th year as the public address announcer at Tiger Stadium and his 14th year as the Public Announcer at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. He and his wife, Lisette, live in Baton Rouge, where they are adult catechists at St. Aloysius Church. They have four children.

Eddie J. Jones, in his 34th season in the NFL, was named as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Miami Dolphins in 1996, after previously serving as the team's Executive Vice President and General Manager from 1990 to 1995 and as Vice President of Administration and Finance from 1988 to 1989. In his current capacity, Jones directs the business operation of the Dolphins and acts as the team's representative at all National Football League meetings.

During his tenure with the Miami Dolphins, Jones has received numerous honors for his contributions to both the Dolphins organization and the South Florida community. Additionally, in 1999, Jones in a unanimous selection by the Dolphins players, was honored with a special courage award from the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation, which recognizes individuals in the NFL who display courage in the face of adversity.

Jones was president and chief operating officer of the New Orleans Saints from 1982 to 1985. He currently serves on the NFL's Employee Benefits Committee and is a Trustee of the Bert Bell player pension plan.

A 1963 accounting graduate of LSU, Jones began his professional career as a CPA with Arthur Anderson & Co. He began his NFL career as business manager of the Saints in 1968.

He is a loyal supporter of the LSU Alumni Association and various South Florida charities.

An Air Force veteran, the Houston native and his wife, Marilyn, have three children, Wendy, Todd and Jeff, and two grandchildren, Connor and Ashkon.

A bachelor of science degree in 1939 from the LSU College of Business set the foundation for a long and successful relationship with LSU and the LSU Alumni Association for George Kalil.

Throughout the years, Kalil has played a large part in the development and existence of the Greater New Orleans chapter of the LSU Alumni Association. He is the past president of the chapter, and is currently serving as an advisor to the Board of Directors. In 1986, the Greater New Orleans Chapter of the LSU Alumni Association endowed its first ‘Top 100 Scholarship,’ in Kalil's honor.

Over the years he has been the recipient of many awards. In 1966, he received the LSU Alumni Federation's Alumni Award, in 1983 he was inducted into the LSU Athletic Hall of Distinction, and then in 1986 he received the LSU Alumni Federation's Special Commendation Award.

In 1976 he served as an advisor to the Dean of the LSU College of Business, having once served as president of the LSU College of Business Alumni Association. In addition to all the above, Mr. Kalil has only missed three LSU home football games in the past 49 years.

Currently, Kalil serves on the LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, having served during World War II and Korea. He and his wife Marie Louise Dumestre have three daughters and one son.

A native of New Orleans, Harry Conrad Jr. graduated from LSU with a degree in biochemistry in 1952. Following his career at LSU, he continued his education at USL and Texas A&M.

In 1987, Conrad retired as a Major General from the United States Army after 36 years combined active and reserve duty. During his military service he was awarded with the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit Award, Meritorious Service Medal and various others.

In Conrad's civilian career, he worked for Monsanto Chemical Company, Sterling Chemical Company and Sterling Pulp Chemical Company of Canada and currently is self-employed as a consultant in continuous improvement of products and services.

Conrad currently serves on the advisory committee for the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation, president of the Cadets of the Ole War Skule and remains a loyal member of the LSU Alumni Association having previously served as president of the Houston Alumni Chapter.

Harry Conrad Jr. has been married for 50 years to the former Joyce Broussard of Lafayette, LA, and they have three children who all attended LSU.

Jerry Shea Jr. has been employed by The Bayou Companies for the past 26 years, and is presently Managing Partner, Business Development. He is also President of Bayou Management Services, LLC; President of Bayou Coating, LLC in Baton Rouge; President of Shea Investments, Inc.; and President of Bayou Flow Technologies, LLC.

Shea earned a bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering and his MBA from LSU. While at LSU, he served as Treasurer, Rush Chairman and President of Epsilon Kappa of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. He is currently a member of and is past chairman of the board of the LSU Alumni Association. Shea is a member of the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation, past charter member of the Top 100 Tigers, member of the LSU Foundation, and is a past recipient of the LSU Alumni Association Purple and Gold Award.

Jerry Shea is past president of the National Association of Pipe Coating Applicators, and is presently serving on its Board of Trustees as a second term past president. He serves on the advisory board of directors of Regions Bank of Acadiana. He is also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Iberia.

He is married to the former Beverly Griffin and they have two children, Griffin and Patrick, who is currently a senior at LSU.

Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, Julia H.R. Hamilton is the only child of Tandy and Tela Hamilton. During her childhood, her family moved often because her father was general manager of a cafeteria chain.

Hamilton graduated from Oklahoma University, where she majored in social work and received a minor in psychology while later continuing her education at LSU taking classes in Spanish, Philosophy, and Speech.

Eventually she moved to Baton Rouge to join her mother and father in running Piccadilly Cafeteria, which they owned. She fell in love with Baton Rouge, and soon discovered that she had found a permanent home.

Over the years Hamilton has become very involved with various organizations around Baton Rouge and LSU, many of which she serves on their boards. She is involved with: St. Elizabeth Foundation Adoption Agency, Friends of the LSU Library, LSU Museum of Art, Readers and Writers, Louisiana Nature Conservancy, Salvation Army, Baton Rouge Symphony, Arthritis Research Society and the Piccadilly Cafeteria Board of Directors. On a weekly basis, Julia works with the Friends of the LSU Library at the Bookbarn in Middleton Library where she helps prepare for the yearly Book Bazaar.

Julia is the mother of four children.

Norman Deumite was born in Oberlin, Louisiana. He enrolled at LSU and was a member of the football team in 1953 and 1954. He received his mechanical engineering degree from LSU in 1958. At that time he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. Following a brief stay in the Army, Deumite began his career with the Louisiana Department of Highways as a Project Manager.

In 1978, Deumite founded Master Maintenance and Construction, Inc. and remains as President and Chairman of the Board. He also founded North American Constructors, Inc., Southern Security Services, and Plastic Technologies, Inc.

Currently, Deumite serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Tiger Athletic Foundation, Catholic High School, Boys Hope of Baton Rouge, Red Cross of Baton Rouge, LSU University College Advisory Board, Friends of the LSU Museum, and the Mary Bird Perkins Board of Endowment and Trust.

As a loyal supporter of LSU he has continuously provided jobs to LSU students during the summer, financed renovations to the Academic Center for Athletes, created the Steven Deumite Library located inside the Academic Center for Athletes in honor of his late son, donated funds and labor to renovate the President's House for the Honors College, helped oversee the East Side addition to Tiger Stadium, and provided service to many other clubs and organizations around campus. In 1997 he was awarded the first LSU Football Coaches Award and in 1998 was elected to the LSU Athletic Department Hall of Distinction.

Norman Deumite is married to the former Kay Hardin and they are the parents of four children, Steven, Scott, Staci and Sloan. They are the grandparents of three grandchildren, Steven, William and Sydney.

Alumnus of the Year

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal burst into the NBA in 1992 immediately becoming a force who was virtually unstoppable. The 7'1’ center became a national celebrity with great play and an intimidation factor that is the envy of coaches throughout the country.

While at LSU, O'Neal was the National Player of the Year in 1991 as chosen by the Associated Press and Sports Illustrated. He was also a consensus Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and First-Team All American in 1992.

Since leaving LSU, O'Neal has become an Olympic Gold Medalist, an All-Star team member in all eight seasons, named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history and also became the first unanimous Most Valuable Player in NBA history in 2000.

Basketball however is not all that O'Neal is known for. Over the years he has released five albums, starred in numerous movies, and become an owner of both a record company and a sportswear company. He has also become a part of many philanthropic organizations over the years. He has served as Shaq-a-Claus for Christmas and Shaq-a-Bunny for Easter as part of a campaign to purchase and distribute toys to disadvantaged children. He has created jobs while keeping kids off the street, as well as joining forces with Starlight Children's Foundation. O'Neal has become involved with the Boys & Girls Club, and also is a mentor to children through Athletes & Entertainers for Kids and Shaq's Paq.

Shaquille O'Neal is a 2000 graduate of LSU. Also in 2000, members of the LSU Hall of Fame Committee voted unanimously to retire his No. 33 jersey. O'Neal's number became the fourth retired number at the University, joining Pete Maravich, Bob Petit, and Billy Cannon.

Dr. Stephen E. Ambrose is a distinguished historian and acclaimed author of more than 20 books. He has written several New York Times best-sellers, and his most recent book Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869, topped the New York Best-seller list the first week on the newsstands.

Ambrose, a native of Whitewater, Wisconsin, received his bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin, followed by his Master of Arts degree in 1958 from Louisiana State University, and then returned to Wisconsin for his Ph.D. While at LSU, he studied under T. Harry Williams.

From 1960 to 1995, Ambrose was a full-time teacher at the University of New Orleans, Rutgers, Kansas State, Naval War College, University of California at Berkeley, and a number of European schools.

Stephen Ambrose is a retired Boyd Professor of History at the University of New Orleans. In New Orleans, he is the Director Emeritus of the Eisenhower Center and the founder of the National D-Day Museum. He is a contributing editor for the Quarterly Journal of Military History, a member of the Board of Directors for American Rivers, and a member of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council board. Ambrose also is credited with being the historical consultant for Steven Spielberg's movie Saving Private Ryan.

Ambrose is married to the former Moira Buckley, and they are the parents of five children.

Young Alumnus of the Year

Wil Calhoun is an American television producer and writer.

He is best known for his work on the sitcom Friends for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 1999. In 2002, Calhoun along with Dan Schneider created the series What I Like About You starring Amanda Bynes and Jennie Garth. His other television credits include Jesse, Sons & Daughters, Caroline in the City, Kath & Kim and Gary Unmarried.

In 1990, He guest starred twice on the action series MacGyver, before pursuing a career behind the camera.

Throughout the early 2000s, Calhoun has been developing projects and consulting on shows.

Young Alumnus of the Year

A.J. de la Houssaye, MD, received a Chancellor's   Scholarship to pursue his bachelor's degree at Louisiana State University   before attending Harvard University. He went on to graduate with honors from   Louisiana State University Medical School. While in medical school he   received the LSU Research Award. He then completed a four-year residency in   ophthalmology at Ochsner, in New Orleans, serving as Chief Resident.

Known to his patients as Dr. D, de la Houssaye has   published research in publications such as Life Science Journal. A Fellow of   the American College of Surgeons, he is also affiliated with prestigious   medical societies such as the American Society of Cataract and Refractive   Surgery, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Louisiana State   Medical Society.

In 2004, the United Veterans League named Dr. D the   Patriotic Citizen of the Year in Houma, Louisiana, in recognition of the free   eye care he provides to local veterans and their families. He was also named   in Consumers' Research Council of America's ‘America's Top Ophthalmologists’   in 2005 and was chosen to be a speaker at the American Academy of   Ophthalmology's International Conference in 2007.

In 2008, Dr. D was appointed by Governor Bobby Jindal to   serve on the Louisiana State Medical Advisory Board. Dr. D received this   honor after a rigorous vetting process culminating in the Louisiana State   Legislature's approval of the appointment. Dr. D is one of only two   ophthalmologists to receive this honor.

A native of Daytona Beach, Florida, Alexander A. McCool, Jr. has made exceptional contributions to the American Space Program for almost fifty years. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louisiana Lafayette in 1950 and his Master's degree in Hydraulic Engineering from LSU in 1951, McCool launched what would be a major contribution to NASA's mission of supporting U.S. Space exploration goals.

McCool began his NASA-related service in 1954, through the development of propulsion systems for early U.S. Space launch vehicle and for Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle Programs. As chief of Engine Systems Analysis with the Army's Ballistic Mission Agency in Huntsville, Alabama, he was a key participant in the propulsion design of the Jupiter rocket, which placed the free world's first satellite, EXPLORER into orbit. In 1960, McCool transferred to NASA, where he was heavily involved in the design of the propulsion systems for the SATURN launch vehicles. In 1969, as Chief of the Systems Projects Office in the Marshall Space Flight Center's Astronautics Laboratory, he directed project engineering for the SATURN/APOLLO and SKYLAB programs.

In the 1970s, as Director of Structures and Propulsion Laboratory, McCool assumed the leadership role in the early development of the Space Shuttle's Main Engine and in the early `80s, managed the in-house development, test and flight phases of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters.

During a period of devastation and question after the Challenger accident in January 1986, McCool was selected to lead the Solid Rocket Boosters recovery activity at the Kennedy Space Center. His expertise made him a valuable commodity at NASA, being named Director of the Safety, Reliability, Maintainability, and Quality Assurance Office at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. As director, he revitalized the concepts of safety and quality, while he aggressively examined every aspect of the return-to-flight effort. This effort achieved success in September of 1988, and the many subsequent successful launches are evidence of his performance.

In February 1992, McCool was named manager of the Space Shuttle Projects Office when increased emphasis was placed on reducing space shuttle operations costs. The budget reductions magnified the challenge of maintaining safe and reliable propulsion systems. McCool's leadership, technical expertise, and ability to organize and motivate have played a major role in maintaining the office's ability to meet program requirements.

McCool is married to the former Genelle Wade. They currently live in Huntsville, Alabama and have one son, one daughter, and four grandsons.

Alumnus of the Year

During an eight-year tenure as LSU's third chancellor, James H. Wharton steered the state's flagship institution of higher learning to unprecedented progress, while guiding the institution through one of the most difficult periods in the University's history from 1981-1989.

Through much adversity, Wharton managed to make major improvements in the quality of the University's faculty and students, its academic standards, its curriculum, its private fundraising programs and its research effort, while contending with continual budget cuts. His push in 1982 to create the Louisiana Endowment Trust Fund for Eminent Scholars became a reality in 1983 and was the forerunner of today's support program for faculty chairs and professorships. On his watch, admission standards were implemented in 1988. ACT scores for entering freshman students were enhanced from 21.2 to 23.0 and graduation rates improved from 33 to 47 percent.

The hallmark of his administration was the Quality Thrust Program, designed to upgrade instruction and research and to maintain LSU's statewide ‘flagship’ status as Louisiana's premier, comprehensive university. Wharton was also responsible for reorganizing the University's internal administration and streamlined its operations by means of computerization and administrative accountability. He succeeded in bringing peak efficiency to LSU operations, which boasted the lowest administrative per-student overhead of any comparable national institutions.

Funding from outside grants and contracts from state, federal and private sources skyrocketed during Wharton's years as chancellor. LSU's research grants went from a total of some $17 million to more than $50 million per year. In 1987, the Carnegie Foundation designated LSU as a ‘Research University I,’ the highest advanced-research ranking given by the foundation. The designation put LSU in the top two percent of the nation's 3,300 universities—in a group of 45 public and 25 private national institutions.

Funds from private sources also increased significantly. The LSU Foundation was converted from a system foundation to a campus foundation and its assets increased from $7 million in 1981 to $45 million in 1989. The bylaws and articles of incorporation for the forerunner of TAF were written and the organization undertook the first major improvement of athletics facilities with private funds. An office of technology transfer that has brought considerable funding to the university and faculty was also created.

CAMD, a $25 million federal grant to establish the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices was also made possible through his efforts and the efforts of others to study the use of X-ray lithography for etching smaller microchips. Wharton also saw the installation of a $16.7 million IBM supercomputer that would have a significant impact on the future of the University. Today he remains as a fundraiser and a highly regarded teacher.

The Whartons have two children, Sherri and Scott, along with five grandchildren.

The quiet, rural town of New Albany, Indiana is a long way from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As a promising high school basketball player in New Albany, Indiana, Joe Dean was looking for a place where he could continue to play the game he loved, when his coach told him of the most beautiful campus he had ever seen with untapped basketball promise. That campus was LSU.

Joe Dean first made his mark at LSU as a three-year letterman in basketball from 1950-1952 under then head coach Harry Rabenhorst. After spending two years in the Army, he returned to LSU to earn a degree in education in 1955. An alternate on the 1956 Olympic Team and a member of the first American team to ever tour Russia, Dean also played professional basketball for three seasons with the famed Phillips 66 Oilers.

Combining his basketball and sales experience, Joe Dean began working as a salesman for Converse, Inc. in 1959 selling athletic shoes to coaches and sporting goods stores all over the country. In 1977, he was named Vice President in charge of promotions, advertising, marketing and sales. He also served as color analyst for NBC and Jefferson Pilot Sports and in 1981 became a business owner when he and 48 other executives bought Converse.

April 1, 1987, the LSU Board of Supervisors appointed Dean as Director of Athletics. Under Dean's tutelage, the department began to see a profit and a period of major renovations and facility improvements began, including the construction of a new Athletics Administration Building, new weight room, sports medicine facilities, indoor practice facility and the expansion of Tiger Stadium to seating of 91,600 with the addition of the east upper deck and luxury boxes.

Under Dean's leadership, LSU sports claimed 27 national titles, more than any other SEC school, and donated funds back to the University every year since 1989.

Dean's success didn't stop on the playing field. He also developed the Academic Center for Athletics, a center for learning that has been instrumental in improving graduation rates of all LSU athletes, and instituted the Director's Cup, an award to recognize the academic achievement of student athletes.

Upon retiring from LSU, Dean opened a consulting office in Baton Rouge with former Dallas Cowboy General Manager Gil Brandt.

Joe Dean is married to the former Doris K. Hall with whom he recently celebrated 50 years of marriage. They are the parents of Joe Dean, Jr., Mardi Dean and Mark Dean.

Born in New Orleans and raised in Shreveport, John H. Dalton served as the 70th Secretary of the Navy and has had a distinguished career in government beginning as a naval officer. After attending LSU for one year, Dalton completed his undergraduate education at the United States Naval Academy, graduating with distinction from Annapolis in 1964. He had served as Deputy Brigade Commander, the Academy's number two ranking position and was a finalist in the Rhodes scholarship competition.

Between 1964 and 1969, Dalton received naval nuclear power training and served aboard the submarines USS Blueback as Supply and Commissary Officer and John. C. Calhoun as Main Propulsion Assistant, Communications Officer and Weapons Officer. While on duty he received a ranking of Lieutenant and was later promoted to Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Dalton would go on to earn his Masters of Business Administration Degree from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.

In 1977, President Carter nominated him to be President of the Government National Mortgage Association of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In December 1979, President Carter nominated him to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, where he served as a member and chairman until July 1981. On July 1993, President Clinton nominated him to become the Secretary of the Navy and was sworn in as the 70th Secretary of the Navy on July 22, 1993, where he served in the capacity until November 1998.

In 1997, the National Security Caucus recognized Dalton as their prestigious International Security Leadership Award recipient. The award honored Dalton for his ‘leadership and vision’ in promoting American seapower and bipartisan maritime strategy. Dalton is the only service secretary ever to receive this award. The National Security Caucus Foundation has also established the John H. Dalton Congressional Fellowship in Maritime Strategy Studies in his honor. He also holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree awarded by Trinity College in 1997.

In the private sector, Dalton currently serves as President of IPG Photonics Corporation, an international fiber optics company.

He and his wife, Margaret, reside in Washington, D.C. Their two sons are commissioned officers, John Jr., in the Navy and Chris, in the Marine Corps.

Louis D. Curet is a native of New Roads, LA and a 1947 graduate of Louisiana State University. Receiving a Juris Doctorate in Law from the LSU Law Center in 1950, the local attorney is well known throughout the Baton Rouge area for his philanthropy and community leadership, as well as support of numerous charitable, educational and religious organizations including Friends of the LSU Library, the Society of Saint Vincent DePaul, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Our Lady of the Lake Foundation and Sacred Heart Church.

Over the years he and his late wife made major donations to the LSU Alumni Association and the LSU Foundation. However, his leadership and devotion to the Department of French Studies and Friends of the French at LSU has been overwhelming. In the fall of 1997, at the suggestion of Jeff Humphries, Chair of the French Department, a meeting was held to consider the establishment of a community support organization to assist the French Department in its mission to promote and preserve the French language and culture in Louisiana. With encouragement from his wife, Jean, and support from Jeff Humphries, Curet assumed the duties of Acting President and was elected President at an organizational meeting held on July 13, 1998. A position he held until November of 2001, at which time he stepped down to assume the duties as Treasurer.

In the fall of 1999, Friends of the French Studies held its first annual meeting with over 130 members in attendance. The membership has grown to approximately 300 and sponsored numerous well-attended events. The Department of French Studies has received commitments for the establishment of thirteen professorships since Friends of the French Studies was established. In addition, the organization has provided scholarships for summer student intern programs in Barcelonnette, France.

He is a member and former president of the Baton Rouge Bar Association, member and former director of the Baton Rouge Foundation for Historical Louisiana, a board member of the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation and the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. Curet is also a member of the Sigma Chi Alumni Association, Phi Delta Phi International Fraternity, Downtown Kiwanis Club and Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Curet was married for forty-nine years to Jean Harvey Curet. He is the father of one child, Jeanne Marie Curet James, who is married to David M. James. He has four grandchildren—David, Sally, William, and Carter James.

Graduating from LSU in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, Brigadier General Terry L. Gabreski set off on a mission that she would sustain over the course of her career. After receiving her commission in 1974 as a graduate of Officer Training School, Gabreski went on to receive her Master's Degree in public administration from Golden Gate University in 1978. Between 1978 and 1997, she attended Air War College, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government Senior Officials in National Security, was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Fellow and attended Defense Systems Management College in Virginia. On March 1, 1999 Gabreski was promoted to Brigadier General. She is the first woman to follow in her father's footsteps as a brigadier general and is selected for promotion to major general.

Serving as Director of Logistics Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command at WrightPatterson Air Force Base in Ohio, she is the chief operating officer for depot maintenance and supply management, two of the largest mission areas within the command. Gabreski develops and directs policy and procedures for major overhaul, repair and modification of weapon systems and spare parts. She provides policy on the command's wholesale and retail supply procedures as well as being responsible for transportation solutions to fully support life cycle development of the country's weapon systems. Gabreski develops all logistics plans support for Air Force Materiel Command's war readiness program. She is also responsible for policies and procedures relating to the Air Force's wholesale supply chain.

Brigadier General Gabreski has received numerous major awards and decorations, such as the Secretary of the Air Force Eugene M. Zuckert Outstanding Management Award, Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with 7 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Force Recognition Ribbon and award as US Air Force Outstanding Company Grade Aircraft Maintenance Manager, and the Humanitarian Service Medal, just to name a few. During Operation Allied Force in the 1999 Air War over Serbia, Brigadier General Gabreski directed logistics efforts for the air war across the entire theater. She has directed two aircraft maintenance units, served as a squadron maintenance supervisor in three units, and has commanded three maintenance squadrons and a logistics group. She holds a master aircraft maintenance badge and basic parachute rating.

A Baton Rouge native, Bill Wright has been a successful businessman, community activist, volunteer and supporter. He attended Baton Rouge High School before coming to LSU and the Maryland Casualty Insurance School. He would go on to serve in the United States Navy until 1947 before building the family insurance agency of Wright Insurance Agency into what we all know today as Wright & Percy Insurance. Founded in 1882, Wright & Percy Insurance is one of the oldest and largest privately owned insurance agencies in Louisiana. As president from 1968 through 1994, he has built the company into a leader by providing property, casualty as well as many lines of business and personal insurance.

Throughout his career and his life, Bill Wright has supported many local community organizations. Some of his favorites are the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Volunteers of America, American Red Cross, The Arthritis Foundation, The American Lung Association, Good Fellows and Good Samaritans, The Nature Conservatory, March of Dimes, The Battered Women's Shelter and many others.

He has spent countless hours in endeavors to improve LSU. Recently, through his family's generosity, $600,000 has been contributed to endow the William H. Wright, Jr. Endowed Chair for Financial Services. The endowment, which will total $1,000,000 after state matching funds, will implement a critical component providing a strong insurance program within the finance department of the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration.

His affiliations have included serving as past national fund chairman for the LSU Alumni Federation and currently serves on the board of directors for the LSU Foundation, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Our Lady of the Lake Foundation. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration, on the Board of Visitors for Episcopal High School, is a patron of St. Joseph's Academy and a member and supporter of St. James Episcopal Church.

For the past 47 years he has been married to Mary Arwin Patrick of Tallulah. They have three children, William H. Wright, III, Arwin Wright McKnight and Charlotte Louise Wright. They also have nine grandchildren.

Alumnus of the Year

Born in Elizabeth, Louisiana, Bert S. Turner served as   Battalion Commander in the U.S. Corps of Engineers during his three and   one-half years of service during World War II, twenty-six of those months   served in Southeast Asia. His engineering and military careers began at LSU   in 1939, where he was the President of the College of Engineering Student Council,   the LSU Post of American Society of Military Engineers, and a member of Tau   Beta Pi. After his tour of duty, he returned to school and in 1949, he   graduated with distinction from Harvard Graduate School of Business   Administration.

For eleven years, between 1946 and 1957, Turner worked as   an engineer and in management positions in various departments in the   Louisiana Division of Esso Standard Oil Company. During these years, he was   also President of the Baton Rouge Jaycees, President of the Board of Control   for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, and Chairman of the Civic   Improvement Committee of the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce.

In 1954, he was presented the Distinguished Service Award   for Baton Rouge, a recognition given to a member of the community under age   36 who had done the most for the community during that year.

He began his career in construction in 1957 as Assistant   to the President of Nichols Construction Company, Inc., and was appointed   Chairman of the East Baton Rouge City-Parish Airport Study Commission in   1958. After a year as Vice-President of Nichols Construction Corporation and   another three years as Vice-President of the company's southern division,   Turner became President and Chairman of the Board, a position he held for   twenty years.

Turner has served on the boards of the Baton Rouge Chamber   of Commerce, the Louisiana State Museum Board, the Louisiana Labor Management   Commission, the Salvation Army, the State Louisiana Board of Regents for   Higher Education, and the YMCA, to name a few. He has served as President of   the Louisiana Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization, and Chairman of   both the LSU Board of Supervisors and the LSU Foundation Board.

In 1982, he was recognized as Free Enterpriser of the Year   for the 6th Congressional District. Bert was inducted into the LSU College of   Engineering Hall of Distinction in 1993 and the LSU Alumni Association Hall   of Distinction in 1996.

At present, Turner is the Chairman Emeritus of the Board   for Turner Industries, Ltd., the holding company of all Turner related   companies. He is also a past president and current member of the LSU   Foundation board of directors as well as a board member for Pennington   Biomedical Research Foundation.

Justice Catherine D. ‘Kitty’ Kimball, Associate Justice,   Supreme Court of Louisiana, was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, on February 7,   1945. She is the daughter of the late William H. Dick and Jane C. Kelley   Dick. She is married to Clyde W. Kimball, former Louisiana State   Representative and current Deputy Secretary for the Louisiana Department of   Wildlife and Fisheries. Justice Kimball and her husband have three children   and two grandsons. The Kimballs have been residents of New Roads since 1975.

Justice Kimball graduated from Bolton High School in   Alexandria in 1963 and received her Juris Doctorate Degree from Louisiana   State University in 1970. Her work experience has included: Law Clerk, United   States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, 1970; Special Counsel,   Louisiana Attorney General's Office, 1971-73; General Counsel, Louisiana   Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice,   1973-81.

She opened her own private law practice from 1975-1982.   During this time (1978-82), she was Assistant District Attorney for the 18th   Judicial District. In December of 1982, she was elected District Judge,   Division A, for the 18th Judicial District, and served in that capacity until   being elected as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana in   November of 1992. She was re-elected in 1998 without opposition. In addition,   she is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Tulane Law School's Summer Abroad   Program.

Her current professional responsibilities and associations   include: Member of the Louisiana State Bar Association; Member, American Judicature   Society; Member, State-Federal Judicial Council; Member, Wex Malone American   Inn of Court; Chairperson, Louisiana Supreme Court Case Management   Information System Task Force; Chairperson, Alternative Dispute Resolution   Committee; Ex Officio Member, Complex Litigation Committee; Chairperson,   Louisiana Supreme Court Technology Committee; Member, Paul M. Hebert Law   Center Search Committee for a new Chancellor; Chair, Judicial Budgetary   Control Board; and Member, Louisiana Coordinating Council on Domestic   Violence. She has been inducted into the Louisiana State University Law   School Hall of Fame and is an Honorary Member of the Louisiana Chapter of   Order of the Coif.

She has previously served as Past President, Louisiana   Legislative Wives Auxiliary; First Vice-President and Member, Executive   Committee of the Louisiana District Judges Association; President and Member,   Louisiana State University Law Alumni Association; Member, Louisiana Juvenile   Judges Association; Member, National Conference of State Trial Judges;   Member, 18th Judicial District Bar Association; Member, American Trial   Lawyers Association; Chief Judge, 18th Judicial District Court; Member, The   Governor's Commission on Child Support; Member, Economic Justice for All Task   Force; Member, The Committee to Evaluate New Judgeships; Member, The Orleans   Criminal and Civil Court Committee; Member, The Supreme Court Committee on   the Judicial Electoral Process; Member, The Louisiana Task Force on Women in   the Courts; Member, The Governor's Commission on Child Support; Member,   Automated Fingerprint Identification Selection Committee; Member, American   Judicature Society. She received the Outstanding Judicial Award from Victims   & Citizens Against Crime, Inc. and was selected in 1992, 1997, and 1999,   as a nominee for the YWCA Women of Achievement Award. Virginia was honored as   one of the Top 25 Women of Achievement by the Baton Rouge Business Report in   1997.

Charley spent his early years in Lake Charles where he and his twin sister Marney were born in 1927. After living seven years out of Louisiana, he returned from Texas to Baton Rouge where he completed high school at University High in 1943. He entered LSU that summer while working in the State Motor Fuels Laboratory located in the chemistry building on the campus of LSU.

While at LSU, as Cadet Captain of ROTC Company ‘C’, his company won Honor Company for the summer of 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944 and returned to LSU in the fall of 1946. He completed his degree in chemical engineering in May of 1948. He twice served as President of DKE.

Charley's business career covered more than fifty years in the energy industry. It began as a product development engineer for Petrolite Corp., specializing in high-pressure gas well corrosion mitigation. During the next twenty years with Petrolite, he lived and worked in many locations in the United States and South America, including five years in Venezuela. He ultimately was responsible for both the Tretolite and Petreco Division reporting to the Chief Executive Officer.

Having departed Petrolite, Charley became Executive Vice President and a Director of Apco Oil Corp., an integrated independent company located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Later as President and CEO he moved the headquarters of the company to Houston, Texas. During that period, he was a member of the National Petroleum Council of the Dept. of the Interior, Director of the American Petroleum Institute and The National Petroleum Refiners Association.

Charley joined Marathon Manufacturing Co. as President and Director in 1975. Marathon's primary activities were building LeTourneau Offshore Jackup Drilling Rigs, mining equipment, steel, and steel fabrication. He remained President and CEO of Marathon and a Director of Penn Central Corporation after Marathon merged with Penn Central and until his retirement in 1987. While Chairman of Marathon Manufacturing Co., he was a member of the Board of the National Ocean Industries Association and served as its President in 1987-88.

During his brief retirement, he became a Director of Cabot Corp. of Boston, Massachusetts and subsequently was asked to take Cabot Oil and Gas out of Cabot Corp. as a public company. Charley was Chairman and CEO of the company for three years after it became independent and retired briefly, returning to Chair the company again until he retired to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1998.

He is a long-term member of the LSU Alumni Association, Tiger Athletic Foundation, and the LSU Foundation where he served as a Director and President. He and his wife Jean are Star level lifetime contributors to LSU and have an established professorship in the School of Engineering.

Jean and Charley reside in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They have a family of four married sons and seven grandchildren. Their oldest son Charles is a graduate of the LSU School of Geology. Kurt, Lance, and Tommy are graduates of schools in the state of Texas.

Durand ‘Rudy’ Macklin attended LSU on an athletic   scholarship and graduated in 1981. After graduation he went on to play   professional basketball in the National Basketball Association for the   Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks. He also played for European leagues in   Italy, Switzerland, and Spain.

In his off-seasons, Rudy worked as a loan officer for   Ambank and Trust Company, where he advanced to supervisory positions.

In 1987, Rudy became an account representative for Helix   Shell Oil Company in Manila, Philippines, and in 1988, was appointed an   operations supervisor for Pony Express Courier Corporation.

In 1992, he was appointed by the Governor to the post of   Executive Director of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.   He established Louisiana's first Minority Health Resource Center within the   Department of Health and Hospitals for racial/ethnic populations.

He developed Louisiana's first Youth Fitness Study to   assess the fitness levels of elementary school students with more than   100,000 participating statewide. Rudy collaborated with Louisiana Public   Broadcasting to produce the state's first videos for junior high and high   school students about Louisiana Law, Drinking and Driving, and Conflict   Resolution.

Currently, he serves as Director of the Bureau of Minority   Health Access. In that capacity, he established the state's first Bureau of   Minority Health to study issues related to the delivery of and access to   health and social services that particularly affect the medically underserved   and various racial/ethnic populations.

Also in his capacity as Minority Health Access's Director,   Rudy has developed a centralized resource center within the Bureau to   dispense information about available resources, such as grants, federal   funding, and internal funds. Rudy has identified model programs that have   improved access and utilization of medical services, and established community   health networks in thirty-seven parishes to ensure that prevention activities   become more accessible in the medically underserved and minority populations.

Born in Baton Rouge in 1940, James M. Field's LSU experience started well before college. Having attended and graduated from University High School, James remained to earn his undergraduate and Law degrees.

James was admitted to the Bar of the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1966, the Bar of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1980, and the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981. He is a former member of the Louisiana State Bar Association House of Delegates and Nominating Committee, and also a former member of their Board of Directors. He has been a member of the Sports Lawyers Association since 1983.

Mr. Field was elected to the Public Service Commission for District 2 in November 1996, and was re-elected for six years in October 2000. He was elected chairman of the Public Service Commission in January 2001. He has served as a member of the Electricity Committee and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners since 1997. James is also an attorney and an NFL Contract Advisory.

He is a board member of the Baton Rouge Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was the Chair of its Adult Chapter from 1989-1993. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge and the Baton Rouge YMCA. James has also served on the Board of Directors for the Coastal Conservation Association, where he was Vice-President in 1994. He is the Past President and Member of the Board of Directors of the LSU National ‘L’ Club. James has served as chair of the Grants Review Committee for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation for 1984-1988.

He has also served on the Board of Trustees for the Chapel on the Campus, where he has been a member since 1975 and currently serves as a part-time Sunday School teacher.

James is married to Laura Holloway. They have 4 children and 12 grandchildren, all of whom live in Baton Rouge.

Victor Bussie was born January 27, 1919, at Montrose, Louisiana, and moved to Shreveport in 1931 where he attended public schools. He is married to the former Fran Martinez and has two daughters and one son.

He was first elected President of the Louisiana AFL-CIO in 1956 and has been re-elected to that position every year he stood for re-election, serving continuously for forty-one years. In March 1997, he was elected President Emeritus for life.

Mr. Bussie's labor career began when he was elected President of the Shreveport Fire Fighters Association in 1946. In 1947, he was elected President of the Shreveport Central Trades and Labor Council and Vice President of the Louisiana Federation of Labor (AFL) and served in these positions until 1956.

In 1940, he joined the Shreveport Fire Department and was elected through the ranks of Chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau in 1952. He resigned in 1956 after having been elected President of the Louisiana AFL-CIO. Victor Bussie became a Naval Aviator in 1943 and was honorably discharged in 1946.

Mr. Bussie has served with Presidential Appointments on the U.S. Post Office Department's Advisory Board, the National Defense Advisory Council, the National Defense Executive Reserve, and the President's Committee on Mental Retardation. He has served on the National Policy & Performance Council for the U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare; the Southwestern Regional Manpower Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Labor; and the Labor Advisory Committee for the U.S. Office of Emergency Planning. Victor was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve on the National Public Advisory Committee on Regional Economic Development.

Mr. Bussie was part of the White House Conference on Children and Youth, the Defense Orientation Conference, and the National Council on Transplantation. He has also been a member of the Louisiana Supreme Court Task Force on Indigent Defense, the Louisiana Supreme Court Judicial Disciplinary Enforcement Committee, the Louisiana Higher Education Commission for the 21st Century, and the Office of Student Financial Assistance.

Mr. Bussie has served on the Sea Grant Advisory Council--Louisiana Advisory Commission on Coastal/Marine Resources and the Louisiana State Panel of the National Identification Program for the Advancement of Women in Higher Education Administration. He has been a member of the LSU Medical Faculty Group Practice Board, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of LSU Advisory Board, the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (LPFA) Board of Trustees, the Baton Rouge Community College Management Council, and the Louisiana Commission on Governmental Ethics.

Mr. Bussie's commitment to women's rights is evident in his past service. He has served as a member of the Advisory Board for the Young Women's Christian Association of Baton Rouge, and on the Commission on the Status and Role of Women in the United Methodist Church.

Victor is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association Steering Committee Citizen's Summit on Justice Reform. He also currently serves on the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System and has served on the LSU Board of Supervisors.

Born in Texas, Virginia K. Shehee received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Centenary College of Louisiana in 1943.

Virginia is currently the President and CEO of Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company and Kilpatrick's Rose-Neath Funeral Homes and Cemeteries, Inc. She has also served the American Council of Life Insurance on their Board of Directors, the Taxation Steering Committee, and continues to serve on the Forum 500 Board of Governors and on the Committee on Committees. She has been the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Biomedical Research Foundations of Northwest Louisiana, and in 2000, she was appointed Chairman Emeritus. She has served on the Board of Directors for LOMA, the Louisiana Insurers' Conference, the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations, and has chaired the Louisiana Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association.

Virginia currently serves on the Louisiana Committee of 100 for Economic Development since 1992 and was its Chairman from 1997-1998. In 1996, she participated in Governor Foster's Transition Team on Higher Education and SECURE Louisiana, which she continues to work with today. Her history of civic service includes Louisiana's Board of Regents Foundation, the Rotary Club, the Council for a Better Louisiana, the Foundation for Excellence in Public Broadcasting, Shreveport's Committee of 100, the Board of Trustees for Centenary College, the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Strand Theatre of Shreveport Corporation and the Shreveport Symphony, the Executive Advisory Board of LSU-Shreveport, and she currently serves on the Board of Supervisors for Louisiana State University.

Virginia is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts in London, England, and an active parishioner of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. In 1989, she was given the Arthritis Foundation Humanitarian Award, and the Benemerenti Medal -- conferred by Pope Paul and presented by Bishop Friend of the Catholic Diocese of Shreveport for outstanding community service. Virginia was the first woman to receive the Community Council Special Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Service, and the Clyde E. Fant Memorial Award for Community Service. She was the first woman member of the local chapter of Omnicron Delta Kappa, the first woman to receive the Optimist Club's ‘Mr. Shreveport’ Award, the first woman to be named Business Leader of the Year by the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, and the first woman from Caddo Parish elected to the Louisiana State Senate.

She has received an honorary doctorate in humanities from Northwestern State University, and an honorary doctorate in law from Centenary College of Louisiana. Virginia has been inducted into the Junior Achievement N. Louisiana Business Hall of Fame, the Women and Government Hall of Fame at Nicholls State University, the Centenary College Alumni Hall of Fame, and the Byrd High School Hall of Fame. She has been honored by the Shreveport Medical Society for Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Medicine in Shreveport, and was named Citizen of the Year in 2000 by the March of Dimes.

On October 23, 1996, the Biomedical Research Institute Building was given her name. Virginia is married to W. Payton Shehee, Jr. They have four children, Anne, Andrew, Nell, and Margaret.

Major General William G. Bowdon currently serves as the Commanding General, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.

After graduating from Louisiana State University in 1970, Major General Bowdon entered the Marine Corps and reported to NAS Pensacola, Florida, for flight training. He received his wings at NAS Kingsville, Texas, in February 1972, and reported to 3d Marine Aircraft Wing, MCAS El Toro, California.

Major General Bowdon was assigned to MAG-11 and completed F-4 combat qualification training at VMFAT-101, MCAS Yuma, Arizona, in December 1972. He reported to VMFA-314, MAG-11 in January 1973, for his first Fleet Marine force tour. During January 1974, then Lieutenant Bowdon was ordered to VT-7 NAS Meridian, Mississippi, for duty as a flight instructor in the TA-4 aircraft.

In January 1977, Major General Bowdon was ordered to his first overseas assignment, with VMFA-232, MAG-15, MCAS Iwakuni, Japan. He returned to CONUS the following year to attend Amphibious Warfare School at MCB Quantico, Virginia. Upon graduation in June 1979, he reported to VMFA-122, MAG-31, MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina. Less than a year later, he was transferred to VMFA-333, MAG-31, for duty as the aircraft maintenance officer. Major General Bowdon remained with VMFA-333 for two unit rotations to the Western Pacific. He was promoted to Major in May 1981.

In August 1982, Major General Bowdon attended the Marine Corps Command and Staff College at MCB Quantico, Virginia. After graduation he reported to Marine Training Support Group, NAS Cecil Field, Florida, for duty as the Executive Officer. During this tour, Major General Bowdon transitioned to the FA-18 Aircraft and performed duties as a fleet replacement flight instructor. He reported to MAG-31 in August 1986 and was assigned as Executive Officer of VMFA-251. Major General Bowdon assumed the duties of MAG-31 Administrative Officer in May 1987, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in October 1987.

Major General Bowdon assumed command of VMFA-333 in July 1988 and deployed the ‘Shamrocks’ to the Western Pacific. After command, Major General Bowdon reported to the National War College, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. He was subsequently assigned to the Joint Staff, J-4 Directorate, the Pentagon, in June 1991.

He was promoted to Colonel in August 1992. In June of 1994, General Bowdon moved to MCAS El Toro and assumed command of Marine Aircraft Group 11, where he stayed until January of 1996. He was promoted to Brigadier General on October 1, 1996, while assigned as the Assistant Wing Commander, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, Cherry Point, North Carolina. Major General Bowdon assumed the duties of Commander, Marine Corps Air Bases and Commanding General of Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina in April 1998. After serving in 1999 for one year as the Deputy Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, New Orleans, Louisiana, he became Commander, Marine Corps Air Bases, Western Area and Commanding General, Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, California. On June 24, 2002, he took over as Commanding General, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California.

Major General Bowdonís personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

In 1973, a young graduate of Louisiana State University stepped into one of the most unenviable positions available in the National Football League—he had to replace the legendary Johnny Unitas.

In college, Bert Jones excelled as both a student and an athlete. In the classroom, Jones earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. While on the gridiron, he earned the distinctions of being named both the College Football Player of the Year for 1972 and the Consensus All-American College Quarterback for 1972. After the completion of college, Jones entered the NFL.

Though he was filling a position which had recently been vacated by Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, Jones established himself as a quarterback to be ‘reckoned with.’ The highlight of his 10-year career came in 1976 when he was voted as the league's ‘Most Valuable Player’; he was also selected as an All-Pro quarterback and participated in the Pro Bowl that same year. The transition from college to professional football was not as problematic as one might think since Jones' father had played in the NFL. In fact, Bert and his father, W.A. ‘Dub’ Jones, are the only father-son combination in the NFL record book -- Bert for most consecutive pass completions, with 17, and Dub for most touchdowns in a game, with six. Though these records may have been tied or passed since originally being set, they are still admirable accomplishments since they belong to a father-son tandem.

Following his professional football career with the Baltimore Colts (1973-1981) and the Los Angeles Rams (1981-1982), Jones returned to his home state of Louisiana and became part owner and manager of Mid-States Wood Preservers, Inc., a lumber treating plant in Simsboro, La.

He has served as the chairman and public service announcer for the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission and presently serves as national chairman for both the Treated Wood Council and American Wood Preservers Institute. Bert also serves on the board of directors for the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, Louisiana Wildlife Foundation, and White Lake Preservation, Inc.

As an avid outdoorsman, hunter, and private landowner, he is actively involved in timber and wildlife management and conservation; Jones is a current member of the Louisiana Tree Farmers Association, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, and Quail Unlimited. He is also a Louisiana Clean Team founder (Clean Team raises public awareness concerning state trash and litter problems) and has been a host on the Great Outdoors Television series for the past five years.

Bert and his wife, Danielle, have four children: Tram, Molly, Stephanie, and Beau.

Mrs. Chandler is a graduate of Louisiana State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and English. Later, she earned a Juris Doctorate from the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana, and became a member of the Louisiana Bar. Prior to joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Mrs. Chandler enjoyed a career as a television news anchorperson, reporter and talk show host for the NBC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She also practiced law with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mrs. Chandler began her investigative career as a Special Agent in January, 1985. She has served in the FBI's New Orleans and Los Angeles Field Offices investigating white-collar crimes, violent crimes, and civil rights violations.

Mrs. Chandler was promoted in 1991 to Supervisory Special Agent in the Legal Counsel Division at FBI Headquarters to support the defense of the agency and its personnel in civil litigation matters. She was later assigned as a manager in the Criminal Investigative Division, White-Collar Crimes Section, where she assisted with the creation of the Health Care Fraud Unit and the development of the FBI's Health Care Fraud Program.

In 1994, Mrs. Chandler was promoted to supervisor of white-collar crimes in the FBI's San Diego Field Office. While in San Diego, she oversaw the investigation of one of this country's first international health care fraud undercover operations. She also managed the division's El Centro Resident Agency office, which primarily focused on violent crimes, including cross border kidnapping and environmental crimes.

In 1997, she was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Office's White-Collar Crimes, Civil Rights, Finance, and Administrative Programs. Later, she managed the office's National Foreign Intelligence Program, Computer Intrusion investigations and the Domestic and International Terrorism Programs. She also oversaw the division's largest Resident Agency office in Oakland, California.

In April 2000, Mrs. Chandler was promoted to Section Chief at FBI Headquarters, and on February 5, 2002, Director Mueller promoted Mrs. Chandler as Assistant Director, Training Division. On December 11, 2002, Director Mueller assigned Mrs. Chandler temporarily as Assistant Director of the Office of Public Affairs and the FBI's National Spokesperson. On August 7, 2003, Mrs. Chandler was permanently assigned to the position by Director Mueller.

Mrs. Chandler is a national speaker, a recipient of numerous awards and recognitions and a member of various national and international law enforcement organizations.

Alumnus of the Year

Charles Howard Barré retired as director and   vice-president of refining from Marathon Oil Company, Findlay, Ohio, in 1984.   He joined Marathon in Texas City, Texas, as a chemist in 1946 and steadily   moved up in increasingly responsible positions in Marathon's operations in   Munich, Germany, and Findlay. He was made vice-president of refining in 1971   and named director in 1977. Mr. Barré has served on the boards of the   Companie Ibericia Refinadora de Petroles of Madrid, Spain, Erdol Refinere   Mannheim, Mannheim, West Germany, San Francisco Plantation Foundation,   Marathon Oil Foundation, the National Petroleum Refiners' Association.

Mr. Barré was born on August 8, 1922, in Mooringsport,   Louisiana, son of Aubertan H. Barré and Edna Brouillette Barré. He received   his degree in industrial chemistry from LSU in 1943 where he was a member of   Lambda Chi Alpha. He also attended Harvard University's Advanced Management   Program in 1965. He was a member of the LSU Foundation from 1978-89 and   1992-2003. Mr. Barré served as Director of the National Petroleum Refiners   Association from 1972-83 and Vice-President from 1975-78. He served as   Chairman of the Board of the San Francisco Plantation Foundation of   Garyville, Louisiana, from 1976-83. He was a member of the General Committee   on Refining for the American Petroleum Institute from 1971-83, Vice-Chairman   from 1975-76, Chairman from 1977-78, and recipient of their Certificate of   Appreciation in 1979. Mr. Barré was inducted into the LSU Alumni   Association's Hall of Distinction in 1991.

He is an active member of the LSU College of Basic   Sciences Development Council; he serves on the board of the United States Civil   War Center; as a docent at the Lod Cook Alumni Center; and is a recipient of   the LSU Foundation President's Award for Lifetime Giving. Mr. Barré is a   major donor to LSU Alumni Association projects including: the Lod Cook Alumni   Center, the Lod and Carole Cook Conference Center & Hotel, and the Jack   and Priscilla Andonie Museum.

Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., is the first Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an Under Secretary rank position in the Department of Homeland Security. President George W. Bush nominated him to this key leadership position, in February 2003. The U.S. Senate, recognizing that his managerial and business skills, international perspective, risk management experience and commitment to service would be valuable assets for USCIS, Homeland Security and the Nation, confirmed the nomination on June 19, 2003. Eduardo Aguirre was sworn-in as the first USCIS Director by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in the historic Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on August 15, 2003.

Director Aguirre is charged with fundamentally transforming the delivery of services by the U.S. immigration system. He leads a team of 15,000 who annually serve over 6 million applicants. The USCIS basic mission is to make certain that the right applicant receives the right benefit in the right amount of time, while preventing the wrong individuals from obtaining benefits. Under Director Aguirre's leadership, USCIS established three basic priorities: Eliminating the immigration benefit application backlog, improving customer service, while enhancing national security.

Mr. Aguirre was appointed by then Governor George W. Bush to the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System for a six-year term, serving from 1996-1998 as chairman. President George H. W. Bush appointed him to the National Commission for Employment Policy, and the Supreme Court of Texas appointed him to the State Bar as a non-attorney Director.

His deep commitment to community service is also reflected by his leadership involvement over the years in numerous professional and civic boards. In 2002, Mr. Aguirre was bestowed the Order of Christopher Columbus by Hipólito Mejía, President of the Dominican Republic.

Mr. Aguirre holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University. He is a graduate of the American Bankers Association's National Commercial Lending Graduate School, and has been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Houston and the Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago in the Dominican Republic. LSU's College of Business Administration inducted him into its Hall of Distinction in 2004. The International Business Fraternity of Delta Sigma Pi awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award.

He and his wife, Maria Teresa, each emigrated from Cuba as unaccompanied minors at the age of 15. They maintain their permanent home in Houston, where they have lived for nearly 30 years, and presently reside in Washington, D.C. The Aguirre's have two grown children, Eddy and Tessie.

Born and raised in Baton Rouge in the shadow of the Campanile, Gloria Kellum's personal and professional life is characterized by towering service to others. Her contributions to the University of Mississippi alone, where she began as an instructor in 1996 after graduating from Louisiana State University, illustrate a life of unselfish dedication and tireless commitment to making the world around her better.

She earned a bachelor's degree in speech language pathology and audiology in 1965 followed by a master's degree in speech pathology two years later—returning to LSU to earn a doctorate in 1981. Gloria helped launch the speech and hearing program at Ole Miss that has grown into the Department of Communicative Disorders, a nationally accredited educational and clinical program whose graduates serve as speech pathologists and audiologists, improving the lives of countless children and adults throughout the nation.

Rising through the faculty ranks to full professor, she was the first woman and, at age 32, the youngest person to receive the university's Elise M. Hood Outstanding Teaching Award. A national authority in treating individuals with craniofacial birth defects that impact their speech, language, and hearing, Gloria Kellum helped start the Cleft Palate Team in north Mississippi that provides coordinated services for children and their families. Her professional accomplishments include 20 referred articles, 15 indexes, reviews, and state publications, 44 national presentations and workshops, four book chapters, and 28 research and teaching grants totaling more than $900,000, with significant funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Nine years ago, Gloria was asked by Chancellor Robert C. Khayat of the University of Mississippi to join the leadership team and direct the university's sesquicentennial celebration and its capital gifts campaign. She was named Vice Chancellor for University Relations for the University of Mississippi in 1998 and oversaw the Commitment of Excellence Campaign that brought in $525.9 million in private gifts. The university's endowment has nearly tripled under her leadership. She has been instrumental in the establishment of the William Winter Institute on Racial Reconciliation, the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, the $1 million renovation of Ole Miss—Oxford Depot, and the development of the Ole Miss Women's Council for Philanthropy.

A sister to two LSU graduates, Stephen George Dodwell and The Rev. Robert John Dodwell, D.D. (deceased), a devoted wife to Jerrol Lynn Kellum, and the proud mother to daughters Kate and Kelly, she is known to all as a gracious, tireless, selfless servant and leader whose cheery greeting, ‘Life is grand!’ epitomizes her spirit.

James M. Bernhard, Jr. is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Shaw Group Inc., a Fortune 500 company offering a broad range of services to the power, process, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response markets. The Company's stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘SGR.’ Under Mr. Bernhard's leadership, The Shaw Group has grown dramatically and through a series of strategic acquisitions to over $3 billion in revenues since its inception in 1987. Shaw is one of the youngest companies to be named to the Fortune 500 and recently debuted on the magazine's list of ‘America's Most Admired Companies’. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Company employs over 17,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Considered a nuclear industry expert, Mr. Bernhard testified in front of the Senate Energy Subcommittee in March 2004 where he emphasized the importance of nuclear energy to the United States and urged Congress to pass a comprehensive energy bill. In 2001, Mr. Bernhard was the recipient of the Ernst and Young ‘U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year’ Award. His professional accomplishments were also featured in a cover story in the April 1, 2002 issue of Engineering News-Record.

Mr. Bernhard has received the Corporate Champions for Children Award, LSU College of Education's ‘Special Recognition’ Award. He was also named Perpetual Founder of Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, and received the Tiger Athletic Foundation Augie Cross Memorial ‘Member of the Year’ Award. Mr. Bernhard has been named one of the Top Ten Chief Executive Officers by the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.

An active participant in many civic and philanthropic endeavors, Mr. Bernhard is a member of Select Council for Revenues and Expenditures (SECURE) for Louisiana's Future and serves on the Committee of 100 for the State of Louisiana. He is a major benefactor to both Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tech University and at Southern University serves as an adjunct professor. He is a member of numerous trade and civic organizations.

Prior to founding The Shaw Group, Mr. Bernhard was Vice President and General Manager of Sunland Services, a state-of-the-art pipe fabrication company, which was later acquired by Shaw. He also served on the Board of Directors of Barnard and Burk Engineers & Constructors from 1984 to 1986.

Mr. Bernhard is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he currently lives with his wife Dana and their children. He graduated from Louisiana State University in 1976 with a degree in Construction Management. Mr. Bernhard enjoys traveling, golf, hunting, fishing, and most importantly, spending time with his wife and children.

Mark P. Freeman, Jr. was born on December 7, 1930 in Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated in 1948 from Christian Brothers High School where he was a member of the national honor society, lettered in baseball and basketball, and was an All-State baseball pitcher.

Mark was awarded a baseball/basketball scholarship to LSU where he lettered in both sports. He pledged and was accepted to the Sigma Chi fraternity. While at LSU, Mark was named to the All-American team in Wichita, Kansas and competed in the National Amateur Championship Tournament in 1949. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from LSU in 1953.

In 1951, Mark signed a bonus contract with the NY Yankees where he played class B, A, AA, and AAA ball in the minor leagues. He pitched in the majors with the Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics in 1959 and the Chicago Cubs in 1960. He pitched a no-hit, no-run game for Seattle (AAA) in 1959 amassing twelve strikeouts and two walks. Mark holds the all-time record for Denver (AAA) both in strikeouts and shutouts in a single season.

Mark served in the U.S. Army as a First Lieutenant and Sports Officer and manager of Ft. Jackson baseball team at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, from 1954 until February, 1956, when he was honorably discharged.

Mark entered the mutual fund business part-time in 1957 and became full-time after his 1960 season with the Cubs. Mark became division manager for Waddell and Reed in 1963 and president of Westamerica Securities in 1972. In 1962, Mark founded the Denver Broncos Quarterback Club and served as their president until 1968.

In December, 1968, Mark completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard School of Business and in 1969 he earned the designation of Certified Financial Planner (CPF).

Mark served as executive vice-president and national sales manager of Angeles Securities, specializing in real estate partnerships from 1978 to 1987 when he joined American Funds Distributors, the third largest mutual fund company in the U.S. as senior vice-president. Mark retired in 2000 at the age of 68.

Mr. Freeman was elected to Christian Brothers High School Hall of Fame in 2002. He established an endowment fund for supporting the tutoring of student athletes at LSU in 2003. Mark is currently the president of the Committee of 25 in Palm Springs, California. Members of the Committee of 25 are retired senior officers from major corporations.

Mark married Martha Gene Nash, a 1953 LSU graduate from Ruston, Louisiana, in 1956. They have four children; Mark III, Dal, David, and Wynne.

Marvin R. Clemons, of Pensacola, Florida, was born on   December 19, 1922 to John A. and Rilla Taylor Clemons. He Attended Thornton   Consolidation School System and graduated in May of 1941. He then attended   Coyne Electrical School in Chicago, Illinois and graduated in December of   1941.

Marvin enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 and attended   several technical schools before entering the Flight Training Program in   1943. He went on to complete flight training in 1944 and was commissioned in   the AAF, which later became the USAF. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank   of First Lieutenant.

Mr. Clemons attended Henderson Stated College in   Arkadelphia, Arkansas before transferring to Louisiana State University in   September 1947 where he enrolled in the College of Engineering. He took   courses that would lead to earning a degree in General Engineering and then a   Masters in Business Administration. Marvin graduated with a Bachelors of   Engineering Degree in General Engineering in 1950.

Upon graduation, he accepted a job with Walter Cooke   Company, located in New Orleans, as a sales engineer. He changed positions in   1952, when he took a sales position with the Trane Company in New Orleans.   Marvin was transferred in 1953 to Pensacola, Florida, in order to open a new   sales district for the Trane Company where he served as manager of sales   until June 1966.

Mr. Clemons founded Southern Balance, Inc. in June 1966   and has served as President and General Manager of Operations since its   inception. Southern Balance, Inc. is an engineering company specializing in   the testing, adjusting, and balancing of mechanical systems including air,   hydronics, sound, vibration testing, and analysis.

Marvin was a lifetime member of Tau Beta Pi, the national   engineering honor society. Among his many contributions and affiliations with   Louisiana State University, Mr. Clemons was a member of the LSU Alumni   Association, the Lewis Spencer Graham Society, and the Tiger Athletic   Foundation. He has established an Endowed Chancellor's Leadership Scholarship   and an Endowed Professorship in the College of Engineering. Mr. Clemons has   contributed at the sponsor level for the building of the Lod Cook Alumni   Center and the LSU War Memorial. He has the first floor conference room and a   suite in the Lod and Carole Cook Conference Center & Hotel named for him   and was a contributor at the Philanthropist level for the Jack and Priscilla   Andonie Museum.

Mr. Clemons passed away on Thursday, November 4, 2004.

Young Alumnus of the Year

Born and raised in Communist Vietnam, Quy Ton was pushed onto a wooden boat by his mother, along with 67 other people, as they searched for freedom elsewhere. The boat floated across the South China Sea before being found by Filipino fishermen.

A Catholic charity took Ton in and nine months later he received permission to immigrate to the United States. He moved to New Orleans to live with his brother and another relative. Known then as Charlie, he graduated high school and enrolled in Louisiana State University as a chemical engineering major.

‘Charlie’ Ton began his business career importing nail supplies, in part, because his wife owned a nail salon and her customers wanted quality nail care products without having to pay exorbitant prices. He named the company Alfalfa Nails Supply after the flowers loved by the bees he tended as a work/study student at LSU. He began by selling to local nail salon owners and expanded throughout the United States.

Today, Alfalfa Nails Supply has more than ten thousand salon customers. Ton has developed many lines of nail products including well-known brands like Regal lacquers, ANS, QT, Lexi, Beyond, Sheila, Lila, Geluv, and Gelart. That business venture - Regal Nails - took root in 1997 while shopping in Wal-Mart.

Ton met with Wal-Mart officials to convince them to lease space to Regal Nails. Wal-Mart turned him down at first because they did not think the concept would work. Ton refused to give up. He kept after Wal-Mart officials until they agreed to let him open a test store in Shreveport, La.

The first Regal Nails opened on October 29, 1997. The salon proved so successful that Wal-Mart agreed to let him open other salons inside their stores. He began selling franchises to Vietnamese immigrants and within ten years Ton had sold more than 900 franchises with plans to reach more soon. Franchises are located inside Wal-Mart Supercenters, Meijer, and HEB Stores and now working with AAFES to create services within military. At one point, they were growing at a rate of a hundred per year.

Ton has won numerous awards including: ‘Top Forty Under Forty’ from the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report and ‘Young Business Person of the Year’ from the Baton Rouge Business Awards & Hall of Fame. He also had previously served on the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Gross revenue for Alfalfa Nails Supply continues to grow strong. Ton employs 60 people in the nail division and more than 25 in the franchise division. He owns eight warehouses on an industrial street in Baton Rouge and the Regal Nail franchises are growing in number and value per unit.

Dr. Sally Clausen began her career as a classroom teacher, worked as an adjunct professor and as an administrator at the district, university, and state levels. She has served as Commissioner of Higher Education, Secretary of Education for the Office of the Governor, President of Southeastern University, and President of the University of Louisiana System, a position she assumed in July 2001. The System she manages has eight universities under its governance: Grambling, Louisiana Tech, McNeese, Nicholls, University of Louisiana Lafayette, Northwestern State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, and University of Louisiana Monroe. Those eight universities serve 83,000 students with a total annual operation budget of approximately $800 million.

In addition to her leadership in Louisiana, Dr. Clausen is an active participant in higher education policy at the national level. She serves as Vice President of the National Association of University System Heads and as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. President Clausen's leadership abilities also extend to other pursuits. She serves as a Director on the Board of Neogenix Oncology Corp., a private biotechnology company whose goal is the early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer and other malignancies.

Dr. Clausen's accomplishments have garnered numerous awards. She was designated as a 2001 New Orleans City Business Woman of the Year. She also received United States Senator Mary Landrieu's ‘Thinking Outside of the Box’ Award and was singled out in 1999 by the National Association of College Auxiliary Services for extraordinary improvement in campus diversity. In a recent book commissioned by the American Council on Education, entitled The Entrepreneurial College President, Dr. Clausen was mentioned as one whose leadership had positively transformed a college campus. Of the 713 University Presidents/Chancellors reviewed, she was one of only 17 profiled as an entrepreneurial President. Dr. James Fisher, co-author of the book, reported the following: ‘In a time when chief executive officers of higher education systems are frequently criticized as inept, Sally Clausen has established the model for competence and achievement in that arena.’

President Clausen received her Doctor of Education Degree in School Administration from Louisiana State University, where she was recognized by Phi Delta Kappa as Outstanding Doctoral Student.

Clarence P. Cazalot, Jr. is the president and chief executive officer of Marathon Oil Corporation, a member of the Marathon Oil Corporation Board of Directors and chairman of the Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC Board of Managers.

Mr. Cazalot joined Marathon Oil in 2000, when the corporation was still under the direct influence of USX Corporation, the result in 1986 of U.S. Steel's redefining itself. USX underwent its own redefining period by separating itself into standalone steel and energy businesses in 2002. It was then that Mr. Cazalot was named president and chief executive officer of Marathon Oil Corporation.

Prior to joining Marathon Oil, Mr. Cazalot spent nearly 28 years with Texaco in a career culminating in his being elected president of Texaco's worldwide production operations in 1999. His career with Texaco began in 1972. Over the next two decades he held a number of increasingly responsible management positions and in 1992, was named president of Texaco's Latin America/West Africa Division. In 1994, Mr. Cazalot was appointed president of Texaco Exploration and Production Incorporated, but the rise of his Texaco star was still far from over. January 1997 saw him appointed president of Texaco International Marketing and Manufacturing and just one year later he was named president of International Production and chairman of London-based Texaco Ltd.

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Cazalot received his geology degree from LSU in 1972. That same year, he began his nearly 30-year partnership with Texaco as a geophysicist. A member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Texas Governor's Business Council, the National Petroleum Council and the All-American Wildcatters, he also currently serves as the chairman of the 25 Year Club of the Petroleum Industry.

Mr. Cazalot serves on the board of directors of several companies and organizations including Baker Hughes, the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers and the

Greater Houston Partnership, the latter of these being the primary advocate of Houston's business community, dedicated to building economic prosperity in the region. He is a trustee of Spindletop Charities Inc., an advisor to the Maguire Energy Institute and a director of the Sam Houston Area Council Boy Scouts of America.

Among the numerous boards Mr. Cazalot devotes time to is the executive advisory board of the Houston Minority Business Council. His vast, worldwide experience and understanding of foreign cultures was recently honored this year when he received the Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones International Citizen of the Year Award. Presented by the Houston World Affairs Council, this award recognizes a Houstonian who, in the spirit of Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones, has contributed to the international life of the city.

Alumnus of the Year

Harry J. Longwell is a former director and executive vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation. His primary responsibilities included the corporation's worldwide oil, gas, coal and minerals explorations and production activities and human resources.

In a career spanning over 41 years, Mr. Longwell's leadership abilities were identified early as he was assigned to positions of increasing responsibility with Exxon Company, USA.

After being named operations manager in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1974, Mr. Longwell was transferred later that year to Los Angeles, California, where he was named operations manager of Exxon USA's Western Production Division. Three years later, he became division manager.

Mr. Longwell returned to Texas in 1980, this time to Houston, where he served as operations manager in the Production Department of Exxon USA. Within four years he rose to the level of vice president of the department, responsible for the company's U.S. production activities. In 1986, he moved to London, England, to accept the role of vice president of Exploration and Production in Europe. Later that year, he transferred to New York City to become executive assistant to the chairman and the president of Exxon Corporation.

A mere six years after returning from England, Mr. Longwell was named president of Exxon Company, U.S.A., and in 1995 he was elected senior vice president of the Corporation and a director. In 2001, Mr. Longwell was promoted to the second highest ranking post within the company as executive vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

A native of Alexandria, Louisiana, Mr. Longwell received his petroleum engineering degree from LSU in 1963, and soon began his career with Exxon as a drilling engineer in New Orleans. During the latter portion of his career, he was recognized by his alma mater for his accomplishments.

Mr. Longwell has served on the board of directors of both the LSU Alumni Association and the LSU Foundation. He and his wife, Norma, have been recognized repeatedly as generous benefactors who have supported numerous professorships and scholarships. In 1991, Mr. Longwell joined the ranks of the LSU School of Engineering's Hall of Distinction and in 1993, was inducted into the LSU Alumni Association's Hall of Distinction. He is a member of several boards and associations, including the executive committee of the board of directors of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering.

Before retiring in 2004, Mr. Longwell received the highest honor given to an LSU graduate – an honorary doctorate of science degree. As the keynote speaker of the University's summer commencement exercises, Mr. Longwell provided the graduating class with the following advice: ‘Reach for greatness. Be bold. Believe in yourself and never give up. And let me assure you, if you believe you can, you will.’

Janice Harvey Pellar is the president of EMCO Technologies, an entity she has been an integral part of since the business was founded by her late father, Jim Harvey, as a two-way radio sales and repair shop in 1962.

Mrs. Pellar's career with EMCO began on a part-time basis while she was still earning her undergraduate degree. She assumed full-time responsibilities after graduation and in over 30 years of experience has associated herself with all areas of operation. Mrs. Pellar has worked as a billing clerk, accounting supervisor and service supervisor. After passing the FCC technicians exam, Mrs. Pellar began handling repairs of telephones and pagers and during the 1980s was appointed service manager for the company prior to being named vice president and manager in 1987. Just one year later, Mrs. Pellar assumed full responsibility as chief operating officer of EMCO Technologies.

Since taking control, Mrs. Pellar has transformed EMCO Technologies from the Baton Rouge Business Report and Junior Achievement's award winner for businesses under 100 employees in 1994, to a company with locations in ten states and approximately 400 employees. Chiefly responsible for EMCO Technologies' tremendous growth was the agreement of a three-year contract with NASA. Since December of 2004, EMCO Technologies has been responsible for the technical support of more than half a dozen NASA facilities.

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mrs. Pellar received her music education degree from LSU in 1973. Since 1965, she has utilized her musical talent and has served as both organist and pianist for Community Bible Church.

Remaining loyal to her alma mater, Mrs. Pellar has supported the University by serving as president of the Alumni and Friends Association of the LSU School of Music, by being a member of the LSU School of Music's Dean's Select Committee and by creating the Janice Harvey Pellar Endowment for Choral Studies through the LSU Foundation. She is also a charter member of the 1860 Society.

Recognized as a leader in her field, Mrs. Pellar served on the Motorola MSS Advisory Council, a nine-member board selected from the United States and Canada to represent the 1,200 Motorola service facilities across the North American continent, from 1990-1993. She was named Sales Marketing Executives ‘Marketer of the Year’ in 1998, and in 1999 earned Baton Rouge Business Report's ‘Most Influential Woman of the Year Award.’ Her notoriety became international in 1998, when she served as the keynote speaker at the Motorola Dealer's Convention held in Tokyo, Japan.

Additionally, Mrs. Pellar has served on several corporate boards and in numerous civic associations including Hibernia National Bank's City Board of Directors and the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge's Board of Directors.

Young Alumnus of the Year

Lawrence X. ‘Trey’ Boucvalt III is currently the president of five companies: Environmental Safety & Health Inc., Boucvalt Services, Environmental Safety & Health Turnaround Services Inc., Environmental Safety & Health Production Group and Environmental Safety & Health Consulting and Training Group.

Mr. Boucvalt opened and structuralized Cenac Environmental Services in 1993. By 1996, the entity evolved into Environmental Safety & Health Inc. (ES&H) and since then has been divided into companies with specific areas of concentration that have thrived due to ES&H's experience with the U.S. Coast Guard, the EPA, the Minerals Management Service, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Transportation and Gulf Coast state regulatory agencies. Environmental Safety & Health Turnaround Services Inc. was the first of these.

Created in 2001, ES&H Turnaround Services Inc. provides companies utilizing hazardous materials a specialty contractor with expertise in safety services and regulatory requirements to supplement, or in some instances to act as, the primary staff during the most extreme of circumstances.

The most recent offshoot of ES&H Inc., ES&H Consulting and Training Group, was spawned in 2004. ES&H Consulting and Training Group is responsible for a large number of offshore and onshore platforms, facilities, pipelines and vessels located within the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico region. This group is tasked with managing any environmental incidents that may arise by notifying proper agencies required and acting as on-site management and a liaison with federal and state trustees while working directly for the party responsible for the incident throughout the entire process.

A native of Norco, Louisiana, Mr. Boucvalt received his industrial technology degree from LSU in 1991, and established Cenac Environmental Services, which specialized in emergency response calls to oil and hazardous materials spills. While at LSU as a student, he served as a residential and worked for the Campus Safety Department. Today, Mr. Boucvalt is a member of the Tiger Athletic Foundation's Advisory Board and currently ranks as number 78 on their ‘Top 100 Donors’ list. He and his family have become major donors to the LSU Alumni Association through their gift to the Lod & Carole Cook Conference Center and Hotel.

Financial success has helped in securing Mr. Boucvalt's reputation as a philanthropist. He has made donations to his grade school alma mater in Norco–Sacred Heart Elementary School–for the building of a new gymnasium and provided the athletic program of Destrehan High School, his high school alma mater, with funds for a new computer. Mr. Boucvalt has made donations to the Children's Coalition for the Bayou Region and has made numerous, generous donations to the Houma Oilman/Fisherman Charity Rodeo.

Dr. R. Rodney Foil is the former vice president for Mississippi State University's Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine and was the first director of the United States Department of Agriculture's Initiative for Future Ag and Food Systems.

Dr. Foil began his 30-year career with Mississippi State University in 1969, when he was named head of the Department of Forestry. The post would be the first of several for Mr. Foil while living in Starkville, Mississippi. In 1973, he became the associate dean of the School of Forest Resources and the associate director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES) - a program created in 1888 for the expressed purpose of conducting scientific research in agriculture, forestry and related sciences. Just one year later, Dr. Foil was promoted to dean of the School of Forest Resources.

It was in 1986 that Mr. Foil was named vice president for Mississippi State University's Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, a position he would hold until retiring in June of 1999. His retirement proved brief. By January of the following year, Dr. Foil found himself in Washington, D.C., serving as director of the USDA's Initiative for Future Ag and Food Systems. In October of 2000, he became the acting associate administrator for the Cooperative States Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).

A native of Bogalusa, Louisiana, Dr. Foil received his forestry degree from LSU in 1956, and his master's in forest soils from the University in 1960. Five years later, he earned a Ph.D. in forestry from Duke University that more than solidified a résumé of research compiled in the 13 years since receiving his undergraduate degree, a journey that took him from Baton Rouge to Baxley, Georgia and back.

Throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, Dr. Foil has held offices in both professional and scientific organizations and has served on numerous advisory councils and boards. He was the first chair of CSREES' Board on Agriculture when the entity was created by the United States Congress in 1994. During Dr. Foil's brief role as acting associate administrator and later part-time position with CSREES, grants totaling more than $240 million were awarded to address high-priority agricultural problems. He officially retired in December of 2001, and now does occasional consulting work.

The author or co-author of more than 70 professional and scientific publications, Dr. Foil has edited one book and during his extensive career was often called to testify before the Mississippi Legislature and committees of the United States Congress. In 1983, he was honored by the LSU School of Forestry & Wildlife Management when he was named Alumnus of the Year. Last year, Dr. Foil was inducted into the inaugural class of the CSREES Hall of Fame. This prestigious honor was bestowed upon only 10 individuals as part of the agency's 10th anniversary celebration.

Dr. Robert J. Ackerman is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Mid-Atlantic Addiction Training Institute at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the co-founder of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics.

In 1978, seven years after earning his undergraduate degree from LSU, Dr. Ackerman penned Children of Alcoholics. This work, the first of its kind in the United States, proved to be just the start of his crusade in helping youth affected by alcohol abuse. Aside from numerous articles and research findings on the subject, Dr. Ackerman now has 12 books to his credit. His most recent, Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul, was released earlier this year.

Shortly after obtaining his undergraduate degree from LSU, Dr. Ackerman attended Western Michigan University. There, in 1977, he earned a certificate for a specialty program examining alcohol and drug abuse. Just one year later, Children of Alcoholicswas published, and Dr. Ackerman's expertise in the field was almost instantaneously recognized.

Since then, his notoriety for working with families and children of all ages has been enhanced by television appearances, by countless speaking engagements and by features in both USA Today and Newsweek Magazine. His expertise has been acknowledged by appointments to many advisory boards, and Dr. Ackerman has worked with the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse and the United States Department of Education. Additionally, he served on the White House Task Force on Resiliency and task forces for governors of both Colorado and Michigan.

A native of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, Dr. Ackerman received his political science degree from LSU in 1971. He earned a master's degree in sociology from the University of Northern Colorado in 1975, and four years later received his Ph.D. in sociology from Western Michigan University.

As an educator, Dr. Ackerman has taught various undergraduate courses throughout his career on subjects ranging from principals of sociology to juvenile delinquency. On the graduate level, he has administered courses including the classes ‘Etiologies of Substance Abuse’ and ‘Addiction Counseling.’ Additionally, Dr. Ackerman's research has led to the securing of five grants to aid in combating drug and alcohol abuse and potential abuse totaling $1.827 million in funds.

Throughout his career, Dr. Ackerman has been the recipient of countless awards, including the University Professor Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the Distinguished Alumni Award from both Western Michigan University and the University of Northern Colorado and the 2003 Ewart A. Swinyard, Ph.D. Award from the University of Utah's School on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies for his work in combating drug and alcohol abuse over the years.

Ronald C. Cambre is the former chief executive officer of Newmont, one of the oldest mining houses in the United States.

After joining Newmont in 1993, Mr. Cambre would ultimately serve in the capacity of chairman, president and chief executive officer. He stepped down as chief executive officer at the end of 2000, as chairman in 2001, and relinquished his position on Newmont's board in May of 2002. During Mr. Cambre's tenure, Newmont expanded substantially with major gold and copper development projects in Peru, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and via two domestic acquisitions.

Newmont is headquartered in Denver, Colorado and is the largest mining company in North America and the largest gold producer in the world. Prior to the start of his career with Newmont, Mr. Cambre spent three decades as an integral part of Freeport-McMoRan – the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of copper and gold.

During his 30-year career with Freeport-McMoRan, which began in 1964, Mr. Cambre lent his talents to a variety of positions. He was involved in operations, business development, marketing and technical services in a number of natural resource areas. The latter stage of Mr. Cambre's time with Freeport-McMoRan proved to be a precursor to his days at Newmont. He was the first president and CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners when the entity went public, and was named chairman of Rio Tinto Minera, the Spanish mining/smelter group acquired by Freeport-McMoRan.

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Cambre received his chemical engineering degree from Louisiana State University in 1960, and upon graduating joined International Paper Company. He is a member of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and has served as the chairman of the National Mining Association and the Gold Council. In 2000, Mr. Cambre was named to the National Mining Hall of Fame.

Mr. Cambre is a longtime member of both the LSU Alumni Association and the LSU Foundation. He has served on the LSU College of Engineering Advisory Council and in 1995, was inducted into the LSU Engineering Hall of Distinction. This past May, he and his wife, Gail, provided a major boost in funding for the LSU College of Engineering's new chemical engineering facility with a gift of $1.25 million.

Currently, Mr. Cambre sits on the boards of four New York Stock Exchange companies and serves as president and director of The J.M. Burguieres Co. Ltd., a family owned private company with land and mineral rights holdings in Louisiana, Texas and Florida.

Sam J. Friedman is the chief executive officer of Dimension Development Company Inc., a hotel management and development company that operates 35 hotels in eleven states, six of which are located in Louisiana.

Dimension Development Company Inc. was co-created by Mr. Friedman in 1988, with an initial emphasis on extended stay suite hotels. The company's establishment and continued success under the watchful eye of Mr. Friedman, his wife, Edwina, and son, Greg, represents the culmination of his more than 30 years in the hotel management industry that began in 1973, when Mr. Friedman left private law practice for a new career.

Mr. Friedman's first management company owned and/or operated more than 20 Holiday Inn hotels and one Hilton hotel. He was also a partner in the development of three Residence Inn Hotels located in Florida. Properties developed and operated by the management company were chosen as one of the outstanding Holiday Inns in the world for 1984, 1985 and 1986. Because of his active involvement with Holiday Inns, Mr. Friedman was ultimately elected to the company's board of directors and served as president of the International Association of Holiday Inns Inc.

During the initial stages of his involvement with Holiday Inn, Mr. Friedman also worked to develop another business venture and in 1977, he became a principal shareholder and president of a general insurance agency corporation still in operation today. Two years later, Mr. Friedman diversified his interests further by organizing Lone Star Hereford Ranch in Clay County, Texas. Eventually, this endeavor grew to become one of the premier Hereford cattle operations in the U.S. and was sold in 1990. He became a shareholder and ultimately vice-president of a Bermuda-based insurance company, and in 1985, Mr. Friedman assumed principal ownership and operation of his family's 3,000-acre farm located in Natchitoches Parish. Cotton, soybeans and corn are all produced for commercial purposes on the land.

A native of Natchitoches, Louisiana, Mr. Friedman received his agriculture degree from LSU in 1958, and his juris doctorate in 1961. Following a two-year Army career, he was discharged as a captain, returned home and entered into private law practice. From 1984-1989, Mr. Friedman served as a member of the LSU Board of Supervisors and was elected chairman of the board for the 1986-87 academic year. In 1989, he was elected to the board of directors of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.

Mr. Friedman, who is a generous supporter and major donor of the LSU Alumni Association and a member of the LSU Foundation, lent his guidance and advice early on to help shape the design and business model utilized to make the Lod & Carole Cook Conference Center and Hotel a premier facility.

Wedon T. Smith is a former senior partner of the law firm Smith, Taliaferro & Purvis in Jonesville, Louisiana.

Following his service as a Naval officer during World War II, Mr. Smith joined with Arthur Taliaferro in 1946 to open a private practice law firm. After nearly six decades of devotion to his craft, he finally decided to forgo daily sojourns into the office earlier this year. Mr. Smith is still the president and director of Reb-Mar Incorporated, which today produces cotton, soybeans, milo and wheat, all for commercial consumption.

Service aboard the destroyers U.S.S. Belknap and the U.S.S. Collett earned Mr. Smith the right to wear various medals and Presidential Unit Citation Ribbons with eleven battle stars.

With interests in the oil and gas industries, timberland and real estate in addition to his legal practice, Mr. Smith gained notoriety and in 1964 became president and Catahoula Parish Commissioner of the Tensas Basin Levee District, a title he would hold for eleven years. During his tenure, the Great Flood of 1973 occurred. Widespread damage from Iowa to the Mississippi River Delta due to the flood has been estimated as costing $356 million. For his meritorious service in that time of crisis, Mr. Smith was awarded the Certificate of Appreciation for Patriotic Civilian Service, the highest civilian award given by the Department of the Army.

A native of Jonesville, Louisiana, Mr. Smith received his law degree from LSU in 1939. He is a member of the Louisiana Bar Foundation, a member of the Seventh District of the Louisiana and American Bar Associations and a senior member of the council of Louisiana Law Institute. He has previously served as a member on the board of delegates and the board of governors of the Louisiana State Bar Association, as a member of the board of directors of First Federal Savings and Loan Association in Winnfield, Louisiana, president of the Louisiana Levee Board Association and chairman of the board of directors of the Catahoula Parish Hospital.

Additionally, Mr. Smith has presided as president of the Catahoula Parish Chapter of the LSU Alumni Association and has served as chairman of the LSU Alumni Fund Campaign for Catahoula Parish. He is a lifetime member, former director and former president of the LSU Foundation.

A longtime member of the Four-Rivers Free & Accepted Masons Lodge and a 32nd degree Mason, Mr. Smith is currently the chairman of the board of directors for Catahoula-LaSalle Bank and president and director of Magee-Smith Land Company in St. Louis, Missouri. He has served as moderator and is a general assembly delegate of Red River Presbyterian Church and is presently an elder of Trinity Presbyterian Church.

A. Emmet Stephenson Jr. is the chief executive officer of Stephenson and Company and Stephenson Ventures. He is also the founder of StarTek Incorporated, formerly StarPak Incorporated. Stephenson and Company is an investment management business that has been established for over three decades, while Stephenson Ventures is a private venture capital fund. StarTek Incorporated performs a myriad of customer care, customer acquisition and receivables management functions.

A native of Bastrop, Louisiana, Mr. Stephenson received his finance degree from LSU in 1967. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and ranked first in his graduating class, a springboard for his eventual attainment of an MBA in investment management and finance from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

Mr. Stephenson founded StarPak Incorporated in 1987 as a small product packaging and fulfillment company in Greeley, Colorado. Not long after, the company opened its first customer contact center there and expanded its service offerings to include customer interaction management. StarPak Incorporated became StarTek Incorporated in December of 1996 when it was incorporated in the state of Delaware. The company went public and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1997.

Besides being a member of the Chief Executives Organization and the World Presidents Organization, Mr. Stephenson's civic activities include serving as international president of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association, chairman and president of the Metro Denver Executive Club and chairman and president of the Colorado Harvard Business School Club. He has also served as a member of the Associates Council of Templeton College at Oxford University, Oxford, England and was on the National Steering Committee of the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Mr. Stephenson has served as a national trustee of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and on the Colorado Small Business Council. He was in Leadership Denver and a Colorado Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business. Additionally, Mr. Stephenson was a member of the Young Presidents Organization for 11 years.

In 1999, Mr. Stephenson was awarded Israel's Albert Einstein High Technology Medal for innovation in the technology services industry and, in 1993, StarPak Incorporated was inducted into the INC. Magazine Hall of Fame. He is recognized in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World and was inducted into the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration Hall of Distinction in 1998.

Mr. Stephenson and his wife, Toni, have been married 39 years. They have one daughter, Tessa Lyn, who is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinema and works in the film industry as an assistant director.

CC Lockwood has established himself as one of the nation's outstanding nature and wildlife photographers and as the premier chronicler of the natural wonders of Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico Region.

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Lockwood was raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He received his general business degree from LSU in 1971 and immediately began his career in natural history photography. Four years later his first exhibit, which featured the Atchafalaya River Basin, premiered. He wrote and directed the film Atchafalaya, America's Largest River Basin Swamp in 1977 and received the Ansel Adams Award for conservation photography in 1978.

Mr. Lockwood's expertise was recognized by National Geographic, which published his article ‘Atchafalaya’ in 1979. That same year, his photographic exhibit featuring Terrebonne Parish debuted. Mr. Lockwood's Atchafalaya, America's Largest River Basin Swamp was published two years later and received the Louisiana Literary Award for Book of the Year. He was also Baton Rouge Young Man of the Year in 1981.

In the early 1980s, Mr. Lockwood produced two pieces for National Geographic – ‘Neshoba County Fair’ and ‘Mississippi Delta.’ His second book, The Gulf Coast: Where Land Meets Sea, was published in 1984 and was accompanied by another photographic exhibit. Before decade's end, Mr. Lockwood produced two additional works, Discovering Louisiana and The Yucatán Peninsula.

Throughout the 1990s, Mr. Lockwood captured distant and not-so-distant worlds with his camera. In 1995, CC Lockood's Louisiana Nature Guide was published and was followed by Beneath the Rim: A Photographic Journey Through the Grand Canyon in 1996. He published Around the Bend, A Mississippi River Adventure two years later.

The year 2000 proved to be a milestone for Mr. Lockwood. In addition to publishing the retrospective Still Waters, Images, 1971-1999, he was honored as a Louisiana Legend by Louisiana Public Broadcasting. In 2002, Mr. Lockwood produced an exhibit to coincide with The Alligator Book. He lent his photographic talents to 2003's Mike the Tiger, the Roar of LSU and collaborated with Rhea Gary to produce Marshmission, Capturing the Vanishing Wetlands. Additionally, in 2005, he was named Conservation Communicator of the Year by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation.

Already this year Mr. Lockwood has worked with Gwen Roland to produce Atchafalaya Houseboat. This fall he returns to his career roots with Atchafalaya Revisited, 25 Years Later.

Mr. Lockwood is a past board member of Nature Conservancy of Louisiana and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. He is a co-founder of the Baton Rouge Audubon Society and The Clean Team.

Mr. Lockwood and his wife, Sue, have been married for nine years.

Young Alumnus of the Year

David Blossman is the president of Abita Brewing Company, a microbrewery founded in 1986 that is located in Abita Springs, Louisiana. He attained this position in 1997 and has overseen the tremendous growth Abita Brewing Company has enjoyed since its humble beginnings two decades ago.

A native of Covington, Louisiana, Mr. Blossman received his accounting degree from LSU in 1990. By then his passion for creating new beer recipes had been established. Mr. Blossman began home brewing while still in high school and in 1987 won gold and bronze medals in the Eastern Home Brewers Alliance Competition. That same year, he won second and third place in the American Home Brewers Association National Competition.

In 1989, Mr. Blossman captured first place in the St. Louis Home Brewers Alliance Competition and second place in the American Home Brewers Association National Competition.

Shortly after graduating from LSU, Mr. Blossman joined Ernst & Young in New Orleans, Louisiana as a staff auditor. He left the firm the following year and accepted the position of controller of Southern Scrap Gulfport for Southern Holding. Within a year he was promoted to internal auditor and six months later was made controller of Southern Scrap New Orleans. By 1996, Mr. Blossman was promoted to vice president of Southern Scrap New Orleans. He was presented the opportunity to join Abita Brewing Company in 1996 as the organization's vice president and became president just six months later.

Under Mr. Blossman's leadership, Abita Brewing Company has increased sales from 1,500 barrels of beer in its first year to 52,000 barrels of beer and 3,000 barrels of root beer in 2005. The 52,000 barrels is equivalent to 17.2 million 12-ounce bottles of beer. Today Abita Beer is distributed in over 30 states.

Abita Brewing Company produces Amber, Turbodog, Purple Haze, Golden, Light, Andy Gator and seasonal beers. The brewery's most recent offering is Fleur-de-lis Restoration Ale, developed to raise funds for the recovery effort in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

With a new brewhouse increasing brewing capacity by 300 percent, Abita Brewing Company is well on its way to reaching Mr. Blossman's goal within the next three years of producing 70,000 barrels of bear annually. Quantity will still be tempered with quality, however, as evidenced by last year's selection of Turbodog as the best beer being brewed in the United States, according to Stuff magazine.

A generous donor to the LSU Alumni Association, Mr. Blossman served on the Board of the Brewers Association of America from 2003 until 2004. He and his wife, Caroline, have been married 12 years and have two sons – Ian and Andrew.

Derek E. Gordon is the president and CEO of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Jazz at Lincoln Center is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz. Mr. Gordon oversees day-to-day administration and the planning and execution of educational and performance season programming for the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and an array of guest artists.

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mr. Gordon received his vocal performance degree from LSU in 1975 and his master's in vocal performance from LSU in 1976. Following his graduation, he accepted the community development director position with the Arts & Humanities Council of Greater Baton Rouge. After two years, he was made acting director.

That same year, Mr. Gordon was appointed program associate of the Texas Commission on the Arts and was responsible for the operation and development of the grants review process. He also provided grant writing workshops throughout Texas and developed the Texas Touring Artists Program.

In 1980, Mr. Gordon's experience and talents were recognized by the Cultural Arts Council of Houston, which named him its program coordinator. Here he oversaw all grant activities and was responsible for the coordination of workshops and seminars. His input was also sought by various panels, committees and other executives for various special projects and programs.

From 1982 until 1985, Mr. Gordon served as assistant director of the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and managed all aspects of the grant-making process for arts and cultural institutions and organizations. Additionally, he ensured grants were properly administrated and devised and implemented new programs.

Mr. Gordon returned home to Baton Rouge in 1985 as the executive director of the Louisiana Division of the Arts. There he was responsible for specialized administrative and supervisory work that pertained to a major statewide program involved with the arts and cultural resources of Louisiana. Four years later, Mr. Gordon accepted a similar position with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

In 1992, Mr. Gordon was named senior vice president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His responsibilities included the overall planning, management and supervision of the programs and operations of the Kennedy Center's Education Department, jazz programming and the Performing Arts for Everyone.

Mr. Gordon became executive director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in August of 2004 and was named president and CEO of the organization in January of 2005.

A member of the Arts Education Partnership Steering Committee, Chamber Music America and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Partnerships, Mr. Gordon is also the president and a founding member of the D.C. Arts and Humanities Collaborative.

Donald W. Clayton is the former president and chief executive officer of Howell Corporation, an independent Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company acquired by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in 2002.

Mr. Clayton officially relinquished the title of CEO on January1, 2001, but remained a vital part of the organization in the capacity of chairman of the board. His retirement capped a career that spanned over forty years and four continents.

A native of Bakersfield, California, Mr. Clayton was raised in Lake Arthur, Louisiana. He received his petroleum engineering degree from LSU in 1959 and immediately joined Superior Oil Company as a production engineer. In this capacity, Mr. Clayton worked on assignments in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1968, Mr. Clayton relocated to South Africa as manager of engineering. Two years later he transferred to Lafayette as general petroleum engineer. It was here that Mr. Clayton developed an all-in-one procedure to run, set, cement and seal the top of well liners. His method is still utilized by the industry today.

From 1972 until 1984, Mr. Clayton oversaw operations in the Eastern United States, the Gulf of Mexico, South America, the North Sea, Sicily, New Guinea and Africa. He joined oil and gas subsidiary Burlington Northern, which soon after became Meridian Oil/Burlington Resources, as a senior vice president in 1985. Two years later, Mr. Clayton was named president and CEO of Meridian Oil. Under his leadership the company became the seventh largest holder of natural gas reserves in the United States. He also served as president and as a board member of Burlington Resources.

In 1993, Mr. Clayton co-founded Voyager Energy Corporation and served as president and director. That same year, he was inducted into the LSU College of Engineering Hall of Distinction. Prior to his position with Howell Corporation, he served as director of Great Western Resources and Ocean Energy Corporation.

Along with his wife, Gloria, Mr. Clayton funded the Donald W. Clayton Graduate Program in Engineering Science at LSU with a gift in excess of $2 million. Matching funds enhanced the gift to create an endowment of over $3 million. The endowment funds two Donald W. Clayton University Professorships in Engineering Science, two Donald W. Clayton University Professorships in Engineering and the Donald W. Clayton Engineering Excellence Awards for Outstanding Undergraduate Students.

Last November, Mr. Clayton, a former member of the Dean's Advisory Board, gifted the necessary funds that provided the LSU College of Engineering with a state-of-the-art multimedia center dubbed the Donald W. Clayton Excellence Conference Center.

The Claytons have now been married 49 years. As his family has grown from two to 15 – including eight grandchildren – Mr. Clayton has constantly remained a loyal and generous benefactor of LSU.

Harry T. Hawks is the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Hearst-Argyle Television Inc., which owns 25 television stations and manages an additional three television and two radio stations in diverse U.S. markets. Mr. Hawks oversees all aspects of the company's financial, accounting, tax, risk management, investor relations, administrative and financial-instruments compliance matters. He is also actively engaged in various strategic initiatives of the company.

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Hawks received his management and administration degree from LSU in 1975 and his MBA in 1977. While pursuing his graduate degree, he received the Small Business Administration Regional Award for excellence in consulting in 1976 as part of a class group assignment that assisted local small businesses.

Shortly after graduating, Mr. Hawks began his career in finance and held increasingly responsible positions with Texas Oil & Gas, Bank of Montreal and Thomson McKinnon Securities. The acquisition of Thomson by Pru-Bache in 1987 provided Mr. Hawks an opportunity to seek an entrepreneurial challenge. He then co-founded Cumberland Capital Corporation and became active in venture capital projects and merchant banking. Experience gained here helped him launch into his next venture in 1992 – Argyle Television.

Mr. Hawks, as a founding member of Argyle Television, helped build a successful network affiliated local television company. In 1997, Argyle agreed to merge with the broadcast division of The Hearst Corporation to form Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. Mr. Hawks led the company's transfer to the New York Stock Exchange and helped it achieve additional growth through acquisition and strategic investment.

Today, as the largest ABC affiliate group and second-largest NBC affiliate owner, Hearst-Argyle ranks as one of the largest companies in its industry sector. The company, highly regarded for its community service, its market-leading news coverage and its various digital media initiatives, has received numerous honors and awards.

Mr. Hawks is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters, Financial Executives International, the Broadcast-Cable Financial Management Association, the National Association of Corporate Directors and the American Society of Corporate Secretaries. He also serves on the board of directors of Internet Broadcasting.

An active member in several community, educational, and religious not-for-profit organizations in New York and Connecticut, Mr. Hawks is also a generous donor to the LSU Alumni Association. In 2002, he was inducted into the E.J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction and last year was elected to the Dean's Advisory Council.

Mr. Hawks and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for 16 years and have two children – Taylor and Charlotte.

James D. Shelton is the chairman, chief executive officer and founder of Triad Hospitals Incorporated, which owns and manages 51 hospitals and 14 ambulatory surgery centers in small cities and select urban markets. Triad Hospitals operates hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers in 17 states with approximately 9,330 licensed beds.

A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Mr. Shelton received his history degree from LSU in 1975 and his master's in public administration from the University of Missouri in 1977. After graduating, Mr. Shelton worked for the state of Missouri as an administrator for two years before he accepted a position in 1978 with Central Community Hospital of Clifton, Illinois. From 1979 until 1984, Mr. Shelton served Charter Medical Corporation in administrative roles in various facilities.

Mr. Shelton joined National Medical Enterprises in 1984 and lent his talents to various executive positions. National Medical Enterprises, which later became Tenet Healthcare, was a diversified healthcare company with interests in acute care hospitals, nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse treatment centers, rehabilitation hospitals, home healthcare, durable medical equipment outlets and a variety of other healthcare-related enterprises.

From 1986 through 1990, Mr. Shelton served as a vice president for National Medical Enterprises before being promoted to senior vice president in 1990. He became executive vice president of the company's Central District in 1993.

In 1994, Mr. Shelton joined Hospital Corporation of America as president of the division of hospitals known as Central Group. Five years later, in May of 1999, he took the initiative of establishing his own company by acquiring a group of hospitals from Hospital Corporation of America.

Triad Hospitals' expertise in hospital management, consulting and advisory services are utilized by more than 180 independent community hospitals and health systems throughout the lower 48 states, Alaska and in Dublin, Ireland.

A member of the board of trustees of the American Hospital Association, Mr. Shelton is intimately involved with the organization, which represents and serves nearly 5,000 hospitals, healthcare systems, healthcare networks, other providers of care and 37,000 individual members. He is also a member of the board's executive committee.

In November of 2005, Mr. Shelton returned to LSU and the Lod Cook Alumni Center as a guest speaker of the E.J. Ourso College of Business' Fall 2005 Flores MBA Distinguished Speaker Series. He was recognized by Institutional Investor as one of the top CEO's in America this past January and has been named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare for four consecutive years.

Mr. Shelton and his wife, Jane, have been married for 26 years and have three sons – Jake, Jared and Tyler.

Alumnus of the Year

John S. ‘Jack’ Broome is involved in multiple agricultural, financial and real estate ventures and can truly be considered a pioneer in aviation. His interests agriculturally range from farming to ranching. His business undertakings include the development of mobile home parks and the founding of a savings and loan association.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Broome was raised in Pass Christian, Mississippi. He received his bachelor's degree from LSU in 1941, and by then had already established himself as an accomplished pilot. While still in high school, Mr. Broome completed his first solo flight in 1935. Four years later, he was appointed by the governor of Virginia to represent the state at the founding of the Civilian Pilot Training Program in Washington, D.C.

Shortly after graduating from LSU, Mr. Broome became flight supervisor for the Civilian Pilot Training Program and the War Training Service Pilot Training Program. He also served as flight standardization specialist and acting chief of the flight section. From 1943 until 1946, he was an American Airlines pilot.

In 1946, Mr. Broome entered the world of farming and ranching. He produced diversified field crops, tree crops and raised cattle initially, but it was his foray into growing lemon trees that helped him become one of the notable citrus growers California.

Mr. Broome's success allowed him to begin developing mobile home parks. He then founded Conejo Savings and Loan Association. Still in his early 30s, Mr. Broome was already branded a pioneering aviator, farmer, rancher and businessman.

In 1976, Mr. Broome was chosen to be a passenger on the inaugural flight of the Concorde. Two years later, former President Jimmy Carter presented him with a citation for ‘advancing job opportunities in the business sector for disadvantaged citizens, needy youth, veterans and ex-offenders.’

Mr. Broome has served on Pepperdine University's Board of Directors since 1994 and sits on the California State University Channel Islands Advisory Committee. He has received an honorary Ph.D. of Law from Pepperdine University and a Ph.D. of Humane Letters from CSUCI. Last October, CSUCI broke ground for the John Spoor Broome Library, a complex for which Mr. Broome made the first major contribution.

Mr. Broome is a generous, longtime donor to the LSU Alumni Association. In 2000, he was inducted into the Association's Hall of Distinction and, in 2003, he received the Association's Purple & Gold Award for his loyalty. Mr. Broome's devotion to the Association was put on display for all to see last October when the sculpture ‘Traditions’ was unveiled. This larger-than-life bronze sculpture of Mike the Tiger was his inspiration and gift in recognition of the organization's centennial anniversary.

Mr. Broome and his wife, Patricia, have been married for 60 years. They have three children – Elizabeth, Ann, and John Jr. – and eight grandchildren.

Ronald D. Alvarez is the director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, a professor and the Ellen Greg Shook Culverhouse Chair at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His other positions at UAB include senior scientist and Women's Cancer Program co-leader of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, senior scientist of the Gene Therapy Center and vice chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Alvarez received his zoology degree from LSU in 1979 and his M.D. from the LSU Medical Center in 1983. Over the next four years he completed his residency in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UAB. From 1987 until 1990, Dr. Alvarez served as an instructor and fellow in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology.

In 1990, Dr. Alvarez was named an assistant professor in the division and an associate scientist at UAB's Comprehensive Cancer Center. He became an associate professor in 1995 and was elevated to the position of scientist. During these early years of his career, his research focused on the development of novel therapeutics such as gene therapy and immunotherapy for ovarian cancer and on innovative approaches to screening for cervical cancer.

Dr. Alvarez was promoted to co-leader of the Women's Cancer Program in 1998 and continues his work in that capacity today. The year 1999 saw him named professor and Ellen Gregg Shook Culverhouse Chair of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and senior scientist at the Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In 2001, Dr. Alvarez joined UAB's Gene Therapy Center as senior scientist. Since 2003, he has been the director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. He was named vice chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology last June.

Along with membership in 15 professional societies including the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Alvarez has been appointed to several panels and boards by the Department of Defense, the National Cancer Institute, the National Gene Vector Laboratory and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation.

Dr. Alvarez's research findings have appeared in over 180 articles and in a combination of 24 book chapters and articles he was invited to pen. He has been asked to make presentations at various meetings, workshops and assemblies more than 200 times.

A generous donor to the LSU Alumni Association, Dr. Alvarez has displayed an aptitude for securing research funding. Since 1990, he has helped amass in excess of $31.1 million utilized in the design, implementation and analysis of various studies, programs and projects related to the treatment of ovarian and cervical cancer.

Dr. Alvarez and his wife, Denise, have been married for 26 years and have three children – Melanie Kaye, Mitchell Dean and Meredith Leigh.

Susan M. Phillips is dean and a professor of finance of The George Washington University School of Business in Washington, D.C. Her areas of specialization include monetary policy, regulation and supervision of financial institutions, derivatives, financial management and economic theory of regulation.

A native of Fort Walton, Florida, Dr. Phillips received her mathematics degree from Agnes Scott College in 1967. She received her master's in finance and insurance from LSU in 1971 and her Ph.D. in finance and economics from LSU in 1973. After she graduated Dr. Phillips served as an assistant professor at the University before joining the University of Iowa in 1974 as an assistant professor of business administration. She remained there for two years before she was named a Brookings Economic Policy Fellow in 1976 and spent the following year as a SEC Economic Fellow.

Dr. Phillips returned to the University of Iowa in 1978 as an associate professor and, in 1979, she was appointed acting assistant vice president for Finance and University Services. She served in that position until she was made associate vice president for Finance and University Services in 1980.

In 1981, Dr. Phillips was appointed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a member and became its chairman two years later. She was reappointed as commissioner and chairman of the commission in 1985 and served until her resignation in 1987 when she returned to the University of Iowa as vice president for Finance and University Services and as a professor of finance.

From December of 1991 until June of 1998, Dr. Phillips was one of the seven members of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System – the central bank of the United States. She was nominated by former President George H. Bush for the board and served for seven years before she accepted her current position at The George Washington University School of Business.

A generous donor to the LSU Alumni Association, Dr. Phillips is a member of the State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company's Board of Directors and serves on the board of directors of the Kroger Company, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the National Futures Association. She is a former member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International's Board of Directors and has chaired their Ethics Education Task Force.

Among the several awards Dr. Phillips has won for her research is the Chicago Board Options Exchange Pomerance Prize for outstanding research in options in 1980. In 1982, she was named the inaugural Agnes Scott College Outstanding Young Alumna for early competence in her chosen field and exceptional promise for the future, and, in 1996, she was inducted into the E.J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction.

Charles C. Campbell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Louisiana State University in 1970. He holds a Master of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College. He has attended numerous military schools, culminating with his graduation from the Army War College in 1991.

Campbell earned his military commission through Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) while at LSU. During his undergraduate years, Campbell served as an ROTC Cadet Battalion Commander, was a member of the Scabbard & Blade Society and served on the Inter Fraternity Athletic Council. General Campbell was active with Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.

The General has extensive Combined Arms and Joint command and staff experience. Campbell served as the commander of a Special Operations A-Detachment in Vietnam, an armor battalion in the 3d Armored Division, a mechanized brigade in the 2d Infantry Division, and as the Commanding General of the 7th Infantry Division. Prior to moving to Fort McPherson for duty as the Deputy Commander at US Army Forces Command, he was the Commanding General for Eighth Army, Republic of Korea.

General Campbell currently serves as the Commanding General for the United States Army Forces Command where he has the responsibility to train, mobilize, deploy, sustain, transform and reconstitute over 750,000 soldiers, providing relevant and ready land power to Combatant Commanders worldwide in defense of the Nation both at home and abroad.

In addition to his recognition this year by the LSU Alumni Association, General Campbell is an inductee in the Hall of Honor by the Cadets of the Old War Skule, an organization that honors LSU's rich military tradition. General Campbell has been recognized by the United States military many times over. He has received the Meritorious Service Medal five times, the Legion of Merit Award four times and the Army Commendation Medal twice. General Campbell is also the recipient of a Bronze Star Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal and an assortment of foreign and campaign medals.

General Campbell currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Dianne. In his free time, General Campbell enjoys golf, tennis, hunting, and sailing. General Campbell is a member of the Rotary and Kiwanis organizations. He has two children, Shelli Wessels, 28 and Blake Wessels, 26.

Alumnus of the Year

James C. Flores received his Bachelor of Science degree in Corporate Finance in 1981 and in Petroleum Land Management in 1982 from Louisiana State University. Immediately after graduation in August of 1982, Flores established his own petroleum land management company, James C. Flores, Inc. Flores credits his LSU experiences with instilling in him both the intellectual skills and also the personal confidence necessary to be successful in business.

In 1985, Flores teamed up with childhood friend and LSU alumnus, Billy Rucks with the goal of creating a premier petroleum land management company; however after the 1986 oil crash, Flores and Rucks used their LSU-inspired resolve to develop a first class, LSU led, new Louisiana-based oil and gas company, Flores & Rucks, Inc., that debuted on the NYSE as ‘FNR’ on December 4, 1994. FNR grew rapidly and when Rucks retired in 1997, Flores changed the company name to Ocean Energy, Inc. (NYSE:OEI); in 1998 Ocean merged with United Meridian Corp. and Flores moved the headquarters to Houston, Texas. Flores served as Chairman, Vice Chairman, and CEO at various times from 1985 until 2001, when Ocean Energy was acquired by Devon Energy for approximately $3.5 billion.

Not to rest too long, in 2001, Flores became Chairman and CEO of Plains Resources, Inc. (NYSE:PLX) and bought a significant stake in PLX and its subsidiary Plains All American Pipeline, LP (NYSE:PAA).Then Flores led the successful management LBO of PLX with Vulcan Capital (Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's private equity firm), thus creating Vulcan Energy which is the majority interest owner of the General Partner of PAA, LP. Prior to the management led LBO, Flores engineered the spin-off of Plains Exploration & Production Company (NYSE:PXP) from PLX in December 2002. Flores currently serves as Chairman, President and CEO of PXP. Today, PXP is a leading independent Houston-based oil and gas company with market capitalization of over $3 billion. PXP is primarily engaged in the activities of acquiring, developing, exploiting, exploring and producing oil and gas properties in its core areas of operation: onshore and offshore California and the Gulf Coast region of the United Sates.

Flores maintains strong ties with LSU. He and his wife, Cherie, endowed the MBA Program at the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration at LSU. The program has been ranked ninth in the nation by the Wall Street Journal among schools that draw corporate recruiters regionally. In 1996 Flores was named to the LSU College of Business Administration Hall of Fame. He was originally inducted into the LSUAA Hall of Distinction in 1997. Ten years later, LSUAA honors Flores with the Alumnus of the Year Award.

Flores has been married for twenty years to Cherie, also an LSU College of Business Alum. She received her Bachelor's degree in Marketing in 1986. They have four children. Flores and his wife are actively involved in their community and support many charitable organizations.

Kip Knight received his Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from Louisiana State University in 1978. Knight was heavily active in the LSU community throughout his undergraduate career. He served as the Freshman Representative of the LSU Student Government and as captain of the LSU Debate Squad. Knight held several high ranking positions within the LSU Union including Chairman of the Speakers Bureau, Academia Chairman, Vice President of Finance and President, during his senior year. After graduating from LSU, Knight went on to the University of Cincinnati, where he earned an M.B.A. in 1980.

Knight began his career in marketing research at Burke Marketing Research in Cincinnati over twenty-five years ago. He spent ten years in Brand Management at Procter and Gamble and managed such well-known brands such as Ivory Soap, as well as newly launched food and beverage brands like Olestra. He also worked in PepsiCo's international restaurant division where he served in a number of roles, including General Manager of North Latin America. Knight was also Chief Marketing Officer for Taco Bell based in Southern California.

Currently, Knight is the vice president of marketing for eBay, North America. eBay is the world's leading e-commerce company. In this capacity, Knight manages marketing strategy and planning, events and strategic partnerships for eBay.

Knight is a recognized leader in the marketing industry and is regularly invited to share his expertise at respected business conferences. He has been a featured speaker at the Business Week Global Brand Conference, the Global Innovation Forum, the Association of National Advertisers and the HP Global Marketing Conference. His distinguished career has also brought him back to the LSU campus. In 2006, Knight served as a featured speaker in the LSU Flores MBA Program's Distinguished Speaker Series.

Knight is presently a member of the Reactrix Board of Advisors, the American Ethanol Board of Advisors, the CEO Women Board of Advisors and the eBay (Korea) Board of Directors. He's a former member of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, a former national judge for the Grand Effie Awards and has been a guest lecturer at Stanford and UC Berkeley Schools of Business.

Knight now lives in San Juan Capistrano, California with his wife of twenty-four years, Peggy. They have two sons, Thomas, 21 and Chris, 19. In his spare time, Knight enjoys swimming, biking, reading, international travel and public speaking.

Melvin L. ‘Kip’ Holden received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism in 1974. He received his Master's in Journalism from Southern University in1982 and his Juris Doctorate from Southern University Law School in 1985. In 1998 he graduated the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Baton Rouge, LA, and in 2002 he participated in the Oxford University Round Table, an annual meeting of British and U.S. leaders. The purpose of the Oxford Round Table is to promote human advancement and understanding through the improvement of education. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Public Policy from Southern University.

For over twenty years, Holden has distinguished himself as a public servant. After spending about five years in the media industry – as News Director of WXOK Radio, Baton Rouge; a Reporter for WWL Radio, New Orleans; and as a Reporter for WBRZ Channel 2, Baton Rouge – Holden took a position as Public Relations Specialist for the United States Census Bureau. He subsequently worked as a Public Information Officer for the Baton Rouge Police Department and as a Law Clerk for the Louisiana Department of Labor Office of Workers' Compensation, before his election to the office of Councilman for the Baton Rouge Metro Council, District Two in 1984. In 1988 Holden was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives, District 63. He served in this capacity until 2001. Holden also represented the State of Louisiana as a State Senator. Holden resigned this position on January 1, 2005 in order to assume his current position as Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish. For more than half of his political career, Mayor Holden has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Southern University.

Mayor Holden is not a stranger to awards and honors. In addition to his induction into the LSU Hall of Distinction, he has been inducted into the LSU Manship School of Communication Hall of Fame, the Southern University Hall of Fame and the Second Chance Academy College Preparatory Hall of Fame. In 2006 alone, Holden received the National Conference of Black Mayors Valiant Award for Balanced Government, the UGS Innovative Leadership Award, an Academic Distinction Fund Award and a Distinguished Leadership Award from the Louisiana Chapter of the American Planning Association. He has also been recognized by both the Sierra Club and also the Louisiana Association of Educators with an Outstanding Legislature Award. Holden has been recognized with dozens of other awards for his service to education, the environment, healthcare and economic development.

Mayor Holden is currently serving his second year as Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish. In his free time, Mayor Holden enjoys fishing and attending sporting events, particularly basketball and football games. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife Lois Stevenson Holden. They have five children, Melvin, II, Angela, Monique, Myron, and Brian Michael.

Richard H. Baker received his Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Louisiana State University in 1971. That same year he entered his first political race and won a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was only twenty-three.

Baker is well respected for his pioneering attitude and aptitude for success. At only twenty-two he founded his own real estate company, The Baker Agency, and as mentioned above, entered the Louisiana State Legislature at twenty-three. Two years after his election, he crafted what are arguably the most sweeping reforms for responsible use of tax dollars for state-financed highway projects by authoring the State Highway Priority System which is still in use today.

In 1986, Baker was elected to the United States Congress to represent Louisiana's Sixth Congressional District. Upon his election, Baker joined the House Banking Committee and served as the resident expert on the issue of ‘systemic risk’ in the financial system. Congressman Baker is a member and former Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises. He's a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Veteran's Affairs.

Congressman Baker has received numerous awards from civic, business, good government and U.S. veteran's groups. He was inducted into the Louisiana Department of Transportation Hall of Honor and was a recipient of the Eagle Challenge Award for outstanding support of the Youth Challenge Program from the National Guard. Baker was also named one of the thirty most important people in the world to investors by Smart Money Magazine in 2001.

In addition to his public service as a congressman, Baker is also active with a number of community and civic organizations. In 1996, Congressman Baker brought the Susan Koman Race for the Cure for Breast Cancer to Baton Rouge. He supports the LA National Guard Youth Challenge Program, the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum, The First Tee of Carville and the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Baker is also active with the Boy Scouts.

Congressman Baker is a native and lifelong resident of Louisiana. In his spare time, Baker enjoys fishing, gardening, cooking, astronomy, golf and LSU football. He is married to Kay Carpenter Baker. They have two children, Brandon, 36 and Julie, 34. Brandon and his wife, Caroline, just welcomed their first child, Savanna Leigh.

Richard J. Dugas graduated from Louisiana State University in 1986, earning a Bachelor's degree in Marketing. He continues to maintain strong ties with the University. Dugas opened the 2005 spring installment of the LSU Flores MBA Program's Distinguished Speaker Series and he is an active member with the LSU Alumni Association.

Dugas' professional career began immediately after he graduated from LSU and accepted a sales and marketing position with Exxon. After relocating to Roanoke, Virginia and Houston with Exxon, Dugas left the company to take a position with PepsiCo. In 1994 he left PepsiCo and took, what he considers to be, the biggest gamble of his life. He joined a growing homebuilding company in Detroit, Pulte Homes.

Richard J. Dugas, Jr. is now the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pulte Homes, Inc., the nation's most geographically and product diverse homebuilder with operations in fifty-four markets. He achieved this appointment in 2003, when he was thirty-eight, making him the youngest CEO of any Fortune 500 company at the time. Mr. Dugas has been with Pulte Homes since 1994 and has served in a variety of management positions with the company. Mr. Dugas joined Pulte Homes as the National Vice President of process improvement. Three years later he became President of the Atlanta division, and three years after that he was promoted to Coastal Regional President. He was named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2002 and one year later he assumed his current position as President and CEO.

In honor of his professional accomplishments, Mr. Dugas received the Executive of the Year Award in 2006 from the Detroit Executives Association. Mr. Dugas has distinguished himself outside of the Corporate Boardroom as co-chairman of Detroit's Sacred Heart Major Seminary's, Fisherman's Fund – a scholarship initiative established to ensure that no vocation to the Roman Catholic priesthood, diaconate or lay ministry is hindered due to financial need.

Mr. Dugas currently resides in Bloomfield, Michigan with his wife, Susan, and their three daughters, Lauren, 15, Sarah, 14 and Julia, 9. In his spare time, Mr. Dugas enjoys hunting and fishing, jogging, and skiing.

Robert J. Barham received his Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University in 1970. He subsequently received his Master's Degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and graduated the LSU Ag Leadership Program and the North Delta Regional Training Academy as a P.O.S.T. Certified Law Enforcement Officer. He is an army Veteran of the Vietnam War and a Colonel with the LA Guard.

Over the years, Barham has maintained close ties with Louisiana State University. His family sponsored both a scholarship in Wildlife Management and also an exhibit in the LSU Museum of Natural History. Barham is a member of the LSU Ag Center Advisory Committee for Northeast Louisiana and is a past chairman of the LSU College of Agriculture Development Committee.

Robert J. Barham's public service began in the early 1980s. He was the mayor of Oak Ridge from 1983 to 1989 and an Oak Ridge Councilman from 1989 until 1994. He is a past board member of The Nature Conservancy and past chairman of the Morehouse Parish Soil and Water Conservation Board. Barham is currently a member of the Monroe Rotary Club, on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Oak Ridge and on the Board of Deacons of the Oak Ridge First Baptist Church. Barham currently holds the office of Louisiana State Senator.

Senator Barham, Republican, represents District 33 in the Louisiana State Senate which serves the parishes of Morehouse, Union, West Carroll and parts of Claiborne and Ouachita. He has served in the Senate since the fall of 1994 after winning a special election. He ran unopposed in 1995 and 2003. Senator Barham has served on numerous state and legislative committees including, the Senate's Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development, the Retirement and the Natural Resources Committees. Senator Barham serves as the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Homeland Security. He also served on the Audit Advisory Council and Rural Task Force Legislative Committees.

An avid hunter and fisher and an ardent public servant, Senator Barham has received his share of recognition. In 1999, he received the Outstanding Legislator of the Year Award from the LA Wildlife Federation and the National Award for Conservation of Natural Resources from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Senator Barham was awarded with the Outstanding Individual in Agriculture Award from the LA Ag Council in 2000 and the Legislator of the Year Award from the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce in 2002. In addition to his induction into the LSUAA Hall of Distinction this year, Senator Barham has also been honored with the John D. Newsom Award for Wildlife Stewardship and the LSU Extension Service Award for Outstanding Leadership.

Senator Barham currently lives in Oak Ridge, LA with his wife, Melba Pipes Barham. They have three children, Robert Erle, 29, Rebecca, 27, and Henry, 24

Young Alumnus of the Year

Suzanne Marie Perron received her Bachelor's in Apparel Design from Louisiana State University in 1991. Perron's involvement with the University began before she enrolled in 1987 and continues today. Before entering LSU, Perron was an active 4-H sewing participant through the LSU Cooperative Extension Service. During her undergraduate years, Perron was active with Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority, on the 1990 Homecoming Court, a member of LEADERHSIP LSU Class of 1991, vice president of Mortar Board, a member of numerous honor societies and a four-year Golden Girl.

After graduating from LSU, Perron completed a one year accelerated program at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. She graduated summa cum laude and was the recipient of the Bill Blass Commencement Award recognizing the outstanding graduate in the one year accelerated program.

After graduating from F.I.T. in the spring of 1993, Perron was hired as a design assistant with Carolina Herrera in NYC. During her three years with Carolina Herrera, Perron's responsibilities included the design of beading and embroidery patterns, and interpretation of designer's sketches for couture and bridal collections through draping and patternmaking. She took a position as a draper and patternmaker with Anna Sui in 1996 and did similar work for Christina Perrin beginning in 1999. In January of 2002, Perron accepted an offer from fashion powerhouse Vera Wang. She worked as a draper and first patternmaker for Vera Wang for 4 years, before returning to Louisiana to open her own couture design store, the Suzanne Perron Studio on Magazine Street in New Orleans.

Perron's passion is not limited to her art. Over the years she has continued to stay involved with LSU. She has offered internships to LSU students while she worked in New York and at her studio in New Orleans. In the fall of 2006, she was a featured exhibitor and lecturer for the School of Human Ecology's exhibit at the Union Art Gallery.

Perron is also committed to the greater Louisiana community. Her return to this state was inspired in part by her desire to promote the rich artistry and craftsmanship of New Orleans. She hopes to attract clients to the area and subsequently to other local businesses, such as hotels and restaurants. Perron also hopes to help grow the local workforce in her field through employment and training opportunities at her studio. She has partnered with Job-1, Louisiana Works Department of Labor with On the Job Training Grants and hopes to offer employment opportunities to graduates of the LSU Fashion Design Program. She is already scheduled to work with three LSU interns this summer.

Perron's stature as a couture designer is impressive. Among the celebrities she has dressed are Holly Hunter for the Oscars, Katie Couric for the Kennedy Center Honors and Jennifer Lopez for her wedding to Marc Anthony. In Perron's spare time she enjoys running, dance classes and Cajun cooking, and Ms. Perron is a patron of the visual and performing arts.

Alumnus of the Year

Charles L. Barney received his Bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering from Louisiana State University in 1949. Following the war and graduation from LSU, Barney rose quickly through the ranks in the petroleum industry, serving as a key figure in the Mobil and Superior Oil corporations for several decades. His career took him all over the world from Germany to the Middle East.

One of the highlights of Barney's career at Superior Oil Co. occurred during the conflict between Egypt and Israel over the Sinai Peninsula. When Israel, in exchange for peace with Egypt, handed over the rich oilfields of Sinai and the Gulf of Suez, it was Barney who successfully negotiated a return of the oilfields to Egypt, along with appropriate compensation to Superior Oil Co.

Barney is a former LSU football player who played on some of LSU's most successful teams of the 1940s. He played linebacker in LSU's 19-14 victory over Texas A&M in the classic 1944 Orange Bowl game. He is also a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II's Pacific Theatre. Barney now runs his own business based in Houston, Mark I Enterprises, which invests in oil and gas as well as real estate.

Barney resides in Houston, Texas, with his wife Frances. They have three children, Jerry, 61, Merilyn, 56, and Randy, 59. In his spare time, Barney enjoys exercise and reading scientific literature.

Donna Brazile graduated from Louisiana State University in 1981, earning a Bachelor's degree in Arts and Science and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from LSU in 2005. Brazile, a veteran Democratic political strategist, is the former Campaign Manager for Gore-Lieberman 2000 – the first African American to lead a major presidential campaign.

Brazile has emerged as a force and source of wisdom in Democratic politics and is Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute. In addition to working at VRI, Brazile serves as an adjunct professor of government at Georgetown University. She has served as a senior lecturer at the University of Maryland, resident fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics and serves as the Senator Wyona Lipman Chair at Rutgers University Center for American Women in Politics.

Brazile is a nationally syndicated columnist, a weekly contributor and political commentator for CNN, a political consultant for ABC News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and a regular contributor to NPR's Political Corner. In addition, she is a columnist for Roll Call and a contributing writer for Ms. Magazine.

In 2004, Simon and Schuster published Cooking With Grease, Brazile's memoir of her life and of her 30 years in the political lions' den.

Brazile is the Founder and Managing Director of Brazile and Associates, a political consulting and grassroots-advocacy firm based in Washington, D.C.

James E. Maurin graduated from Louisiana State University in 1970, earning a Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering. He received an MBA in Finance from Tulane University in 1972. Maurin began his career as a CPA with the international accounting firm Ernst & Ernst in New Orleans in 1973.

In 1975, Maurin, along with Roger Ogden, founded Maurin-Ogden, Inc., to develop commercial real estate in the Gulf South. In 1988, they purchased a commercial brockerage firm, Stirling Propoerties, and merged the two firms. Headquartered in Covington, Louisiana, Stirling Properties has grown into one of the largest real estate services companies in the Gulf South and is now nationally recognized. Maurin currently serves as the company's Chairman.

Maurin is also a member of the Urban Land Institute, the World Presidents' Organization, the Louisiana Committee of 100 for Economic Development, Tulane University Business School Council, the LSU Foundation, the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF), the LSU College of Business Dean's Advisory Committee and a Founding Trustee of Blueprint Louisiana.

At LSU, Maurin served as a member of the TAF Board of Directors, and was co-chairman of the Tiger Stadium Expansion Committee, he is currently serving as co-chairman of the LSU Business School Building Oversight Committee and is a member of the TAF Advisory Board. He is also a member of the board of Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans.

In 2000, Maurin was selected as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. In 2006, he was the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business Entrepreneur in Residence. Maurin was inducted into the New Orleans Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 2007.

Maurin recently served as the 2004-2005 Chairman of the 73,000 member International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). He is currently a member of ICSC's Board of Trustees, its Executive Committee, and chairs the ICSC Government Relations Advisory Committee. He previously served as Vice President of its Southern Division and ICSC State Director for Louisiana.

Maurin lives in Hammond, Louisiana, with his wife Lillian. They have three children, Carla Corley, 36, Caroline Gallinaro, 33, and Marli Quesinberry, 30, and six grandchildren.

Young Alumnus of the Year

Kenneth Brown graduated from Louisiana State University in 1995, earning a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design. A native of Baton Rouge, Brown is now one of Los Angeles' most-sought-after celebrity interior designers.

A respected and talented member of the design world, his work has been featured in numerous design publications and on his own top-rated television show, reDesign, on HGTV. As of 2007, he had completed 52 episodes. House Beautiful and Western Interiors recently named him one of the top 100 designers in America. His broad exposure and popularity led MSN.com to offer Brown the role of resident Interior Design Expert. In addition, American Express Open selected Brown to share his success story as part of their ongoing iconic Open Forum series. In 2005, Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine featured Brown on her Live-Your–Best-Life Tour. Additionally, Brown has appeared on The Today Show, The Tyra Banks Show, CNN, iVillage Live, Entertainment Tonight and CNBC.

Brown is currently developing several product lines for QVC as well as writing a series of interior design books. Brown's high-profile design firm, Kenneth Brown, has attracted the attention of the California rich and famous. His current projects include: The Founders' Room for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Hammers' Los Angeles residence, J. Cuevas' Maui residence, Endeavor Talent agency in Beverly Hills, the Ackerman Santa Monica residence as well as other high-profile clients.

Brown currently resides in Los Angeles, California

Lancelot P. Olinde, Sr., received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Louisiana State University in 1955. Olinde passed the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service Officer examination and joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1956. Olinde remained in the Foreign Service until 1960 when he resigned his Vice-Consul position in Kuwait to return to Louisiana. He enrolled in the Loyola University School of Law, went to night school for four years and graduated first in his class of both day and night-school students.

In 1967, Humble Oil and Refining Co., later Exxon Corporation and now ExxonMobil Corporation, employed Olinde as an Assistant Trial Attorney in its New Orleans Division Law Department. He spent the rest of his career working for Humble/Exxon. At the time of his retirement in 1995, Olinde was General Counsel of Exxon Coal and Minerals Company, a division of Exxon Corporation.

Olinde established the Patrick and Edwige Olinde Professorship in the College of Education. Olinde has been a member of the Board of Directors of Houston's Christian Community Service Center, has served as its President and currently serves as Chairman of the CCSC Endowment Board.

Olinde and his wife have traveled to every continent, including Antarctica.

Olinde resides in Houston, Texas with his wife Maggie. They have two children, Lancelot P. Olinde, Jr., 50, and Lauren O. Hughes, 48. In his spare time, Olinde enjoys travel, photography and books, especially WWII history.

Norman V. Kinsey graduated from Louisiana State University in 1947, earning two degrees, a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Bachelor of Laws. He later earned his Juris Doctorate from LSU in 1968.

Kinsey entered LSU in 1938. In 1941, he entered LSU Law School. World War II began and by November 1942 Kinsey was a US Army Air Corps (later U.S. Air Force) officer as part of an invasion fleet that landed in Morocco, North Africa. He was awarded the Bronze Star for exceptional service in support of combat operations. He returned with the rank of Major and re-entered Law School in January 1946.

Throughout the course of his successful career, Kinsey engaged in various ventures, including exploration for and production of energy, land development, venture capital and personal investments. Kinsey was a member and director of the founding group of Transco Energy Company, from which he retired in 1991 after 31 years of service. Kinsey was also a member of the founding groups of Pacific Northwest Pipeline, Texas Illinois Natural Gas Pipeline and Piedmont Natural Gas Company.

Kinsey is a strong endorser of education and co-founded the Montessori School for Shreveport as well as the Ridgewood Montessori School. He has served as president for such associations as the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. Kinsey is also a Fellow of the Law Center at LSU.

Kinsey was named ‘Businessman of the Year’ by the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce in 1993. He is a member of the U.S. State Department Fine Arts Committee in Washington, D.C. The National Conference of Christians and Jews honored him with the Brotherhood Humanitarian Award. Kinsey was an E. J. Ourso College of Business, Hall of Distinction inductee in 2000.

Kinsey lives in Shreveport, Louisiana, with his wife Margaret Mary ‘Peggy’ Wright Kinsey. They have four children Glenn Victor, Christopher Mahr, Rebecca Louise and Richard Norman. Kinsey's interests include photography, boating, bird hunting, machine shop, travel and classical music.

Peter D. Burland received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1949 and his Master's Degree in Chemistry & Mathematics in 1951. He entered LSU in 1941 at the age of 17. When the United States entered WWII, he volunteered for induction into the U. S. Army and was assigned as a linguist to the Military Intelligence Service's special forces training center at Fort Ritchie, Maryland. After graduation, he was reassigned to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's forward command post and flew photo reconnaissance missions at ground level over the Normandy invasion beaches. After completion of this mission, Burland's military intelligence team was attached to the 2nd Armored Division which subsequently fought in every major battle from Normandy on D+1 to Berlin and earned him five battle stars and the rank of Master Sergeant.

In 1946, Burland returned to LSU. Under a Chemical Engineering industrial fellowship, he assisted in the development of one of the first biological oxidation processes for the treatment of industrial waste water using micro-organisms. After graduation, Burland became a research chemist for Monsanto Chemical in 1951. In his 15 years with the company he developed processes for the synthesis of amino acids now contained in many dietary supplements; the synthesis of a chemical intermediate used in Aspartame synthetic sweetener; bromine-based biocides; and a class of water-soluble compounds known as ‘telomers' that revolutionized the industrial water-treatment industry. He authored and co-authored several patents covering his work.

For the past 25 years, Burland has managed his own company, Telomer Corporation, which manufactures and distributes many of the telomers developed at Monsanto in formulas used in many industrial applications where they have found world-wide acceptance.

Burland served 11 years on the Houston Chamber of Commerce research committee that planned and executed a water-conservation plan (CIWA) designed to secure a 75-year supply of surface water for the South Texas area's future commercial and industrial growth. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the 2nd Armored Division Association.

Burland lives in Hempstead, Texas with his wife Alice. They have five children: Dennis, Jimmy, Joseph, Julie Steckel and Melanie Fletcher. In his free time, Burland enjoys antique vehicle restoration, writing, genealogy, military history and collecting WWII history books.

TRIBUTE: There are not enough superlatives to thank or praise those as LSU that gave us the foundation of knowledge in the College of Chemistry and Physics that we needed to achieve those discoveries for which we have been recognized. Dean Arthur Chopin; Dr. Jesse Coates; Dr. Hulen Williams; Dr. Virginia Rice Williams….all have given us the energy level jump in knowledge that have allowed us in the sciences, to leave behind a legacy of achievement that honors LSU.

Ravi Arimilli received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Louisiana State University in 1984. He came to LSU at the age of six when his father began graduate work at LSU. Mr. Arimilli played on the LSU Tennis team, graduated magna cum laude and was an officer in various student organizations and honor societies (treasurer of the IEEE, vice-president of Phi Mu Epsilon - math honor society, vice-president of Tau Beta Phi - engineering honor society, Phi Kappa Phi, etc).

Ravi Arimilli is a widely recognized leader in the IT industry. He has over 20 years experience within IBM, leading, innovating and architecting microprocessors, servers, storage and interconnects. He was the CTO for IBM's POWER Servers and the chief architect of the game changing POWER4 and POWER5 family of servers which grew IBM's UNIX Server market share from 11% back in 2001 to the industry leading, 34% in 2007 - approximately $6.0B. These revolutionary designs led IBM to honor him as the youngest ever IBM Fellow. Currently, five IBM Fellows are Nobel Laureates.

In the world of high-tech research, Mr. Arimilli is the undisputed king of inventions and innovation. He is one of the most prolific inventors in the world with over 350 patents and is currently listed in the top 10 patent holders alive in the United States. In order to advance technology and innovation, he leads incubation sessions at IBM which has led to some breakthrough technologies and over 2500 patents for the IBM Corporation. He was the Texas Inventor of the Year in 2006, InfoWorld's CTO of the Year in 2005, the Asian American Engineer of the Year in 2004, inducted into several Technology Hall of Fames, and the chief architect for three, #1 supercomputers in the world.

His innovations and contributions to IBM have been extraordinary. His revolutionary microprocessor/system designs and his recent data center integration designs have had a dramatic impact to IBM's revenue and science. Mr. Arimilli led and won a $244M DARPA bid to develop highly scalable and productive petascale supercomputers to dramatically improve all frontiers of science and national security. During this effort, there was a new discovery, coined Arimilli's Law:’Man has the ability, through revolutionary paths, to achieve a 100X improvement of any metric in 5 years.’ Unlike, the evolutionary path by Moore's Law, which is 2X every 1.5 years. Mr. Arimilli is regarded as a pioneer in the computing industry due to his broad vision of technology driven paradigm shifts and his ability to create, in a regular manner, disruptive technologies.

Mr. Arimilli lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Padma Sunkara and their three children, Shivani, Nevin, and Nathan.

Roy O. Martin III graduated from Louisiana State University in 1982, earning a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. He received his M.B.A. from LSU in 1985. He began his career in 1982 at Martco Limited Partnership in LeMoyen, Louisiana. By working his way through the ranks, in 2003 he was elected president of Roy O. Martin Lumber Company, Martin Timber Company and Martin Companies. Collectively, the companies are known as RoyOMartin, a group of family-owned, professionally managed forest products and forestland management companies.

As president, Martin oversees the operation of six different facilities in central Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas. RoyOMartin companies own and professionally manage nearly 600,000 acres of timberlands in 34 Louisiana parishes and are responsible for approximately 1,200 employees in one of the largest independently owned lumber companies in the South.

The corporation has a history of providing support for the LSU System, including LSU's College of Engineering, the LSU Ag Center, the Tiger Athletic Foundation and LSU-Alexandria.

Martin serves on various organization boards, such as the Salvation Army, the Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority, Cenla Advantage Partnership, Orchard Foundation, the Committee of 100/SECURE, Tiger Athletic Foundation, the American Heart Association, the Louisiana Baptist Foundation and Inner City Revitalization. He is a deacon for Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria.

Martin runs his business by a set of values he calls ‘RICHES’ – Respect, Integrity, Commitment, Honesty, Excellence and Stewardship.

Martin lives in Alexandria, Louisiana, with his wife Kathy. They have two children, Chris, scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2010 from LSU in industrial engineering, and Laura, a senior at Alexandria Senior High School and who is enrolled in the LSU School of Architecture. In his free time, Martin enjoys tennis and running. Between his and his wife's family, they have a combined 26 degrees from LSU.

Edward Beauregard Picou, Jr., graduated from Louisiana State University in 1955 and was commissioned in the U.S. Army that same year. He served two years on active duty, including an eighteen-month assignment in Korea. His plans to pursue a master's degree upon discharge were sidelined by an encounter with Shell Oil Company recruiters at LSU.

Picou, a Baton Rouge native, joined Shell in 1957 and enjoyed a successful forty-five year career in the petroleum industry. He rose through assignments of increasing responsibility and was promoted in 1989 to exploration consultant, Shell Exploration's highest technical rank. He retired from Shell Offshore, Inc., in November 1991 but continued his involvement with the industry as a paleontological consultant. He retired from consulting in 1998.

Throughout his career, Picou maintained personal contact with LSU's geology faculty and the University. Ed was a charter member of the LSU Geology Alumni Advisory Council and chaired the group more than ten years. He has been a member of the College of Basic Sciences Dean's Development Council, recently renamed the Dean's Circle, since 1994 and chaired the council from 2004-08.

Picou was actively involved with and served as an officer of numerous professional organizations, and his awards are many. He was named to the College of Basic Sciences Hall of Distinction in 2007, was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1981and holds honorary membership in the Society for Sedimentary Geology, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, New Orleans Geological Society, and Gulf Coast Section Society of Sedimentary Geology.

Picou resides in New Orleans with his partner, Dan G. Armstrong, and pursues interests in travel, photography, reading, and gardening.

Quote: I will forever be indebted to the outstanding faculty who trained me for my career. Not only were they skilled academicians, they demonstrated leadership skills that we students tried to emulate.

Elena R. LeBlanc graduated from Louisiana State University in 1937 with a Master of Arts degree in English, earned after taking courses from the likes of Robert Penn Warren, who taught her Shakespeare class. She entered the graduate program while teaching seventh graders in the College of Education's laboratory classrooms located in Peabody Hall.

A native of Lisbon, La., LeBlanc graduated from Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, now Louisiana Tech University, in 1934 and earned a master's degree there in 1935. Her first teaching assignment was at Vidrine High School in Ville Platte, La. During her forty-year teaching career, LeBlanc worked in the East Baton Rouge and Lafourche parish school systems and spent seventeen years at the University Laboratory School, from which she retired.

LeBlanc continued her passion for English literature and the energy of the classroom in retirement by participating in a book club and Daughters of the American Revolution and Daughters of the Confederacy activities.

LeBlanc is a generous supporter of the LSU Alumni Association and the LSU Foundation, from which she received the President's Award in 1995. She is a member of the Foundation's Laureate Society, in the category of Olivia Davis Laureate, and the College of Education Peabody Society. She and her late husband, Albert, established the Elena and Albert LeBlanc Professorship in the College of Education and the Elena and Albert LeBlanc Professorship in the Laboratory School.

LeBlanc resides in East Lansing, Mich.

Quote: For me, it is a singular privilege to have been called ‘teacher.'

Young Alumnus

Jady H. Regard earned a Bachelor of Arts & Sciences degree in Psychology from Louisiana State University in 1992. While at LSU, he worked as a student manager for Coach Dale Brown's basketball team.

After graduation, the New Iberia native moved to Breckenridge, Colo., and worked as a snow ski instructor for two years before enrolling in graduate school at Texas A&M. He received his master's degree in educational psychology from A&M in 1995 and returned to Louisiana as public relations director of the Louisiana IceGators, the state's first professional ice hockey team, based in Lafayette. Regard served as general manager of the IceGators for four years, then joined the National Football League's Chicago Bears as corporate sales manager.

He returned to his home state in 2002, after twelve years in the sports industry, to become CNO – Chief Nut Officer – of Cane River Pecan Company, a gourmet pecan mail-order company located in New Iberia and founded by his mother, Margie Regard.

In addition to his management duties at Cane River, Regard has founded The Little Band Man Company, a miniature toy collective company, and Slice of Lime Publishing, a children's book publishing company, and has recently launched Louisiana Living, a Web-based company featuring Louisiana heritage food products. He has written six children's books including Born to be a Tiger and Born to be a Tiger, too!, which feature children attending their first LSU home football game.

Regard is a member and supporter of the LSU Alumni Association and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Schools of the Sacred Heart of Grand Coteau, La. He is also a recipient of the Lafayette Daily Advertiser's Top 20 under 40 Award.

An avid LSU sports fan, he enjoys hunting, sailing, and diving.

Regard is married to the former Olivia Smith of New Roads, a past LSU Homecoming Queen and a graduate of LSU and the LSU Law School. They are parents of two children, Hays and Camille, and reside in Lafayette.

Quote: It is more than just the classes and the Quad! It means that I shared in a community that is common to many and represents my Louisiana roots, a grounded place in this hectic world.

Alumnus of the Year

Jerry D. Dumas, Sr., graduated from Louisiana State University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Studies, completing a college career that had begun 31 years earlier.

The Texas native was recruited by LSU backfield coach Rock Reed to play for the Fighting Tigers in 1953. In 1957, after completing his eligibility, Dumas left school to support his family. He joined Hughes Tool Company and rose through the ranks to become group division president. By 1982, in line for the position of corporate president, but lacking the required college degree, he enrolled in both regular and correspondence courses at LSU and traveled every week from Houston to Baton Rouge to complete his degree program.

Shortly after graduation, he accepted a position with Merrill Lynch and was vice president of corporate and executive services from 1988 to 1998. Dumas and a group of investors acquired control of a small Canadian firm with only five employees, Flotek Industries. He incorporated the company which began its existence as an ‘over the counter’ stock on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. Today the firm has over 450 employees, locations around the globe and is on the New York Stock Exchange. Since 1998, Dumas has served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Flotek Industries, headquartered in Houston, Texas. Dumas was named the 2008 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Gulf Coast regional winner and national finalist.

In 2008, Jerry and Nancy Dumas donated $2 million to the Forever LSU campaign for several endeavors in the College of Arts Sciences, the College of Basic Sciences, and the Tiger Athletic Foundation. The gift supports professorships in political science and chemistry and scholarships in Air Force ROTC/aerospace studies and in athletics.

Dumas's involvement in professional, community, and civic organizations includes generous philanthropic support of numerous entities, among them, the Asbury Theological Seminary, The Mission Society, First United Methodist Church, Houston Hospice, Houston Arboretum, Dora Tes Basileas Foundation, Communities for Economic and Educational Development (CEED), PAWS, and A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE).

Dumas and his wife Nancy reside in Houston, Texas and have a combined family of five children and eleven grandchildren.

Quote: LSU is my personal and professional foundation, built on strength I have due to my faith and my loving family. My home away from home!

John Herbert Boydstun, a native of Louisville, Miss., and a 1969 business graduate of the University of Mississippi, earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Louisiana State University in 1972.

While at LSU, Dr. William F. Staats, the Hermann Moyse, Jr. Louisiana Bankers Association Chair of Banking Professor, piqued his interest in banking as a profession. Upon graduation, he joined Guaranty Bank in Alexandria as a trainee and also worked for small independent banks in Alexandria, Bossier City, and West Monroe. When Hibernia National Bank acquired the West Monroe institution in 1994, he moved with Hibernia to Baton Rouge. In 2000 he was named president and chief executive officer of Hibernia, and when Hibernia sold to Capital One Bank in 2005, he became president of Capital One, from which he retired in 2006.

He served as chairman of the Louisiana Bankers Association in 1992, as well as on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank, New Orleans; Business Council of New Orleans; New Orleans Museum of Art; and Ogden Museum of Art, New Orleans.

Boydstun is currently serving on the LSU Foundation Board of Directors, as chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Executive Committee; on the Board of Directors of Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation; and on the Ourso College of Business Dean's Advisory Council. He is a former member of the LSU Museum of Art Board of Directors.

He was named Distinguished Finance Executive at the University of Mississippi in 2003.

Boydstun and his wife, the former Nancy ‘Nan’ Nabers, also a 1972 LSU graduate, have three children – Jennifer Whittington, Lauren Boydstun, and John Boydstun, and three grandchildren.

Quote: LSU opened doors for me to excel in the world of business.

Joseph Joyce Fahey, a native of Butler, Penn., graduated from Louisiana State University in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. After serving his country in the U.S. Air Force, he was awarded a basketball scholarship and played guard on the Tiger team under Coach Henry Rabenhorst with teammates Roger Sigler, Ned Clark, and Troy Rushing.

Following graduation, Fahey joined IBM Corporation. As a federal government representative for the company, he was involved in installing the nation's first hospital information system at Monmouth (N.J.) Medical Center in 1964. Realizing the growing need for such computer-based patient information, Fahey set out on his own and in 1969 founded Hospital Computer Systems, Inc., to provide computerized information systems to hospitals, doctors' offices, and clinics. He served as chairman, chief operating officer, and president, and today, his company – New Jersey-based Health Care Software, Inc. – remains exclusively dedicated to the development, installation, and support of healthcare information systems.

A longtime generous supporter of the University, Fahey has received the LSU Foundation President's Award for lifetime giving, is a member of the LSU Alumni Association's prestigious Chancellor's Club, and a charter recipient of the Purple & Gold Award, which recognizes outstanding support of the Association.

He and his wife, Barrie, live in Vero Beach, Fla., and have four sons Mark, Joseph, Thomas, and Morgan.

Quote: Anyone who goes to a university and then is successful owes that university.

Oliver G. ‘Rick’ Richard, III, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Louisiana State University in 1974, a Juris Doctor from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1977, and a Master's of Law in Taxation from Georgetown University in 1981.

Prior to his retirement, the Lake Charles native was chairman, president, and CEO of the Fortune 500 Columbia Energy Group; chair, president, and CEO of New Jersey Resources; president and CEO of Northern Natural Gas Pipeline, and vice president and general counsel of Tenngasco. Today, he is president of Empire of the Seed, a private consulting firm in the energy, management, and private investments industries, and also serves as chairman of CleanFuel USA.

Richard was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 1982 and received the FERC Chairman's Medal and the Distinguished Service Medal from the U.S. Secretary of Energy for his efforts.

Active in civic and professional organizations at the local, state, and national levels, Richard serves on the boards or as an officer of numerous organizations, among them, the Nature Conservancy of Louisiana, Lake Charles Downtown Development District, Calcasieu Parish Boy Scouts of America, Southwest Louisiana Camp Fire USA; Coastal Plains Conservancy, McNeese State University School of Business, Sowela Technical Community College Foundation, the LSU System Research and Technology Foundation and Buckeye Partners for Mainline Management. He also served as a member of the National Petroleum Council, chairman of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, and on the boards of the American Gas Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Richard is president of the Board of Trustees of the Hebert Law Center and serves on the Manship School of Mass Communication and LSU Press advisory boards. He was inducted into the Manship School Hall of Fame in 2007 and awarded the LSU Foundation's President's Award in 2003.

Richard and his wife, the former Donna Guzman, a McNeese State alumna, reside in Lake Charles and have one son, David.

Quote: LSU instilled in me both a deep-rooted intellectual curiosity and a positive base for public service.

Richard Jude ‘Dick’ Juneau graduated from Louisiana State University in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and immediately began his career with Crown-Zellerbach Corporation in St. Francisville, La.

The Bordelonville, La., native grew with the company, quickly moving from project engineer to maintenance planning and scheduling supervisor. He was named mechanical maintenance supervisor in 1966 and from 1970-72 served as area maintenance superintendent of the St. Francisville Paper Company, a joint venture of Crown Zellerbach Corporation and Time, Inc. From 1972-75 he was maintenance manager for Scott Paper Company in Mobile, Ala.

Juneau was vice president, secretary, treasurer, and co-owner of WYESCO, Inc., an industrial equipment shop in Zachary, La., from 1975-78. From 1978 until his retirement in 2005, he was co-founder, owner, and chief operating officer of IMR/CMR, an industrial sales, service, and warehousing business in Baton Rouge.

A longtime supporter of the University and the College of Engineering (COE), Juneau serves on the COE Dean's Advisory Council and is a founding member of the LSU COE Society of Engineering Excellence. He is chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering's Industrial Advisory Board and is the department's steering committee chairman for the LSU Forever campaign. He was named to the College of Engineering Hall of Distinction for 2007-08.

Juneau is also an active member of the LSU Foundation, 1860 Society, LSU Alumni Association, LSU Gridiron Club, and Tiger Athletic Foundation.

Juneau has been affiliated with numerous professional and civic organizations over the years, including the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, National Federation of Independent Business, Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance, Louisiana Workforce Commission, and the U.S. Selective Service, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is active with the Kenilworth Civic Association, Louisiana Engineering Society, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, SCORE, and St. Jude Catholic Church Knights of Columbus, among other groups. His service to such groups has been recognized with many prestigious honors and awards.

Juneau and his wife, Katherine, have two children, Lisa Mohr and Jill Curtis, and five grandchildren, Michael and Brittany Mohr and Meagan, Nicholas, and Jacob Curtis.

Quote: My LSU engineering education provided me with the technical background – and the confidence – to further develop my ability to succeed in industry and business ownership.

Dr. Robert D. Westerman, a native of Malvern, Ark., attended LSU from 1954-1958, playing on the Tiger baseball team in his freshman year then on the football and track teams. He coached freshman football in 1958 and did practice teaching at LSU Laboratory School. He also participated in Air Force ROTC, serving on the Wing Staff of both Air Force and Army ROTC, and was designated a Distinguished Military Student.

Westerman graduated from Loyola University School of Dentistry in 1963 and entered the United States Air Force Dental Corps, serving two years, until entering private practice in general and family dentistry in 1965 in Baton Rouge. He is the owner of Classic Practice Resources, Inc., a company that presents consulting and training to thousands in the dental field. He has delivered numerous other lectures at meetings and professional conferences across the country and abroad, as well as for the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, the Junior American Veterinary Association, and the LSU School of Dentistry. In addition, he created and produced the Dental Variety Show in Las Vegas, Nev., a post-Katrina fund raising activity for the LSU dental school

He is a member of the American Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry, Louisiana Dental Association and numerous other dental associations and societies. He holds five patents in the dental field in restorative and preventative dentistry, and his products are sold around the world. He has contributed to a number of dental textbooks and written papers for journals and other publications on innovative techniques and procedures that he developed. He is the author of the multivolume highly acclaimed Classic Practice Series on dental management.

Westerman is the recipient of many awards, among them the 2008 Louisiana Dental Association's Distinguished Service Award, the association's highest, presented to those ‘who have exemplified the highest standards of professional conduct in dentistry and have made extraordinary contributions in organized dentistry and their community.’

Westerman has long shared his time, talents, and resources with the community and the University. He has served on many committees, including the executive committees at the Baton Rouge General and Our Lady of the Lake hospitals, has been a member and past president of the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana Alliance of Innovators, First Methodist Church, Baton Rouge Credit Bureau, and Rotary International. He is a member of and chaired the College of Education Peabody Society, served on the School of Music Board of Directors and Dean's Council, and is member of the National L Club.

Bob and Peggy Westerman's family includes seven children and nine grandchildren. Westerman lists his favorite pastimes as spending time with his family, their rural farm in St. Francisville, and participating in a variety of outdoor activities.

Quote: Attending LSU led to a generally multi-faceted outcome, far beyond the extraordinary education I set out to get and obtained. Wonderful friendships, professional affiliations, and social relationships continue to enrich my life.

Tracy W. Krohn received his Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Louisiana State University in 1978.

After graduating from high school, Krohn backpacked around Europe and once back in the United States, stopped in New Orleans to visit his mother, who was working for Taylor Energy and found himself working on an offshore drilling rig – an experience that whetted his appetite for the oil business. He enrolled at LSU, earned his engineering degree, and began his career as a petroleum engineer and offshore drilling supervisor with Mobil Oil Corporation. He then joined Taylor Energy as a senior engineer.

In 1983, at age 28 and with $12,000 in savings, Krohn founded W&T Offshore, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas acquisition and exploration company based in Houston, Texas. He has served as president since that time, as treasurer since 1997, and as chairman since 2004. He was also chairman and chief executive office of Aviara Energy Corporation in Houston in 1996-97.

Krohn took W&T public in 2005. On year later he purchased Kerr-McGee's Gulf assets for $1.3 billion, doubling the company's size, and is considering coastal and overseas expansion. He also owns a Grand American Road Racing Association team, Krohn Racing.

During Hurricane Katrina, W&T came to the aid of victims and their families, rescuing them with the company's chartered 757 jet.

In 2005, Krohn was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year national award winner in the Distribution/Manufacturing/Security Category. And in Fall 2008, he was ranked 321 among Forbes 400 Richest People in America.