LSU Alumni Magazine_Summer 2019 Issue by LSU Alumni Association

20 19 HA LL OF DIS TIN CT ION

Summer 2019, Volume 95, Number 2

From the

PRESIDENT This is truly an exciting time to be a member of Tiger Nation. Spring 2019 marks our sixth consecutive year of record-breaking graduating classes. This is incredible news – not only because our LSU family is continuing to grow and excel in every way but also because more LSU graduates in the world translates to a stronger economy for Louisiana and the nation at large. As you know, our students leave the University with little-to-no debt and go on to earn starting salaries that are higher than the national average. And, just like you, they go on to change the world, serving as elected officials, entrepreneurs, teachers, scientists, scholars, engineers, and artists. At the same time, our current students are achieving great things! Our record-breaking freshman class has performed incredibly well, earning more credits than previous classes and earning one of the highest average GPAs in years. Our juniors and seniors are racking up impressive national awards like Goldwater and Udall scholarships. And while they’re here, they have access to such incredible minds as Chris D’Elia, dean of the College of the Coast & Environment, who was recently recognized with a lifetime achievement award for working to save the Gulf Coast, and Jinx Broussard, LSU professor of mass communication, who was recently named the Scripps Howard Foundation Teacher of the Year; and the seven LSU faculty members recognized among the most cited scholars in the world. I hope you’re as proud of our new graduates and current Tigers as I am. Your role as an alumnus is critical to LSU’s mission, and I know I speak on behalf of the entire LSU community in thanking you for your dedication and loyalty to your alma mater.

Geaux Tigers!

F. King Alexander LSU President @lsuprez

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Publisher LSU Alumni Association

Contents

Editor Jackie Bartkiewicz Advertising Emily Johnson

Feature

26 Hall of Distinction 2019 Alumnus of the Year Dale Hall, CEO of Ducks Unlimited, and Young Alumnus of the Year Wendy McMahon, president of ABC Owned Television Stations, highlighted the roster of distinguished Tigers honored the 2019 LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction. Also inducted at the April 5 event were Greg Bowser, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association, and Hays Town, Jr., founder/owner of Town Construction.

32 Fierce for the Future LSU launched the largest fundraising campaign for higher education in the history of Louisiana on March 28. The success of the Fierce for the Future Campaign will set the course for the kind of university LSU will be – the quality of the education LSU will offer, the research LSU will conduct, and the impact LSU will have. The $1.5 billion campaign is the first to unite LSU campuses statewide, supporting the flagship in Baton Rouge, the LSU AgCenter, LSU of Alexandria, LSU Eunice, LSU Health New Orleans, LSU Health Shreveport, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and LSU Shreveport.

In Each Issue 1

From the President

President/CEO Message

LSU Alumni Association News

36 Around Campus 50 Locker Room 58 Tiger Nation

On the cover: Hall of Distinction inductees Greg Bowser, Wendy McMahon, Hays Town, and Dale Hall. Photo by Eddy Perez

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Art Director Chuck Sanchez STUN Design & Interactive Editorial Assistants Patti Garner, Brenda Macon, Rachel Rhodes Contributors Barry Cowan, Ed Cullen, Evin Demirel, Libby Haydel, Rachel Holland, Brian Hudgins, Aaron Hyder, Bud Johnson, Brenda Macon, Paul West, Cody Worsham Photography Andrea Barbier, Tobie Blanchard, Josh Bradsted, Amber Broussard/ Kid’s Kitchen, Mark Claesgens, Johnny Gordon, Else Hahne, IAAF Athletics Federation, NASA, Chris Parent/LSU Athletics, Eddy Perez/ LSU Strategic Communications, Gus Stark/LSU Athletics, Unviersity College, Veterans Reporter News, Rajesh Yerrapati Printing Baton Rouge Printing NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Beverly G. Shea Chair, New Iberia, La. Jeffrey M. “Jeff” Mohr Chair-elect, Baton Rouge, La. Susan K. Whitelaw Immediate Past Chair, Shreveport, La. Stanley L. “Stan” Williams National Fund Chair, Fort Worth, Texas

54 78

Jack A. Andonie Director Emeritus, Metairie, La. Lodwrick M. Cook Director Emeritus, Sherman Oaks, Calif. J. Ofori Agboka, Rochester Hills, Mich. Mark Kent Anderson, Jr., Monroe, La. Karen Brack, San Diego, Calif. David B. Braddock, Dallas, Texas Kathryn “Kathy” Fives, New Orleans, La. Mario J. Garner, Spring, Texas Leo C. Hamilton, Baton Rouge, La.

Matthew K. “Matt” Juneau, Baton Rouge, La. Michael J. Kantrow, Jr., New York, N.Y. Kevin F. Knobloch, Baton Rouge, La. Brandon Landry, Baton Rouge, La. Fred Gillis “Gil” Rew, Mansfield, La. Bart B. Schmolke, Alexandria, La. Van P. Whitfield, Houston, Texas

LSU ALUMNI MAGAZINE is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the LSU Alumni Association. Annual donations are $50, of which $6 is allocated for a subscription to LSU Alumni Magazine. The LSU Alumni Association is not liable for any loss that might be incurred by a purchaser responding to an advertisement in this magazine. Editorial and Advertising Office LSU Alumni Association 3838 West Lakeshore Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4686 225-578-3838 • 888-RINGLSU www.lsualumni.org / e-mail: jackie@lsualumni.org © 2019 by LSU ALUMNI MAGAZINE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to LSU ALUMNI MAGAZINE, 3838 West Lakeshore Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4686 Letters to the editor are encouraged. LSU ALUMNI MAGAZINE reserves the right to edit all materials accepted for publication. Publication of material does not indicate endorsement of the author’s viewpoint by the magazine, the Association, or LSU.

TRUE TIGERS GREG AND BRENDA HAMER Thank you for your extraordinary gift.

reg and Brenda Hamer, of Morgan City, La., have made a significant collaborative gift to the University through the LSU Foundation, LSU Alumni Association, and Tiger Athletic Foundation. Greg, chief executive officer, of B&G Food Enterprises, and his wife, Brenda, corporate secretary and center point of the Hamer family, began their partnership as juniors in high school. They married in 1967, a year before Greg earned his bachelor’s degree in business from LSU. Their company, founded in 1982, today operates 140 Taco Bell, KFC, and Long John Silver’s in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, and in 2018 became a franchisee of DAT DOG in Houston. Greg is active in leadership roles in numerous national, state, and community organizations and served for more than a decade in city and parish elected offices. He is past chairman and a current trustee of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, an emeritus member of the National Restaurant Association Board of Directors, and a longtime member and past president of the Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA) Board of Directors. He serves on the Taco Bell Foundation Board of Directors and the Community Foundation of Acadiana and previously served on the Louisiana Coastal Commission and University of Louisiana Board of Trustees. His outstanding business and civic leadership has earned Greg and B&G a spot in the LRA Hall of Fame; national coverage in Entrepreneur magazine; recognition as Louisiana Humanitarian of the Year in Louisiana Living magazine; as Community Foundation of Acadiana-St. Mary Affiliate Philanthropist of the Year; and as St. Mary Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year. He was inducted into the Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction in 2014 and B&G was recognized in LSU 100: Fastest Growing Tiger Businesses.

B&G has grown to provide a livelihood for well over 3,000 employees, without whom our success could not have been achieved. B&G is a family business, and we strive every day to treat all of our employees as we would want to be treated. – B G F O O D . C O M That philosophy of service and commitment is shared with the LSU family. Greg is a member of the E.J. Ourso College of Business Dean’s Advisory Council, serves on the Tiger Athletic Foundation Board of Directors, and is an active member of the LSU Alumni Association. The Brenda and Gregory Hamer Sr. Endowed Scholarship supports students in the College of Business. Top-level Association donors for many years, Greg and Brenda Hamer’s latest gift increases their support of the Alumni Fund to promote the overall mission and vision of the Association through the initiatives of the organization’s new strategic plan – Your Front Door to the Future.

As a couple we have always had a desire to give back to LSU. It is where we started our family and where with pride we watched our three children and two oldest grandchildren graduate. With another enrolled, one coming next year, and more to follow, LSU will remain a big part of our lives. Hence our desire to support all aspects of LSU, with the hope that other families can benefit from this great institution, as we know we have.

Help us inspire, engage, network and inform thousands of Tigers worldwide by increasing your support of the LSU Alumni Association. To donate, visit lsualumni.org or call Rhett Butler, Vice President of Advancement at 22.578.3856. LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019 3

President and CEO

MESSAGE

Celebrating Outstanding Alumni, Campaign Kickoff What an exciting semester! During back-to-back weekends this spring, the University launched a $1.5 billion capital campaign and the Association inducted four outstanding alumni into the Hall of Distinction – the highest honor awarded to an LSU graduate. We brought home a top advancement award, hosted alumni chapter leaders from across the country at a three-day Chapter Summit, participated in LSU Giving Day, and gathered with friends old and new at some three dozen coast-to-coast crawfish boils – our popular “Parties With a Purpose. “

In February, symbolizing collaboration and a united effort for LSU, members of the boards of directors of the three major fundraising entities gathered at the Lod Cook Alumni Center. From left are Brian Cheramie, Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF); Beverly Shea, LSU Alumni Association; and Clarence Cazalot, LSU Foundation.

Joining LSU Alumni Association President & CEO Cliff Vannoy, second from left, at the gathering to build camaraderie and encourage continued and improved teamwork, were TAF board member Roy O. Martin, TAF president & CEO Rick Perry; and LSU Foundation President and CEO Bryan Benchoff. Photos by Andrea Barbier

“Network • Inform Engage • Inspire”

The capital campaign, Fierce for the Future, is a joint collaboration – the first of its kind – among the LSU Foundation, LSU Alumni Association, and Tiger Athletic Foundation, as well as fundraising entities at LSU campuses across the state. I encourage you to support all the organizations as you make your philanthropic decisions. The group effort ensures an extraordinary level of support critical to success as the campuses unite for the largest campaign for higher education in the state’s history. And that success promises to enhance the University’s prestige and influence as it realizes the goals of LSU Strategic Plan 2025: Leading Louisiana. Impacting the World. In concert with the University’s objectives and plans for new direction, new priorities and outcomes that will improve lives in Louisiana, the region, the nation, and the world, the Association in March launched its own five-year strategic plan. Your Front Door to the Future is an ambitious strategy for tomorrow – encompassing membership growth and new ways to network, inform, and engage LSU Tiger Nation. See Spring 2019 issue at lsualumni.org. This issue’s cover features Alumnus of the Year Dale Hall, Young Alumna of the Year Wendy McMahon, Greg Bowser, and Hays Town who were inducted into the 2019 LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction in April. Meet the outstanding new inductees and get a glimpse of the event beginning on page 26. Congratulations are in order for LSUAA staffers who brought home a Gold Award for the 2018 Tiger Nation Challenge, judged Best Contemporary Campaign at the CASE District IV Annual Conference Accolades Ceremony in February. The event, a competition between LSU and Auburn Tigers, raised more than $108,000 for Association initiatives – a win two years in a row! See page 21. It’s an exciting time, and none of it would be possible without those who share their dollars, time, energy, and enthusiasm with LSU Tiger Nation. Thank you for all you do. Geaux Tigers

Cliff Vannoy President/CEO @LSUAlumniPrez

LSU Alumni Association

AlumniLSU

P.S. Memorial Tower is currently undergoing renovation and restoration to house the LSU Military Museum, expected to open in November 2020 – twenty-two years after the LSU Alumni Association completed construction, dedicated, and gifted the LSU War Memorial to the University. I encourage all our military service alumni to respond to the call for military memorabilia to showcase and preserve. See page 51 for information.

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From Our Readers

Remembering Gigs at the PMAC I loved the article in the Spring 2019 LSU Alumni Magazine by Ed Cullen with photos by Jim Zietz covering the LSU Assembly Center’s concert heyday. Thanks! I spent five GLORIOUS years in Baton Rouge working furiously on a four-year business degree and the three best of those years were working on the stage crew of the Assembly Center from 1974-76. I was a walk-on member of the track team in 1972 and worked as the manager in 1973 alongside Will Wilton, who was working for the football team. I don’t recall how I learned out about the job, but I found the right folks at the Assembly Center and scored the best job of my life, MY FAVORITE GIG! We worked for a great guy named Wayne and were hard-working kids – working some every day, punching in and out on a time clock making a couple of bucks an hour doing the many odd jobs required by the best multi-use 15,000-seat arena of its day. The stage crew was also in charge of setting the arena up for the next big event, which could have been for basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, theatre, Disney On Ice, graduation, grand balls, or our favorite – ROCK CONCERTS! To prepare, we would have usually build the stage to specs sent in by the band the day before the concert. On the day of the concert one to four eighteen-wheelers full of equipment would arrive about noon, having driven from the last show during the night. The stage crew would start working as soon as possible after class by taking the band equipment (stored in big boxes on wheels) from the trucks outside onto the stage inside the arena. I, among others, was also a rigger, working high up in the attic to hang lights, speakers, and props from strong metal beams at the top of the building, WAY above the false ceiling you see from the floor. The band’s roadies would be in the truck supervising

unloading and on the stage setting up the sound, lights, props, and equipment that we had hustled in, usually getting done by 5 p.m. The roadies would do a sound check and get ready to rock. The stage crew would break, shower, eat, and return to the Assembly Center about 6:30 to man the house lights and sound board, man and run the spotlights, and be on call for anything required. After the concert, we immediately started packing it all back up in the road boxes, taking down all the things hanging from the ceiling and getting it back into the trucks, finishing up somewhere between midnight and 1 a.m. The band manager would meet the promoter usually after the opening act and before the main attraction would go on stage to pass on payment for the show, sometimes in cash as promoters had earned very bad reputations. The Assembly Center manager was paid in cash and put each of the stage crew’s share of the show money in an envelope to hand us at the end of the evening – and it was really good money at the time. I sometimes left with my envelope and best friend Tom for a night (morning) in New Orleans right after the show, driving back to Baton Rouge with a headache and squinting eyes! As to the Rolling Stones 1976 World Tour opening concert (the highlight and finale of my three-year career), the Assembly Center had a great reputation at the time as a new arena with the best acoustics of the day and a very capable, non-union (low paid) stage crew. The elaborate stage had been designed and built in California then disassembled and shipped to Baton Rouge in trucks. We reassembled the stage about ten days before the concert date to prepare for a week of rehearsals and a full dress rehearsal. The band was staying in New Orleans and traveled daily to Baton Rouge by private plane and limos for rehearsals. During the

week of rehearsals, the show music and lighting combinations were scripted and Geraldo Rivera created additional buzz when he arrived to cover the opening two shows for national news. As usual, the Assembly Center stage crew ran the house sound, house lights, and spotlights during the show and took it all down and sent them on their way for the rest of the 1976 World Tour. I don’t know about the other guys, but I’d love to have a reunion of Wayne and the stage crews of that era. Contact me at Robert@ARWproperties.com.

Robert Mills, or as I was known by my web-footed south Louisiana friend Will Wilton, “Mills from the Hills” (1976 BACH BUS) Shreveport, La.

I thoroughly enjoyed reliving my attendance at Assembly Center concerts while reading the excellent coverage in my most recent LSU Alumni Magazine. One memorable band not mentioned is Three Dog Night. I graduated in May 1973 so the concert was before then, although I don’t remember the exact date. I do remember Linda Ronstadt opened for the band and she was very animated and the crowd loved her this particular night. I always look forward to every new issue. I’m retired now, so I also enjoy attending many of the LSU Retirees meetings, lectures, tours, and social events. I was sorry to see Margaret Stones obituary as I had the honor of meeting her as she worked on Flora of Louisiana. I was a library associate in the McIlhenny Collection at the time and had the pleasure of assisting with her exhibit. Thanks for such an impressive publication.

Barbara Aldrich (1973 BACH H&SS) Baton Rouge, La. LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

From Our Readers I read the article in the LSU Alumni Magazine (Spring 2019) with great interest. When the center opened I was the student manager of the LSU wrestling team and worked deep in the bowels of the Assembly Center with the team. We were very close with the basketball team, and by then Dale Brown was the coach, so got to see him at work up close. During the off season, the wrestling coach got me a job working back stage at the center. We did light maintenance and prepared for the various concerts. Eventually, I was asked to work as a stage hand for the concerts. I remember running the spotlights at a number of concerts with my headphones on and the control center calling out queues to us for changing the color gel cards or changing the welding rods used to create the bright light for the spots. I was working a B.B. King concert, and we had five spot lights set to train on him when he came on stage. As he stepped out, we hit him with five bright white lights. An excited voice came over the headphone “turn ‘em off, turn ‘em off.” Apparently he may have had too much liquid help before he came on stage and the bright lights were too much. They put him on a high chair, we put a single spot on him, and he gave a great concert. That was easy work that night. Sometimes we had to go to the overhead walkways and setup stage lighting. I clearly remember the feeling of vertigo the first time I walked out onto that grating high above the floor. It took a while to get used to it but eventually it became second nature as we hung out over the railing to mount the large stage lights. My career would lead me to offshore oil and gas platforms – and I didn’t have any trouble walking around on the grating high above the sea. I was not working as a stage hand the night Liza Minnelli appeared, as her own touring company provided all of the lighting and sound control. I had unlimited access to the center and decided to sit in the main control room for the event with some of the other stage workers. I did not usually work any of the sound equipment in the main control booth, as I normally worked lights. One on the managers asked me to go into the main sound board room to turn down the volume as it was very loud in the control booth because we had our own sound monitors separate from the main center. I accidentally turned off the sound to the Assembly Center. The sound was perfect in the control booth, but no one in the Assembly Center could hear a thing – including Liza and company, who were trying to sing and dance to the music. Anyway, they were not happy with me. Disney on Ice appeared, with Mary Poppins flying across the Assembly Center. After the Tom Jones concert, I got to pick up a lot of ladies’ bras when we took the stage down. We found some interesting stuff in Elton John’s waiting room when we cleaned it out. There were other concerts around campus and Baton Rouge. I did the light board for Doctor Hook and was at the Chicago concert in the Cow Palace. Before his concert at LSU, Cat Stevens performed at a Baton Rouge theater. My older brother was already at LSU when I arrived, and he insisted that for the full LSU effect I had to live in the stadium dormitory. I was okay until construction started on the Assembly Center, and they began driving piles at 7 a.m. every morning. I only lasted a half semester in the stadium dorm, then moved to another dorm. Thanks for reviving my memories.

Charles Borland (1973 BACH ENGR) Katy, Texas

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Great article. I don’t think you mentioned Tears For Fears. These are the tickets I found from concerts I attended.

Chris Spellman (1987 BACH MCOM) Pacific Palisades, Calif.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ed Cullen’s “What Was Your Favorite Gig” article plus Jim Zietz’s photos in the Spring 2019 LSU Alumni Magazine. When I was a junior in high school I was unable to make the ninety-mile drive from Houma – “on a school night” – to see Pink Floyd’s Animals 1977 tour. Only one classmate attended, and she said it was amazing – they had giant pig balloons. I knew that when I got to LSU a year later I would attend many of the concerts. I did see Billy Joel (Nov. 78), Bruce Springsteen (Nov. 80), and Dan Fogelberg (Feb. 82) – he had not been to Baton Rouge for many years due to a rowdy crowd, but was very happy with this audience’s response. After graduation, I returned for CSN (Oct. 82), Jackson Browne (Aug. 83), Police (Nov. 83), and Elton John (Sept. 84). The Springsteen show was the best gig in 1980, both long and explosive: (https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/brucespringsteen/1980/lsu-assembly-centerbaton-rouge-la-13d7adb5.html I attended nine concerts in the Centroplex: Rod Stewart, Foreigner, Rush (twice in the Tom Sawyer era); The Cars, Styx, Doobie Brothers, Police, and Ted Nugent. On Jan. 23, 1982, AC/DC had a wild (possibly oversold show). After that event, police

and security spotlighted you at any concert for standing up and escorted you out of a show if you did not sit down immediately. General admission died out in BR after the AC/DC show. The most important event I witnessed and participated in as an LSU fan and an American was not a concert. On Feb. 24, 1980 #3 LSU played #5 Kentucky in the last regular season game of the season in which LSU had won ten games in a row. Both teams were 14-3 in SEC play, and LSU has already defeated Kentucky in Lexington. To attend as a student required arriving many hours early, waiting in line, and sitting in the arena long before the game started. The USA Miracle on Ice 1980 Olympic hockey team had beaten the USSR team and was playing before the LSU game, so someone smart routed the hockey game into the Assembly Center’s PA system. The USA was losing to Finland 2-1 after two periods. In the third period the noise level was unprecedented as the USA scored three goals to win the goal medal 4-2. Students were chanting USAUSAUSA with incredible enthusiasm; you could feel the patriotism in the arena. It made you proud to be an American. The crowd carried this into the game deciding the SEC champion.

Unfortunately the Tigers lost in overtime to Kentucky. The 1979-81 years were incredibly entertaining basketball at LSU. I remember the shot going in for Kentucky in overtime – a disappointing outcome just hours after the gold medal event. Regardless, it was a spectacular day to be an LSU student, and LSU fan, and an American – Feb. 24, 1980.

Bob Life (1982 BACH ENGR) Cypress, Texas LSU Alumni Association Vice President for Advancement Tracy Jones attended concerts by BTO, the Temptations, and Bob Hope, which were not mentioned in the article.

Five Degrees Carole Huguet Smith, of Baton Rouge, writes that she also holds five degrees from LSU (Spring 2019, “Why I have Five Degrees”) – B.S. Home Economics and Applied Art 1961; B.S. Elementary Education and Art 1967; M.Ed. Administration and Supervision 1970; M.Ed. Educational Media and Library Science 1972; and Education Specialist Certificate, Administration and Reading 1984.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association

NEWS

From left, Cheryl Fasullo, LSU Alumni Houston; President King Alexander; Linda Young, Claire Cagnolatti, and Ron Young, LSU Alumni Dallas.

Chapter Events

LSU Ambassadors Terry Hendrick, of Lake Jackson, Texas; Madison Lucas, of Friendswood, Texas; Kaylee Valencia, of Lake Jackson, Texas; and President King Alexander.

Texas Tigers – University officials joined Texas Tigers to welcome future alumni and their parents to LSU and Tiger Nation during student orientation in March. The reception in the LSU Student Union Theater Reception Room offered Texas students and their families a chance to meet fellow Texans. The event was sponsored by the Austin, Dallas, Greater Houston, North Houston, San Antonio, and Tarrant alumni chapters.

Ruben Dauzat and Luke Laborde.

Members of the School of Renewable Natural Resources-Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries alumni chapter at Three Roll Estate. Ruben Dauzat, Buck Vandersteen, and René Simon.

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Water Campus Tour – Thirty-nine members of the School of Renewable Natural Resources-Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries alumni chapter gathered at the Water Campus in February for a tour of the Mississippi River model and a tour and tasting at Three Roll Estate.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association News

Chapter Events

Teaming Up - The Greater Baton Rouge Alumni Chapter teamed up with

Forum 35, a young professionals group, for a fun afternoon at Topgolf in February. “A great time was had by all,” writes Sarah Clayton, chapter secretary.

LSU Dallas alums at the LSU Wind Ensemble concert at Richardson High School.

Dallas Alumni – Members of the LSU Alumni Dallas Chapter attended a special performance by the LSU Wind Ensemble in February. The ensemble also made stops in Austin and Houston before performing at the College Band Directors National Association National Convention. LSU Alumni Austin and LSU Alumni Houston chapters also attended concerts in their cities to support LSU’s student musicians.

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LSU ALUMNI ARE FOR THE FUTURE. BOOGER MCFARLAND, LSU Alumni Association Honorary National Fund Chair & LSU Football Legend

LSU Alumni Association will create a more engaged and fulfilled LSU Tiger Nation (LSU alumni, fans, and friends) by targeting strategies to help alumni connect, learn, grow, and thrive. By providing the resources, benefits, and programming that allow alumni to live their best lives and stay connected to their alma mater, we will support LSU in strengthening its connection with alumni, strengthen the well-being of LSU Tiger Nation, and grow the value and reputation of LSU. Â Visit lsualumni.org/booger to learn more.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association News

LSU Alumni Association President Cliff Vannoy and David Lafont.

Chapter Events

Phoenix alumni at the Dinner with Cliff Vannoy.

Tracee Antley McElvogue and Cliff Vannoy.

LSU Phoenix – LSU Alumni Association President Cliff Vannoy shared highlights of the Association’s newly launched strategic plan, Your Front Door to the Future, with alumni in Phoenix. “We called the event Dinner with Cliff Vannoy,” writes Tracee Antley McElvogue, chapter president. “It was held at Goodman’s Interior Structures and catered by Jamburritos and Chef Michael Brown.” McElvogue and LSU alum David Lafont, a Goodman’s employee, hosted the event.

Ron Ventola, Diane Girardot, Susan Nanes, and Aya Salem. Pulling for the Tigers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Tigers in Philly – The Greater Philadelphia Chapter gathered at Smith’s

Restaurant & Bar when the Tigers took on Yale in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. “A win's a win, but that was none too comfortable. A tip of the cap to the Yale Bulldogs, who lived up to their name,” writes chapter leader Susan Nanes. “We were not able to overcome the Spartans in the second round, but about fifteen of us – joined by a handful of LSU fans in town from Louisiana for a convention – made it to Field House to cheer on the Tigers.”

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Before attending the LSU-Vandy game, chapter leaders were welcomed by Coach DD Breaux, center, to a tailgate at the Gymnastics Practice Facility. From left , Bob Hoy, San Diego; Association Senior Director of Alumni Engagement Sally Stiel; Association President Cliff Vannoy; LSU Foundation President Bryan Benchoff; Tracee Antley McElvogue, Phoenix; Carolyn Streva, Las Vegas; and Jen Marra, Seattle.

Taking center court for a group shot at the Vandy game.

A.P. Tureaud leaders Jeremiah Sams, left, and Nicole Moliere, right, with Emerald Coast leaders Lori and John McLane.

From left, LSU Alumni Association Senior Vice President Amy Parrino; Babs Gross, Central Florida, Association Assistant Vice President Tracy Jones; Allison Walsh, Caddo Bossier; J.P .Chase and Lois Stuckey, Greater Baton Rouge; and Karen Peace, Caddo Bossier at TopGolf.

Chapter Summit attendees touring Patirick F. Taylor Hall. The tour was led by a current engineering student.

Chapter Summit 2019 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Officers of LSU alumni chapters across the country

gathered at the Lod Cook Alumni Center in March for the annual Chapter Summit. The workshop included sessions with campus experts on numerous topics, among them, scholarships, athletic compliance, future alumni and young alumni recruitment, fundraising, and branding/social media. A tour of Patrick F. Taylor Hall, dinner and play at Topgolf, and a tailgate at the gymnastic facility before the LSU vs. Vanderbilt basketball game rounded out the three-day event.

Steve Stewart, Houston, and Charlotte Caroll, Birmingham, work together on an activity as a part of Chapter Summit.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association News

Tyler Mallams, chapter president, right, with cookoff champs, the Latiolais family.

Chapter Events

Hannah and Andrew Loyd, Team Duck, Duck, Roux.

Tyler Mallams and Taylor Scott, Team TNT Gumbeaux.

LSU Carolinas – Tigers in the

Steven and Angie Cannon, Team Rougarou Gumbeaux.

Charlotte, N.C., area gathered for the chapter’s biggest party of the year, the Mardi Gras Party/Gumbo Cook-Off – on March 2 at Draught. Billed as the “only authentic Mardi Gras part in Charlotte,” the event featured homemade gumbo samples, Nancy Focht’s handmade King Cake, libations, and music. The chapter raised $2,500 for the scholarship fund and the Latiolais family – Team Roux LaLa – took home the Gumbo Championship Trophy.

Laurie Scott, co-director of the clay shoot and auction volunteer; Lisa Bunch, president; Jennifer Lindsay, board advisor; and Angel Ardoin, director of the crawfish boil.

Laura Soileau, a partner at P&N and Jared Soileau, a professor of accounting at LSU, with their son, Levi; Chad Daigle; Sheila and Jesse Watson with son Jack; Katherine and Chris Broussard; and Lisa Bunch, chapter president.

LSU Houston – More than 400 Texas Tigers in the Houston area put away 1,900 crawfish and jambalaya from Boil House and chicken tenders and sauce from Raising Cane's on April 13 at Little Woodrow’s on Shepherd. Volunteers from LSU Houston board auctioned off multiple signed sports memorabilia, including an Alex Bergman-signed bat and baseball and Coach O-signed football. "Along with sponsorships, this was one of our best years for fundraising yet,” writes Lisa Bunch, chapter president. P&N was title sponsor of the event.

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Trey Killeen, Wallace Savin, Tyler Carlos, and Alex Inabnet.

San Diego â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Members of the LSU San Diego Chapter hosted an LSU Admitted Student's Reception in Del Mar, Calif., in March.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association News

Chapter Events

From left, Pete Gaskin, Jim Schnabel, Adam Kealoha Causey, George Fulco, and Michelle Callegan.

Central OK – Adam Kealoha Causey share a photo of a group that met in March

at Brent’s Cajun Seafood & Oyster Bar in Edmond, Okla., to talk about fundraising for the chapter’s activities.

Sweet 16 – The LSU Alumni Washington D.C. Chapter hosted a Sweet 16 Watch Party at Four Courts to cheer on the LSU basketball Tigers. The Facebook page boasts: “While it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, getting to cheer the boys on with these fans was a hell of a night! We are proud Tiger fans!”

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LSU Orlandeaux By Paul West

Debi West and Chris Gearity.

Paul West and Katie Gross.

Ken Soday.

The LSU Alumni of Central Florida Chapter held its Annual Orlandeaux Crawfish Boil at Bill Frederick Park in Orlando, Fla., on April 13. The 230 attendees enjoyed 1,300 pounds of crawfish, bowls of jambalaya, and other treats and refreshments. Live Louisiana music was provided along with door prizes, raffles, and auction items. LSU Alumni Association President & CEO Cliff Vannoy provided an update on the Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities and goals. Gearity MD was the Gold Sponsor for the event along with multiple Scott and Heather Bogan with sons Scott and James. Purple, Fleur de Lis, Tiger Cub, and other sponsors and donors. A highlight of the event was seeing the Crawfish Coach, which was designed/ wrapped by board member and LSU alumnus Ken Soday, owner of Stellar Sign & Design. The chapter wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to pay storage fees or rent trucks any longer and can now raise funds doing other crawfish and seafood boil events to generate additional scholarship funds. The 4th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament is set for June 22 at Celebration Golf Club in Kissimmee, Fla. Sign up at lsuorlandeaux.com/events.html.

The Crawfish Coach.

To find or join a chapter in your area, visit lsualumni.org/chapters.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association News

Cook Hotel Names New Chair, Board Members James Moore III assumed chairmanship, and Stephen “Steve” Tope was named projects chair of the Cook Hotel & Conference Center Board of Managers in January. Moore replaces longtime chair Michael “Mike” Valentino, managing partner of French Quarter Hotels in New Orleans.

James Moore III

Stephen “Steve” Tope

Tommy Morel

Rori Smith

Andrea “Andi” Oustalet

Kathryn “Kathy” Fives

Moore is regional director of operations at InterMountain Management, a hotel management company based in Monroe. He is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University. Tope, an LSU Alumnus-By-Choice is an active member of the Greater Baton Rouge Alumni Chapter and administrator for the Charles McClendon Foundation. Named to three-year terms on the Cook Hotel & Conference Center Board of Managers were: Tommy Morel, of Destrehan, La., is owner of Morel Productions. A wide receiver for the LSU Tigers, he was drafted by the New Orleans Saints before launching careers in music with Uptown Sound Productions (Love that Chicken From Popeyes) and A&M Records and in hotel sales and marketing with Starwood Hotel and Resorts, Fairmont Hotel Company, and Inn of the Mountain Gods. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from LSU. Rori Smith, of Baton Rouge, is owner of the public relations/public affairs company Bunni Enterprises. A former White House appointee, political adviser, and press secretary, she maintains her flight attendant qualifications as an Atlantabased Delta Air Lines, Inc., employee and recently served as a corporate instructor for Delta Air Lines’ Brand Strategy and Customer Experience team. She graduated from LSU with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. Andrea “Andi” Oustalet, of Gulfport, Miss., is owner of The Guided Endeavor, an events consultation company. She and her husband, Butch, are a team for progress and prosperity for the Gulfport and coastal region of Mississippi. They are room donors at The Cook Hotel and have helped engage other alumni for the LSU Alumni Association. She received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Kathryn “Kathy” Fives, of New Orleans, is a business management consultant, partner, and vice president of Consulting at TheBusinessBrain management consulting firm and owns a boutique management consulting firm, Fives Management Solutions. She is a founding member and past president of the LSU Alumni Las Vegas Chapter and serves on the LSU Alumni Association Global Board of Directors. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Agriculture.

Landon Jordan Named LSU Alumni Association CFO Landon Jordan has joined the LSU Alumni Association as chief financial officer. Jordan was previously director of accounting at the Baton Rouge Orthopedic Clinic. He is a member of the AICPA and Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants Baton Rouge Chapter. A graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University, he earned his CPA license in 2010.

18 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association News

Snapshots Spring Grad Fair – “One-stop

LSU Alumni Association staffers Ali Duplessis, left, and Brittany Ernest sign up spring graduates as official members of LSU Tiger Nation.

shopping” at Grad Fair makes taking care of graduation details – invitations, rings, caps and gowns, and senior portraits – easier for soon-to-be alumni. The LSU Alumni Association, a major player in the two-day event, signed up more than 300 spring graduates in its Recent Grad Program, a joint venture with the Tiger Athletic Foundation. New enrollees received their first "LSU Alumni" gear along with all of the benefits of membership, including Young Professional Networking events and access to affordable athletic tickets.

Future alumna Krisya Recinos and her parents proudly display Krisya’s LSU Alumni sweatshirt.

LSU Alumni Association staffers gather around hosts, from left, Jean Nelson, Jerry and Beverly Shea, and Harriet and Jerry Shea, Sr., at the Beau Soleil Café in March.

Another Gift – Early each year Beverly and Jerry Shea, Jr., of New Iberia, La., invite

LSU Alumni Association staffers to pass a good time with the Shea family over dinner at Beau Soleil Café in their hometown. Beverly Shea is chair of the Association’s Global Board of Directors.

20 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Bringing Home the Gold

Senior Director of Alumni Engagement Sally Stiel, Director of Marketing & Communications Mignon Kastanos, CASE IV Chair Tracy Syler-Jones, of Texas Christian University, Alumni Fund Coordinator Brittany Ernest, and Vice President of Advancement Rhett Butler.

The LSU Alumni Association brought home a Gold Award for the 2018 Tiger Nation Challenge, judged Best Contemporary Campaign at the CASE District IV Annual Conference Accolades Ceremony in February. Tiger Nation Challenge grew out of LSU and Auburn University’s long-standing rivalry on the field and the schools’ Tiger mascots. The LSU Alumni Association annually challenges the Auburn Alumni Association to see who can raise the most funds for their respective schools. LSU has won every competition and last year raised more than $108,000.

Among Mike Garner’s retirement gifts was a handpainted carving by Louisiana artist Henry Watson.

Mike and Patti Garner, center, with Hannah, Jefferson, and Kevin Garner; MaryLyn Gautier, Isaac Lathers, Nova Gautier, and Rachel Garner.

So Long, Mike – The LSU Alumni Association family celebrated with Mike Garner and his family at Mike’s retirement party at the Andonie Sports Museum in January. Mike retired after nine years as CFO and now resides in Henderson, Ky. We miss you!

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association News

Snapshots

LSU Alumni Association President Cliff Vannoy and Harry J. “Skip” Philips, Jr.

‘Ringing’ in One More – Baton Rouge attorney Harry J. “Skip” Philips, Jr. (1972 BACH H&SS) donated his class ring to the LSU Alumni Association in March. The ring is displayed in the permanent LSU Ring Collection in the Lod Cook Alumni Center.

LSU Alumni Association President Cliff Vannoy with Barnali Mazumdar, left, and Joseph Grenier, recipients of University College's Alumni Association Teaching Assistant awards.

Celebrating Excellence – University College presented its annual Celebration of Excellence Spring Awards program in March at The Club at Union Square. The college awarded $66,000 through fifty-five undergraduate student scholarships, four LSU faculty teaching awards, two graduate teaching assistant awards, and one LSU Advisor of the Year Award. Photos by University College

22 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Monet LaCour.

Justin Franklin.

Kudos – The LSU Alumni Association extends congratulations to office assistants Monét LaCour – a spring graduate – and Justin Franklin for outstanding accomplishments. LaCour, a top-notch student assistant at the LSU Alumni Association for four years, accepted an offer to join the Teach For America corps. She will be teaching special education in an elementary school in New Orleans. Franklin, a political communications student, received the All-Regional Witness Award at the American Mock Trial Association Regional Tournament in February. Congratulations and best wishes!

Future alumnus Reece Lantz, center, with parents Melissa Lantz (1992 BACH ENGR) and Barry Lantz (1992 BACH H&SS, 1996 BACH SCI).

Legacy Breakfasts – Future alums and their alumni parents kicked off 2019

Admitted Student Day celebrations at LSU Alumni Legacy Breakfasts in March and April. The events at Lod Cook Alumni Center were hosted by the LSU Alumni Association and the LSU Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Association News

Max Scott and Theresa Mooney were among the retirees taking part in the planned giving seminar.

Snapshots

Julie Bolton Falgoust, executive director of planned giving for the LSU Foundation, welcomes retirees and guests.

Planning for the Future – LSU retirees discovered ways to ensure a financially sound retirement and “Spring Into a Thoughtful Future” at a planned giving seminar sponsored by the LSU Foundation, LSU Alumni Association, and Tiger Athletic Foundation in April. Taking part in the session at the Lod Cook Alumnni Center were John Hamilton, retired Hopkins P. Breazeale Foundation Professor of Mass Communication; Nicole Fawley, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; Carole Cukell Neff, Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel; Roselyn Boneno, State Farm retiree and philanthropist; and Katie Cherry, the Emogene Pliner Distinguished Professor of Aging Studies and director of research and community outreach at the LSU Life Course & Aging Center. Participants were treated to breakfast and lunch and left the event with door prizes and goody bags.

Mike the Tiger poses with future alumni who received class rings at the spring LSU Ring Ceremony.

Ring Ceremony – Twice a year, in the fall and spring semesters, hundreds of soonto-be graduates receive their LSU Rings, symbols of a successful college career and a cherished common link with Tigers worldwide. The event is sponsored by the LSU Alumni Association in partnership with the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Finance & Administration.

24 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

HALL OF DISTINCTION DALE HALL INDUCTED AS ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR HONOREESâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PHOTOS BY EDDY PEREZ CELEBRATION PHOTOS BY JOHNNY GORDON

DALE HALL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF DUCKS Unlimited, highlighted the roster of distinguished alumni named to the 2019 LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction. Joining Hall, Alumnus of the Year, was Young Alumna of the Year Wendy McMahon, president of ABC Owned Television Stations; Greg Bowser, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association; and Hays Town, Jr., founder/owner of Town Construction. LSU alumna Rori Smith, a corporate instructor with Delta Air Lines, served as master of ceremonies for the awards ceremony. Association President and CEO Cliff Vannoy and Global Board of Directors Chair Beverly Shea greeted guests, and President F. King Alexander was on hand to extend congratulations to the honorees. Music for the event was provided by pianist Doug Pacas and trumpeter/jazz pianist Eric Baskin. Visit LSU Alumni Association 2019 Hall of Distinction on YouTube.

LSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ANNUALLY RECOGNIZES ALUMNI WHO HAVE DISTINGUISHED themselves and the University through their careers, their personal and civic accomplishments, their volunteer activities, and their loyalty to their alma mater.

26 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

To nominate an individual for the 2020 Hall of Distinction, visit lsualumni.org/annual-events and click on Nomination Form under Hall of Distinction.

ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR

H. DALE HALL

H. DALE HALL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF DUCKS Unlimited – America’s leading wetlands and grassland habitat conservation group – received a master’s degree in fisheries from LSU in 1979 after receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Ky. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 19681972, with overseas assignments in Italy and the Philippines. Hall joined Ducks Unlimited in 2010 after three decades of service with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). Widely respected as a visionary conservationist and one of the country's most effective wildlife professionals, Hall served in numerous field, regional, and national-level roles and was appointed USFWS director by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2005. As CEO of Ducks Unlimited, Hall oversaw the largest conservation campaign in history, a $2 billion capital campaign for wetlands conservation. These funds allowed millions of acres of habitat to be conserved, with more than 500,000 acres placed under conservation in the United States in 2018. Hall holds leadership positions in numerous conservation organizations. He serves on the boards of America’s Wetland Foundation, the Johnny Morris Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium, and the Peregrine Fund; is a commissioner on the Louisiana Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration, and Conservation; a Professional Member of the Boone and Crockett Club; and a Visiting Fellow on the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio External Advisory Board. Among his many honors, Hall received the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies Lifetime Achievement Award, the USWFS Ira Gabrielson Award for Leadership, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Range Public Service Award, U.S. Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award, and Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Public Service; was named Conservationist of the Year by both America’s Wetland Foundation and Bass Pro Shops; and was inducted into the LSU School of Renewable Resources Hall of Fame as the 2018 Alumnus of the Year. Hall and his wife, Sarah Reed Hall, an LSU alumnus with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, reside in Collierville, Tenn. They have three children and three grandchildren. LSU CHANGED MY LIFE ON BOTH PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEVELS. IT IS TRULY

challenging to adequately articulate the deep impact LSU had on my life. I will be forever grateful.

28 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

YOUNG ALUMNA OF THE YEAR

WENDY MCMAHON

WENDY MCMAHON, PRESIDENT OF ABC OWNED Television Stations, graduated from LSU summa cum laude in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication. Active in numerous organizations during her years on campus, she served as commander of Scotch Guard, was elected to Student Government, and was an LSU Ambassador. The youngest person ever named president of the Disney ABC Owned Television Station Group, McMahon has chief management responsibility for eight television stations across the country, as well as the 1,400-member Disney/ABC local team. She previously served as senior vice president of the digital component of the company and was responsible for the digital content, product/ technology, and audience development strategies for the Walt Disney Company’s eight ABC Owned Television Stations. Before being named president of ABC Owned Television Stations, McMahon was vice president of programming and creative services at KABC-TV, the ABC-owned television station in Los Angeles, Calif., and prior to that was director of creative services at CBS Owned Television Stations in Boston, Mass., and Minneapolis, Minn. McMahon has been recognized with numerous Emmys and Promax Awards for advertising campaigns, including a Broadcast Design “Best in Show” award and the recipient of numerous marketing awards from Disney/ABC and CBS. She was named “One to Watch” by the Boston Business Journal. She serves on the Broadcasters Foundation Board of Directors, supporting broadcasters who through injury, illness, or crisis find themselves in need of support and assistance, and is actively involved in Disney VoluntEARS efforts and outreach. McMahon and her husband, William N. “Bill” Burton, have one son, seven-year-old Chase. The family resides in Encino, Calif.

IN A WORLD OF CONSTANT CHANGE, LSU REMAINS AS STEADFAST AND STATELY AS ALWAYS. Forever LSU – that line of the alma mater – is a promise, a pact between me and the University I love, to be here for one another and for Louisiana through thick and thin. I couldn’t be more grateful for the experience I had at LSU that led me to the Walt Disney Company – the continued pull of LSU that keeps me grounded and somehow, regardless of where I am, always home.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

GREGORY MARK BOWSER GREGORY MARK BOWSER, PRESIDENT OF THE Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA), Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance (LCIA), and Louisiana Foundation for Excellence in Science, Technology and Education (LaFESTE), graduated from LSU in 1983 with a degree in broadcast journalism. A four-year letterman for the LSU Tigers under Jerry Stovall, he served as a graduate assistant coach under Bill Arnsparger and was a football analyst for LSU Tigervision. Bowser joined LCA/LCIA in 1991 as director of governmental affairs for LCA and vice president of LCIA. He was promoted to vice president of LCA, then executive vice president of LCA, LCIA, and LaFESTE in 2011. In 2015 Bowser was named as president of LCA/LCIA, the first African American to lead one of Louisiana's major statewide business trade associations. Bowser joined the staff of Congressman James A. Hayes in 1987 as his press secretary. Wanting to return to his home state of Louisiana, he joined GovernorElect Buddy Roemer’s transition team as deputy assistant coordinator and later served as special assistant to the governor. He held several positions under Governor Roemer until 1989 when he became the coordinator of the Louisiana Health Care Authority. In this position he established and implemented the new Governance and Fund Recapitalization Plan for the Louisiana Charity Hospitals System. Longtime active in the community, Bowser is currently an associate member of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Committee and serves on the boards of Our Lady of the Lake Hospital System, Baton Rouge City Club, and is vice president of LSU National L Club. He was the first African American to serve on the Baton Rouge General Board of Directors and the Bocage Racquet Club and was a founding member of Forum 35. He was named by Baton Rouge Business Report to the 1995 Class of 40 Under 40 and was for many years an analyst for Cox Sports TV and LSU Radio Network. Greg and his wife, Adrienne, have two sons, Gregory II and Myles.

LSU OPENED A WHOLE NEW WORLD FOR ME – MEETING PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE and learning things about other parts of the world. While it was football at LSU that helped me develop the competitive fire within myself, it was the overall diversity of experiences away from the football field that truly helped me understand more about life. I grew up while at LSU, and it gave me a deeper understanding of where I came from and what’s important.

30 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

A. HAYS TOWN, JR. HAYS TOWN, FOUNDER/OWNER OF TOWN CONSTRUCTION, EARNED a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1958 and a master’s degree in geography in 2013. A member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, his philanthropic endeavors began at LSU when he chaired a function for needy children. Town helped establish the Baton Rouge Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors and served as its first president. He received the first Man of the Year Award from the national chapter for his work promoting ethical practices and establishing training classes in the industry. He served on the Construction Board of Appeals for East Baton Rouge Parish for twenty years and the State Licensing Board for Contractors for eighteen years, including a term as president. A highlight of Town’s life is establishing St. Elizabeth Foundation, a nonprofit adoption agency, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2018. As board chair, Town is involved in helping provide young pregnant women without resources options or for adoption in Baton Rouge, placing more than 600 babies in loving families. St. Elizabeth works with the LSU School of Social Work to employ and educate student interns in a real-world setting. He served on the LSU School of Social Work Advisory Board and as chairman of Louisiana State Child Care Committee. He received the inaugural Angel in Adoption Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute in 1999 and in 2018 received the Leadership for Life Award from Louisiana Right to Life. In 2016 he received the Quality of Life Award from the Baton Rouge Growth Coalition, and in 2018 was named the Salvation Army Volunteer of the Year. Town and his sister, Blanche Town Gladney, established the A. Hays Town Professorship in the School of Architecture in honor of their late father, and he supports the LSU Museum of Art, School of Music, Manship School of Mass Communication, and College of Humanities & Social Sciences, specifically the Department of Geography and Anthropology. Town returned to campus at age seventy-five to pursue a master’s degree, and his studies spurred a new passion. He formed the advocacy group Baton Rouge Citizens to Save Our Water, Inc., in 2012 and was appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards in 2018 to the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation Commission. He serves on the board of the Green Army, a statewide alliance of civic, community, and environmental organizations committed to social, political, and environmental change. Town and his wife, Gay, have six children, including two LSU graduates; twenty grandchildren, including nine LSU grads and three current students; and eighteen great-grandchildren. MY YEARS AT LSU PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCED MY LIFE. FIRST AND FOREMOST, IT IS WHERE MY wife and I met and fell in love, became engaged, and married, all while studying at the University. Secondly, through my fraternity I planned several charitable functions to benefit those less fortunate. This led me to a lifelong desire to help other people. Also, my studies in engineering gave me the tools to be successful in my chosen profession of engineering and contracting.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

“LSU is more than just a university. It is home to a unique combination of people, partnerships, and ideas that fuel the engine of progress across Louisiana and around the world. Gifts to the Fierce for the Future Campaign will empower LSU to drive solutions to global issues that Louisiana knows better than most while simultaneously preparing tomorrow’s leaders to make a difference in the lives of others.”

– LSU PRESIDENT F. KING ALEXANDER

32 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

SU launched the largest fundraising campaign for higher education in the history of Louisiana on March 28. The success of the Fierce for the Future Campaign will set the course for the kind of university LSU will be – the quality of the education LSU will offer, the research LSU will conduct, and the impact LSU will have.

engagement on the flagship campus; $603 million in support of athletics on the flagship campus; $146 million in support of LSU’s health and biomedical campuses – LSU Health New Orleans, LSU Health Shreveport, and Pennington Biomedical Research Center; and $29 million to support LSU of Alexandria, LSU Eunice, and LSU Shreveport.

The $1.5 billion campaign is the first to unite LSU campuses statewide, supporting the flagship in Baton Rouge, the LSU AgCenter, LSU of Alexandria, LSU Eunice, LSU Health New Orleans, LSU Health Shreveport, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and LSU Shreveport.

Louisiana’s most urgent and compelling concerns cannot be solved without the human capital LSU provides. The Fierce for the Future Campaign answers the call to respond to the needs of LSU’s friends and neighbors as the University improves lives everywhere, from providing an accessible, affordable, outstanding education to leading lifechanging research and outreach that blazes trails and pushes boundaries.

LSU anticipates 60 percent of campaign gifts will be in support of academics and 40 percent in support of athletics. Specifically, the goals are $724 million in support of academics on the flagship campus; $27 million in support of alumni

To learn more about LSU’s vision for tomorrow, visit fierceforthefuturecampaign.org.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

34 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

A FIERCELY FESTIVE CELEBRATION ierce for the Future’s kick-off gala treated more than 700 guests to sights, sounds, and stories befitting the $1.5 billion campaign goal. Retired NFL great and ESPN color commentator Anthony “Booger” McFarland – who has assumed the role as the LSU Alumni Association 2019 Honorary National Fund Chair – hosted the opening reception. Surrounded by gigantic LED screens, lasers, and high-tech sound and lighting, he highlighted many of the diverse research projects and personnel that have brought LSU to the forefront in the fields of biotechnology, wetlands conservation and restoration, physics, engineering, and classical studies areas of literature and communications. There were scores of surprises, including live animals, racing cars, and interactive displays that brought campaign priorities to life. Honors College senior and 2018 Udall Scholar Madelyn Smith showcased the importance of campaign dollars to the campus to create research and teaching resources. Her work in wetlands conservation and restoration has come to national prominence alongside the development of the Water Campus in downtown Baton Rouge. Her heartfelt words underscored the necessity to enhance the University through philanthropy and service. President F. King Alexander welcomed the crowd, acknowledging the many donors who have supported LSU for the past fifty years and laid out the challenge to build endowments, fund research projects, renovate and build facilities, and retain the best and brightest of faculty, students, and staff. King made special note that during the past year – the “silent phase” of the campaign – nearly $600 million of the $1.5 billion or 40 percent was raised in donations and pledges. LSU’s wind ensemble treated the guests to a variety of campus themed melodies and the crowd roared when the Golden Band from Tigerland joined the celebration, filling the more than 8,000 square foot tent with the famous notes of LSU Pregame. Everyone stood, locked arms, and raised their voices high for the singing of the LSU Alma Mater – and the floor shook on the final verse. On Friday, a festival-style Community Celebration on the Parade Ground introduced the campaign in the same space – with tent sides rolled up for everyone to walk in and around, enjoy food and snacks, and celebrate with the locally based band Parish County Line. PHOTOS BY JOSH BRADSTED LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Noteworthy

Around

CAMPUS

Brett Boutwell, the William F. Swor Alumni Professor in Musicology, received a University College Tiger Athletic Foundation Teaching Award.

Brett Boutwell

Jinx Coleman Broussard

Jinx Coleman Broussard, the Bart R. Swanson Endowed Memorial Professor in the School of Mass Communication, received the 2018 Scripps Howard Foundation’s Teacher of the Year Award. The national competition recognizes excellence in teaching in several areas, including innovative teaching practices, influence on curriculum, mentoring of students, and faculty scholarship as it relates to teaching, leadership in educational activities, and on-going industry engagement inside and outside the classroom. Shafiqul Chowdhury, professor of pathobiological sciences; Michael Khonsari, professor of mechanical engineering and the DOW Chemical Endowed Chair in Rotating Machinery; and Dandina Rao, the Emmett C. Wells Jr. Distinguished Professor of Petroleum Engineering, were elected by the National Academy of Inventors as senior members. They are among sixty-six academic inventors named to the inaugural class.

Shafiqul Chowdhury

Dandina Rao

Michael Khonsari

Larry Crubmley

Larry Crubmley, who holds the KPMG LLP Professorship #1 in the Department of Accounting, was recognized as an expert in the field of forensic accounting, and LSU’s Master of Accountancy program was recognized for excellence in combating securities and commodities fraud by ForensicsColleges.com. Christopher D’Elia, professor and dean of the College of the Coast & Environment, received the Wes Tunnell Lifetime Recognition for Gulf Science and Conservation award from the Gulf of Mexico University Research Collaborative (GOMURC) for his lifetime of dedication and achievement in support of a healthy and sustainable Gulf of Mexico environment and economy. He is a founding GOMURC board member. Roxanne Dill, instructor in the Manship School of Mass Communication received a University College Tiger Athletic Foundation Teaching Award.

Christopher D’Elia

Roxanne Dill

Gabriela González, professor of physics and astronomy and an experimental physicist with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), was appointed editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Classical and Quantum Gravity. In 2015, González contributed to the detection of gravitational waves predicted by Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. She was named a recipient of a 2019 SEC Faculty Achievement Award, recognizing excellence in teaching – particularly at the undergraduate level – and research that is recognized nationally and named the 2019 SEC Professor of the Year. She is the second professor from LSU to win the honor. Boyd Professor Isiah Warner was the 2016 SEC Professor of the Year. Courtni Guidry, assistant dean for student services at the Manship School of Mass Communication, was presented University College’s Advisor of the Year Award at the college’s Celebration of Excellence” program in March. The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated qualities associated with outstanding academic advising of students.

Gabriela González

Courtni Guidry

36 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Samithamby Jeyaseelan

Rhonda Cardin

Elecia Lathon

Adam Melvin

The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine was awarded more than $11.5 million in funding over five years from the National Institutes of Health to launch the Center for Lung Biology and Disease, which will augment research in the molecular and cellular immunological mechanisms of pulmonary diseases. Samithamby Jeyaseelan, the William L. Jenkins Professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences, will serve as principal investigator, and Rhonda Cardin, associate dean for research and advanced studies, will serve as co-investigator. Elecia Lathon, instructor in the School of Education, received the George H. Deer Distinguished Teaching Award recognizing outstanding teaching at the freshman level. The award honors the memory of George H. Deer, former dean of University College (1959-66) and a distinguished member of the faculty of the College of Human Sciences & Education for more than twenty-five years (1940-66). Adam Melvin, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was awarded a $500,004 grant by the National Science Foundation for his work on developing new peptides to control protein degradation, which can be used in diagnosing cancer and diabetes. Melvin holds the Gordon A. & Mary Cain Professorship.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Noteworthy

Around Campus

Cynthia Peterson, dean of the College of Science and a biochemist with a passion for science and advocacy, was honored by the LSU Women’s Center for her “exceptional efforts toward the advancement of women in Louisiana” at the center’s annual Esprit de Femme Sunrise Celebration in March.

Cynthia Peterson

Yogesh Saini

Yogesh Saini, assistant professor of veterinary medicine, received an Outstanding New Environmental Scientist award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to conduct innovative research on ozone-induced lung diseases. The approximately $2.7 million grant will support his investigations into how inhaled ozone disrupts normal physiology of the lungs. Tiffany Stewart, the Dudley and Beverly Coates Endowed Professor and director of the Behavior Technology Lab at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, was honored by the LSU Women’s Center for her “exceptional efforts toward the advancement of women in Louisiana” at the center’s annual Esprit de Femme Sunrise Celebration in March.

Tiffany Stewart

Frank B. Wickes

Kalliat Valsaraj

William Wischusen

Kalliat Valsaraj, the Charlie & Hilda Roddey Distinguished Professor and Ike East Professor of Chemical Engineering, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, headquartered in London. Individuals are eligible to become a Fellow if they have spent more than five years in a senior position and their efforts have made an impact in any field of the chemical sciences. Frank B. Wickes, director of bands emeritus, received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree at spring commencement. During his tenure, Wickes conducted the LSU Wind Ensemble, taught courses in graduate wind conducting and wind literature, and served as director of the LSU Tiger Marching Band. He was honored by LSU in 1999 with an endowed Alumni Professorship and again in 2000 with a special recognition from the chancellor. Under his direction, the Tiger Band received the Sudler Trophy in 2002 for a distinguished history of marching and performance excellence. Wickes was inducted into the Louisiana Music Educators Hall of Fame in 2009. William Wischusen, associate professor in biological sciences, received a University College Tiger Athletic Foundation Teaching Award.

Weiwei Xie

Weiwei Xie, assistant professor of chemistry, is one of the twenty inorganic chemistry professors named to improve undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the U.S. Xie, who teaches general and inorganic chemistry, is among the first class of Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource (VIPEr) Fellows to participate in this ground-breaking study. The LSU Online MS in construction management is ranked among the top ten programs – and twelfth overall – at public colleges in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Online Programs. The LSU Online Flores MBA Program is ranked fifty-first among public colleges and universities and sixty-sixth overall, maintaining a top 20 percent ranking. LSU Online's master’s degree in construction management ranked eleventh and LSU Online's MBA ranked thirty-sixth among online programs that help veterans reduce the cost of school.

38 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

TIGER TRIVIA The Animation Career Review 2019 Graphic Design School Rankings placed the LSU graphic design program first in the state and highly nationally – first in Louisiana, ninth in the South, twenty-third nationally among public schools and colleges, and forty-fourth nationally overall. The MFA program ranked twentysecond nationally. A number of LSU programs are recognized in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 Best Graduate Schools rankings. The full-time Flores MBA program jumped fourteen spots to sixty-nine overall and thirty-six among public institutions. The part-time MBA program broke into the top 100 with the ranking of ninety-nine among public universities. The Public Administration Institute moved up from sixty-five to sixty among public universities. Master’s programs in education is ranked ninety-three overall and seventy-three among public universities. The master’s program in social work moved up to seventy-seven overall and fifty-three among public universities. Other graduate programs in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report rankings are engineering, 106 overall out of 219 programs considered; the School of Veterinary Medicine, twenty-two out of twenty-eight vet schools and nineteenth among public universities; and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, 100 of 201 schools listed among best law schools.

1. Who is the winningest player in the history of LSU Women’s Tennis? Paris Corley Dana De Watlington Eden Richardson Serena Williams 2. How long was Billy Cannon’s Halloween night punt return against Ole Miss in 1959? 89 yards 100 yards 37 yards He was tackled for a loss 3. Who currently holds the record for the longest punt return? Trindon Holliday Tyrann Mathieu Eddie Kennison Billy Cannon 4. Who preceded Castro Carazo as LSU’s band leader in the early 1930s? William Swor Ruffin G. Pleasant Frank Wickes A.B. Wickboldt 5. What was Acadian Hall dormitory called before its name and function was changed in 1961? The Pan American House The International Student Center The French House The Faculty Club 6. What was the building’s function in question 5 prior to 1961? It was a faculty dining hall It was a cultural exchange center for students from the United States and students from Central and South American countries It was where the French None of the above Department was located 7. When did the Board of Supervisors give authorization to provide land for the development of sorority houses? 1906 1926 1956 1964 8. Where did sorority members meet before sorority houses were built? In the Union In the Gym Armory In the fieldhouse In the Panhellenic Building 9. When did the Summer Olympics Torch Relay pass through campus? Prior to the 1984 games in Prior to the 1996 games in Los Angeles Atlanta Prior to the 2004 games in Prior to the 2008 games Athens, Greece in Beijing 10. When the Union opened in 1964, what amenities did it have that are no longer available? A TV lounge A music listening room A browsing room containing All of the above books and periodicals 11. What was The Demeter? A journal published by agriculture students A book of poetry by English students

A journal published by engineering students A journal devoted to Greek mythology

12. Which three residence halls were built to house the post-World War II influx of students? Evangeline, Highland, and Hatcher, Hodges, and Annie Boyd Johnston Miller, Acadian, and Pleasant Lejeune, Polk, and Jackson

Tiger Trivia is compiled by Barry Cowan, assistant archivist, Hill Memorial Library. Answers: 1:b, 2:a, 3:c, 4:d, 5:a, 6:b, 7:c, 8:d, 9:b, 10:d, 11:a, 12:b

The LSU Wind Ensemble was among dozens of peer collegiate ensembles chosen to perform at the College Band Directors National Association in February. The ensemble premiered a new composition, Songs From a Silent Land, in collaboration with two GRAMMYwinning artists, composer Michael Daugherty and soprano Hila Plitmann.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Around Campus

In Focus

Tammy Heil, Marilyn Cramer, David Baker, Judy Lithgoe, and Judy Koonce.

Shirley Mundt, Daryl Dietrich, Madu Irondi, Neil Kestner, and Jintana Cochran.

LSU Retirees – Mike the Tiger’s attending physician, veterinarian David Baker,

Gail Cramer, Lorry Trotter, Laura Lindsay, Patti Exner, and Jerry Exner.

shared insights about the University’s mascot with members of the LSU Faculty & Staff Retirees Club at the February meeting. In March, Laura Lindsay, professor emerita of journalism, spoke on Treasures of LSU, a book she edited for the sesquicentennial celebration in 2010. April’s guest speaker, Madu Irondi, introduced the group to Electronic Arts Baton Rouge, an international company headquartered in the capital city and the world’s largest video game publisher.

Photos by Mark Claesgens

From left, LSU Law Dean Tom Galligan, Distinguished Achievement honoree John Nesser III, Distinguished Achievement honoree Christine Lipsey, Alumnus of the Year Gene Fendler, Catherine Maraist and Laura Irlbeck – daughters of Alumnus of the Year Frank Maraist who accepted the award on his behalf – and Distinguished Achievement honoree Tim Daniels.

Distinguished Law Alumni – Former president and managing partner of Liskow and Lewis Gene Fendler and LSU Law Professor Frank Maraist highlighted the roster of notable alumni honored at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center’s 2019 Distinguished Alumni Celebration in March. Fendler and Maraist were named Alumni of the Year. Distinguished Achievement honorees were Tim Daniels, member of the Irwin Fritchie Law firm in New Orleans; Christine Lipsey, member of the commercial litigation team in the McGlinchey Law Firm in Baton Rouge; and John T. Nesser, III, co-founder, manager, co-chief executive officer, and director of All Coast.

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Rainmaker Awards for Research and Creative Activity Photo by Eddy Perez

Interim Vice President of Research & Economic Development Sam Bentley, Campus Federal Credit Union CEO Jane Verret, Assistant Professor Kathleen Searles, Associate Professor Susan Weinstein, Professor Katherine Kemler, Professor George Stanley, Associate Professor Mark Wilde, Assistant Professor Michael Polito, and Executive Vice President & Provost Stacia Haynie.

Six LSU faculty members who are leaders in their fields received the Rainmaker Award for Research and Creative Activity from the LSU Office of Research & Economic Development in March. The event is sponsored by Campus Federal Credit Union. Rainmakers are faculty members who at the early, middle, and senior stages of their careers balance teaching and research responsibilities while extending the impact of their work to the world beyond academia. They have established track records in securing external research funding and publishing in high-impact journals. Kathleen Searles, assistant professor of mass communication and political science, received the Emerging Scholar Award in Arts, Humanities, Social, and Behavioral Sciences. Her interests include news media, campaign advertising and political psychology. Michael Polito, assistant professor of oceanography and coastal sciences, received the Emerging Scholar Award in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. He is an ecologist with a focus on the food web dynamics of marine and coastal ecosystems ranging from Louisiana to Antarctica. Susan Weinstein, associate professor of English, received the Mid-Career Scholar Award in Arts, Humanities, Social, and Behavioral Sciences. She teaches courses in English education, ethnographic research methods, literacy studies, social contexts of poetry, and hip-hop studies. Mark Wilde, associate professor of physics and astronomy, received the MidCareer Scholar Award in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. His research interests are in quantum Shannon theory, quantum optical communication, quantum computational complexity theory, and quantum error correction. Katherine Kemler, the Charles & Mary BarrĂŠ Alumni Professor of Flute, received the Senior Scholar Award in Arts, Humanities, Social, and Behavioral Sciences. A flutist with the Timm Wind Quintet, she is a visiting teacher at the Oxford Flute Summer School in England and the AcadĂŠmie Musicale Internationale de Colombes in France. George Stanley, the Cyril & Tutta Vetter Alumni Professor of Chemistry, received the Senior Scholar Award in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. On faculty since 1986, he has garnered numerous honors as the founding organizer of LSU ChemDemo, a service-learning program that has sent nearly 16,000 LSU students out to teach science and chemistry in regional K-12 schools.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Around Campus

Interim Dean Roland Mitchell, honoree Casey Davis Kaufman, and Carol Barry.

In Focus

Interim Dean Roland Mitchell, honoree Amy Groves Lowe, Amy Westbrook, and Mila Sexton.

Interim Dean Roland Mitchell, honoree Michael C. Shaw, and Reid Bates.

CHSE Honors – The LSU College of Human Sciences & Education recognized

distinguished alumni, community partners and philanthropists at the Hall of Distinction in March 14. Alumni honored were Casey Davis Kaufman, Alumna of Distinction, School of Library & Information Science; Amy Groves Lowe, Alumna of Distinction, University Laboratory School; and Michael C. Shaw, Alumnus of Distinction, School of Leadership & Human Resource Development. Amelia Lee & Jo A. Carter received the Philanthropy Award, and recognized as Community Partners were Audubon Elementary School Principal N. Claudette Perkins, School of Education; Baton Rouge Orthopedic Clinic, School of Kinesiology; and state Rep. Patricia Haynes Smith.

From left, LSU Alumni Association President Cliff Vannoy, Associate Vice President for Research & Economic Development Gus Kousoulas, Executive Vice President & Provost Stacia Haynie, Alumni Professor of English William Demastes, Distinguished Dissertation Award winner Benjamin Bergholtz, Professor & Chair of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Kam-biu Liu, Associate Vice President of Research & Economic Development Stephen Beck, Dean of the College of the Coast & Environment Christopher D’Elia; and Interim Vice President of Research & Economic Development Samuel Bentley.

Research Awards – The Office of Research & Economic Development honored

two faculty with Distinguished Research Master awards in April. Alumni Professor of English William Demastes received the award in Arts, Humanities, Social, and Behavioral Sciences, and Professor and Chair of Oceanography & Coastal Science Kam-biu Liu was presented the award in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In addition, the LSU Alumni Association and the Graduate School presented Distinguished Dissertation awards to two doctoral students whose research and writing demonstrate superior scholarship. Benjamin Bergholtz received the Josephine A. Roberts LSU Alumni Association Distinguished Dissertation Award in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and Aref SamadiDooki was presented the LSU Alumni Association Distinguished Dissertation Award in Science, Engineering, and Technology.

Photo by Elsa Hahne

42 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Around Campus

In Focus

Greek Excellence – Honored for their accomplishments and community service

at the Greek Gala in March were: seated, from left, Mary Michael Staples, Delta Delta Delta; Barbara Lively, Alpha Phi; Kristi Davis, Sigma Alpha; Ellen Burris Decuir, Delta Gamma; Leslie Falgoust, Chi Omega; Julianne Bonnecaze, Kappa Delta; Judy Kaufman, Zeta Tau Alpha; and Nanette White, Pi Beta Phi; and standing, Maleshia Brown McGinnis, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.; Gordon S. Leblanc, Theta Xi; Michael J. Waguespack, Kappa Sigma; William “Butch” Callegari, Jr., Alpha Tau Omega; John Mundinger, Phi Gamma Delta; Lauren Durr, Kappa Kappa Gamma; Scott Landry, Delta Chi; Kelly Pepper, Alpha Delta Pi; R. Loren Kleinpeter, Sigma Chi; Karen Eddlemon, Kappa Alpha Theta; Wayne Macaluso, Pi Kappa Alpha; Terrell Carter, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; and Chris Hester, Sigma Phi Epsilon. Not pictured: Frances Pace, Delta Zeta; Ursula Carmena, Phi Mu; Geary Mason, Sigma Alpha Epsilon; Mandonesia Carter, Sigma Lambda Gamma; and Zach Lester, Sigma Nu.

A Fierce for the Future banner sets the scene for LSU Day at the Capitol.

University administrators gather for a photo.

LSU DAY 2019 – LSU students, faculty, and staff – along with Mike the Tiger, the

Sharing LSU research news with visitors.

44 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU cheerleaders, and Tiger Band – represented the University during LSU Day at the Louisiana State Capitol in April. The event provided an opportunity to remind the Louisiana Legislature, as well as visitors to the capitol, how LSU benefits the state. Visit LSU Day at the Capitol 2019 on YouTube for a quick look and sign up for Tiger Advocates at lsualumni.org/tiger-advocates.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Around Campus

In Focus

From left, Stephen Midway, Fahima Ife, Roxanne Dill, and Nathan Kalmoe.

PKP Awards â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Receiving Non-Tenured Faculty and Instructor awards at the

Phi Kappa Phi Induction and Awards Ceremony in March were Natural and Physical Sciences, Stephen Midway, Oceanography & Coastal Sciences; Creative and Performing Arts, Fahima Ife, English; Outstanding Instructor, Roxanne Dill, Manship School of Mass Communication and Humanities & Social Sciences; and Nathan Kalmoe, Manship School of Mass Communication and Political Science. The awards are co-funded by the LSU Alumni Association.

From left, Brian Ainsworth, Maureen Hewitt, Gerard Ruth, Laura Gilliland, and Yvette Marsh.

Kiwanis Honors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Kiwanis Club of LSU recognized five individuals at its

annual awards luncheon in April. Recognized were Laura Gilliland, Red Stick Club, Dart 8E/8W Kiwanian of the Year; Gerard Ruth, Red Stick Club, Schmidt 8E/8W Outstanding Kiwanian; Maureen Hewitt, LSU International Cultural Center, Distinguished Service Award; and Yvette Marsh, LSU Foundation, Distinguished Leadership Award.

46 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

From left, President F. King Alexander, LSU Board of Supervisors member Mary Werner, former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, Frank Snellings, and Executive Vice President & Provost Stacia Haynie.

Landrieu Papers Donated – U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu donated her papers to LSU Libraries Special Collections during a dedication ceremony at Hill Memorial Library on April 14. The records, totaling 1,600 cubic feet, relate to her eighteenyear career in the U.S. Senate. They cover subjects such as health, education, women’s issues, child welfare, Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans levee breaches, Hurricanes Rita and Wilma, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, and other environmental issues. They also reflect her service as a member of the Armed Services Committee, the Appropriations Committee, chair of the Small Business Committee, and chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. During her career, she served as chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Photo by Eddy Perez

Fran DeVille, president of the College of Agriculture Alumni & Friends Association, left, with award winner Julie Richard.

Luke Laborde, right, accepts his award from Fran DeVille, president of the College of Agriculture Alumni & Friends Association.

Outstanding Ag Alumni – The LSU College of Agriculture recognized

outstanding alumni, faculty, and students at its Awards and Recognition ceremony in April at The Club at LSU Union Square. Outstanding Alumni awards were presented to Luke LaBorde, former president of Willis Group North Carolina and current instructor in the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources, and Julie Richard, a rice, crawfish, and soybean farmer who farms 4,000 acres near Kaplan, La.

Photos by Tobie Blanchard

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Indian Mounds

Around Campus

Oldest Large Human Structures in the Western Hemisphere By Brenda Macon

“The original mounds were about 9,000 years old, and the newer materials are in the range of 6,000 years old.”

The LSU Indian Mounds. Officially designated the 16EBR6 LSU Campus Mounds, 16 is the state number, EBR is the county abbreviation, and 6 identifies it as the sixth site formally identified in East Baton Rouge Parish. Photo: LSU Strategic Communications

Recently, the LSU Department of Geology and Geophysics, in collaboration with several other units at the University – Coastal Studies Institute, Geography and Anthropology, and Physics and Astronomy – found that the Indian mounds on the LSU campus are about 9,000 years old. This new information, based on cores taken from the mounds and analyzed using the latest radiocarbon dating technology by third-party company Beta Analytic, means that the mounds are the oldest intact human structures so far discovered in the Western Hemisphere – and some of the oldest on Earth. The age of the mounds was based on ten radiocarbon dates. As the image illustrates, the types of sediments found at the top of the two mounds are different. Mound A was built using sediment from the flood plain below the mounds (where Tiger Stadium sits today); the building materials for Mound B were, instead, mainly loess, probably collected from the area nearer the mound site.

Members of the research team were on hand when the cores were drilled. As the images illustrate, these cores were carefully drilled from areas in the mounds that had been pre-selected.

48 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Since 2008, department Chair Brooks Ellwood has led a team of researchers and students participating in several GEOL 4019/GEOG 4019 classes over the years, and they have collectively uncovered some amazing facts about the mounds. To begin, both mounds were built in two stages, with new sediment added to the top of these mounds. The original mounds date to about 9,000 years ago, and the newer materials are in the range of 6,000 years old. The researchers noted that, at about the time the original mounds were abandoned, around 8,300 years ago, a major climate event occurred in the region, which resulted in a sea level rise of at least 40 feet and climate deterioration. Prior to this dramatic event, the area where the mounds were built probably overlooked a brackish estuary similar to modern-day Mobile Bay. The area where Tiger Stadium sits today was perhaps along the edge of the water, and the people who lived there may have depended on their food supply from oysters and fish in this estuary. The influx of fresh water that resulted when a HUGE glacial lake far to the north flushed into the North Atlantic, causing global sea level rise, would have had a serious impact on the way of life for the people living near the mounds. They most likely would have had to find other food sources – hence, they abandoned the area. Then, about 2,000 years later (6,000 years ago), indigenous people again populated the area and built on top of the original mounds to their present height. Perhaps even more astounding is that the mounds exhibit burned layers, or ash lenses, which indicates that the builders intended these structures for much more than simply lookout points – a previously considered theory on the mounds’ purpose.

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Join Tiger Advocates Get involved now to protect LSU and higher education in Louisiana. We want LSU TIGER NATION – alumni, friends, fans, future alumni, faculty, and staff – to be well informed on legislation that might impact YOUR University.

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These images show the approximate ages of the layers within the two mounds. As the images indicate, the original mounds were much smaller but were built up over time. The images also show the areas at which cores were taken.

Within these layers of burned materials, the researchers discovered burned bone and phytoliths, microstructural remains of plants made of silica (biosilicates), that are indicative of very specific plant types – and not those that would suggest these burned zones were used for cooking. Instead, the types of plants found in the lenses were reeds, cane, and in some cases, wild oats and rice. Even more intriguing, the chemical composition – primarily lead and chromium – found within two of the burned horizons is consistent with that of a type of modern tattoo ink, crocoite. These results led researchers to speculate that the mounds may have served as cremation sites. Requests to perform DNA testing have been ruled out, respecting the wishes of national tribal people. However, all of these new findings provide better insight into the age, uses, and structure of these iconic landmarks. Brenda Macon, formerly an editor, writer, and manager at LSU, is a freelance writer and editor and serves as the executive secretary for the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists.

Support University parish extension offices throughout the state that spread the wealth of LSU research. Help LSU continue to produce alumni community leaders across the state.

WHAT DOES BECOMING A TIGER ADVOCATE MEAN? You will receive email notifications at critical times when your voice needs to be heard in the Louisiana Legislature. With just a click or call, your legislators will know LSU TIGER NATION is closely monitoring legislative decisions that impact LSU. Your legislators represent YOU. Show them you are for LSU.

Signing up is easy, free, and taking part requires a minimal investment of your time. Show your Love for LSU by signing up at lsualumni.org/tiger-advocates

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Locker

ROOM Photos by Gus Stark/LSU Athletics

Why Is Tiger Nation Excited About Football? For one thing the quarterback position hasn’t looked this promising in years. • Quarterback Joe Burrow returns for a senior season after delivering one of the best offensive performances in recent LSU history. He’s backed by Myles Brennan, a 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore whose throwing arm has excited the fan base.

Joe Burrow is a dual threat. He was the fourth-ranked LSU passer of all time in 2018 as well as the team’s third-best ball carrier. He compiled 2,894 yards passing, 399 yards on the ground and averaged 253.3 yards of total offense per game.

• The hiring of Joe Brady, a former New Orleans Saints offensive assistant, to become the Tigers’ passing game coordinator. This addition to the staff has generated enthusiasm among LSU passers and receivers. Judging from this rabid response to Brady, Coach O has made another good hire. • LSU will have more tools to fully execute the run-pass option scheme this fall. The Tigers will be deeper at running back and tight end. Brady will be a major factor. The ex-Saints coach has expertise in the passing game; he is knowledgeable about the RPO since his days as an offense assistant at Penn State, plus he has experience dueling with the NFL’s sophisticated defenses. • Forgetting the brief trial of Matt Canada’s shifts and jet sweeps, this team is undergoing the most drastic change to an LSU offense since Bernie Moore switched from the single wing to the T-formation in the spring of 1945, moving Y.A. Tittle from tailback to quarterback.

What did Burrow mean to the LSU offense last season? Only three passers in Tiger history had a better year than Burrow did in 2018. Rohan Davey in 2001, Jamarcus Russell in 2006, and Zach Mettenberger in 2013 were the only Tiger quarterbacks to put up better numbers than the transfer from Ohio State. Burrow’s 2,894 passing yards made him the key man for the LSU offense. He completed .578 percent of his passes, throwing for 16 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Burrow was one of LSU’s most effective passers ever

50 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

a year ago, and he was the Tigers’ third best runner and averaged 253.3 yards per game in total offense. Coach O believes he will be more productive this fall.

Why will Burrow be more effective this fall? An injury limited Brennan’s playing time last season. The plan going forward is to give Brennan playing time early and give Burrow more opportunities running the football. With more depth at quarterback, running back, and tight end, offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger has more buttons to punch. With more true tight ends healthy, Coach E can even use some two tight end sets, which was impossible a year ago. Jamal Pettigrew, a 6-7, 241-pound junior, missed the entire season with an injury. He and converted wide receiver Steven Sullivan (6-7, 232, Sr.) offer big targets for the LSU quarterbacks. The passing game was LSU’s offensive strong suit last fall. The Tigers had an abundance of talented receivers and a solid transfer quarterback. It should be better this time around. The receiver position now showcases senior Derrick Dillon, junior Justin Jefferson, and sophomore Ja’Marr Chase, three of the most athletic receivers the Tigers have had recently. Seniors Dee Anderson and Jonathan Giles and sophomore Terrace Marshall, who has now fully recovered from an injury, are also gifted receivers. Two promising recruits – Trey Palmer and Devonta Lee – will be welcomed to the group in June. Since Orgeron promises a fast-paced game, fresh legs will be needed for this major change to the LSU offense. Burrow and Brennan will benefit from a full spring and summer of working with the receiving corps and studying the creative RPO playbook with Ensminger and Brady prior to the season. Additional depth at running back should increase the effectiveness of the offense. Behind junior tailback Clyde Edwards-Helaire are two of the top running backs from last year’s recruiting

CALL FOR

MILITARY MEMORABILIA class – John Emery and Tyrion DavisPrice – plus letterman junior Lanard Fournette and redshirt freshman Chris Curry, who is becoming a fan favorite.

More depth up front On paper, the Tigers have more depth in the offensive line going into the 2019 campaign. There were seven different starting combinations used in the offensive line during the 2018 season –primarily because of injuries and inexperience. Junior Lloyd Cushenberry (6-4, 309) returns at center. The tackle positions appear to be solidified by juniors Saahdiq Charles (6-5, 305) and Austin Deculus (6-7, 321) who got ample playing time in 2018. Senior Damien Lewis (6-3, 322) returns as the starter at right guard. A vacancy at left guard last fall was filled by freshman Chasen Hines (6-4, 336) who moved over from defense. Hines, who missed spring drills due to injury, was replaced by senior Adrian Magee (6-4, 335) in spring practice. Hines’ return in August should strengthen the left guard spot. Coach O was pleased with the progress the offensive line made during the spring. Depth could be provided by senior Badore Traore, (6-7, 323), three redshirt freshmen – Dare Rosenthal (6-8, 337), Cameron Wire (6-7, 296), and Cole Smith (6-3, 285), and two promising incoming freshmen – Anthony Bradford (6-5, 357) and Kardell Thomas (6-3, 358). Badore and Bradford will compete for playing time at tackle, Smith is the backup center, and Thomas should provide depth at guard.

How about the defense? There are a few key players recovering from injury. If defensive end Rashard Lawrence, outside linebacker K'Lavon Chiasson, and cornerback Kristian Fulton return as good as new, each could become one of the SEC’s best at his position in 2019. There are some newcomers who should strengthen the defense as well. Cornerback Derek Stingley was considered the best player at that position in the last recruiting class. He

impressed the coaching staff during the spring, adding punt returning specialist to his list of responsibilities. With Fulton and Stingley as starters, and two lettermen – sophomore Kelvin Joseph and junior Kary Vincent – providing solid depth, LSU’s reputation as “DBU” seems safe, especially since the safeties appear equally outstanding. All-America Grant Delpit and JaCoby Stevens are two impressive starters at safety, and they are supported ably by letterman Todd Harris and another freshman of high regard – Marcel Brooks. The linebackers have talent and experience. Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda made an interesting move during the spring, moving senior Michael Divinity from outside linebacker to Rover to help replace the departed All-America Devin White. Chaisson and Divinity give the Tigers two explosive pass rushers – one outside linebacker and one inside. Chaisson will team with Ray Thornton on the outside, and Divinity and Jacob Phillips will play on the inside. Behind them, are juniors Andre Anthony and Travez Moore at outside linebacker and junior Patrick Queen and sophomore Micah Baskerville on the inside. The starting down linemen feature senior Rashard Lawrence (6-3, 317) and junior Glen Logan (6-4, 297) at defensive ends, and sophomore Tyler Shelvin (6-3, 362) at nose tackle, with senior Breiden Fehoko (6-4, 291) and JC transfer Soni Fonua (6-4, 264) at defensive ends, and Siaki Ika (6-4, 347), a highly recruited freshman at nose tackle on the second unit. Ika had an outstanding spring and could challenge Shelvin for the No. 1 nose tackle position in the fall.

L S U M I L I TA RY MUSEUM LSU, in partnership with Cadets of the Ole War Skule, is seeking donations of military memorabilia to showcase and preserve in the LSU Military Museum. Memorial Tower – the University’s

icon and the museum’s future home

– is currently undergoing renovation and restoration. Grand opening

festivities are slated for the week of November 2-7, 2020.

If you have military memorabilia or

know of alumni who might have such items, the museum staff welcomes these donations for the collection.

The kicking game is sound LSU’s kicking game played a major role in the Tigers’ success last season. Cole Tracy did it with dramatic field goals. Avery Atkins did it with unreturnable kickoffs. And punter Zach Von Rosenberg did it with high spirals. Atkins and Von Rosenberg return. Atkins’ powerful leg was given a trial CONTACT | Summer 2019 51 LSU Alumni Magazine cadets@lsu.edu or 225.578.0420

Locker Room

in field goal kicking this spring with promising results. Two prized recruits should enhance the special teams. Freshman Cade York was known for long distance field goals in high school. And Derek Stingley not only will be an outstanding cornerback but also a scoring threat on punt returns as well. Locker Room is compiled and edited by Bud Johnson, retired director of the Andonie Sports Museum and a former LSU Sports Information director. He is the author of The Perfect Season: LSU's Magic Year – 1958.

Spring Football Notes The game is still about the players. And the coaches. For all the discussion about the latest offensive scheme, many left Tiger Stadium after the spring game babbling about athletes who can lift this team to new heights.

Derek Stingley … when has a freshman created so much excitement before he played his first college game? Anyone remember Tommy Casanova’s first spring? Joe Burrow … he’s both a team leader and a productive quarterback.

Myles Brennan … possibly the nation’s best red-shirt sophomore quarterback.

Michael Divinity … have we ever debated whether a linebacker should be played inside or outside? Justin Jefferson … the most under-rated receiver on a team with many good ones … thankfully, he’s one of Burrow’s favorite targets.

Justin Jefferson was LSU’s leading receiver in 2018.

Chris Curry … when has a back-

up running back stirred so much conversation? Does he remind anyone of Jimmy Taylor?

Apu … Siaki Ika … when has a freshman defensive lineman been discussed so fervently? This freshman nose tackle is a poster boy for early enrollment. Prediction: His nickname will be common knowledge at tailgate parties before mid-season.

Pass protection … when have we

discussed a team weakness holdover of last season? Although a major objective of springtime football, it remains a worry for the coaching staff.

Assistant coaches in the conversation … have Tiger fans ever been this

enthusiastic about the contributions of assistant coaches? The names of Joe Brady, Bill Busch, Corey Raymond, and James Cregg seemed to be mentioned as much as those of the coordinators.

52 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Locker Room

Photos by Chris Parent/LSU Athletics

LSU Gymnastics Runner-Up in NCAA Championships LSU recorded its third highest team score in the history of the NCAA gymnastics championships — 197.5375 — to finish second to national champion Oklahoma.

Four seniors — Sarah Finnegan, McKenna Kelley, Lexie Priessman and Julianna Cannamela — ended their collegiate competition as the most dominant senior class in school history. They ended their LSU careers with 126 wins, the three highest finishes in the NCAA championships and as three-time SEC champions. Finnegan and junior Kennedi Edney captured the program’s fourteenth and fifteenth individual championships with wins on bars and vault at the NCAA meet. Finnegan became a two-time NCAA champion after her 9.95 performance in NCAA Semifinal I. With the victory, Finnegan earned her forty-ninth win of the season, passing Susan Jackson and Sandra Smith for the most victories in a season The Tiger gymnastics team remains one of the nation’s elite programs, finishing as runner-up to national champion Oklahoma in the NCAA meet in April. in school history. She previously won the NCAA bars championship in 2017 when she became the first LSU gymnast to win a title on the event. Edney became a two-time NCAA champion after earning a 9.95 in the anchor spot of vault in NCAA Semifinal I. Edney also won the NCAA vault championship in 2017 when she became the first freshman to win a title.

Finnegan Named Nation’s Best Senior Gymnast

Senior gymnasts, from left, Julianna Cannamela, McKenna Kelley, Lexie Priessman, and Sarah Finnegan.

Was Sarah Finnegan LSU’s best gymnast ever? Finnegan joined select company when she received the 2019 AAI Award as, the nation’s best senior gymnast prior to the NCAA championships at Fort Worth in April. D-D Breaux’s latest wunderkind became the third LSU performer to bring home that award. Ashleigh Gnat and Susan Jackson won the AAI Award previously, and were NCAA champions and All-Americans as well. Finnegan’s 49 individual titles in 2019 set the school record. She scored a 39.7625 in the NCAA championships. That all-around score was the best ever for a gymnast at LSU. She scored a 9.9125 on vault and 9.95 on bars, beam and floor. She finished first overall on bars and floor. Finnegan completed her career with 95 titles to tie Rheagan Courville for the third most for a Tiger. Her career highlights make a strong case for being LSU’s all-time best gymnast: • The AAI Award in 2019 • Central Region Gymnast of the Year — 2019 • Two-time SEC Gymnast of the Year • Two-time NCAA individual champion (Only Susan Jackson won 3) • Career SEC individual titles: 5 (tied for first) • All-around titles in a season: 13 in 2019 (first) • Career balance beam titles: 27 (first) • Individual titles in a single season: 45 in 2019 (tied for first)

Sarah Finnegan was named the nation’s best senior gymnast.

• Career uneven bars titles: 25 (second) • Beam titles in a season: 11 in 2019 (first) • Career perfect 10: 6 (fifth) The Lee’s Summit, Mo., native demonstrated her versatility by recording perfect 10s in three different events — two on bars, two on beam and two on floor. Ashleigh Gnat is the only other LSU gymnast to produce two perfect 10s in three different events.

54 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

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LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Scott Woodward Named AD

Locker Room

Baton Rouge native and LSU alumnus Scott Woodward was named athletics director on April 18 after serving in the same position for the last four years at Texas A&M University.

Scott Woodward.

56 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

“We are happy to welcome a fellow Tiger back home,” said President F. King Alexander. “Scott brings a strong track record of winning championships, graduating student-athletes and building an infrastructure for future achievement. His leadership will take us into a new era for Tiger Athletics.” Woodward was named to the athletics director’s position vacated by Joe Alleva, who stepped down from the post earlier in the week. He will remain at LSU as special assistant to the president. “Returning home to the LSU family to lead the department of athletics is incredibly humbling and exciting,”

Woodward said. “The state university has been a part of my life for more than five decades, and I know – and I embrace – the high expectations of Tiger Nation. We will win championships and we will do it the right way, representing LSU with pride and dignity every step of the way. I want to thank President Alexander for the opportunity of a lifetime, and I cannot wait to get started. Geaux Tigers!” Woodward was LSU’s director of external affairs from 2000-04. He served as vice president of external affairs at the University of Washington before being named then director of athletics in 2008. Prior to working in higher education, Woodward co-owned a government and public relations firm in Baton Rouge. Woodward earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from LSU in 1985. He is married to Nanette Dicharry and has two adult sons, Michael and Josh Evans.

IMPACTS THE WORLD. At LSU, we embody the promise of tomorrow, breaking through boundaries to knowledge and unlocking solutions to some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most pressing issues. Our scholars know that future outcomes are only limited by todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts. Our researchers lead the charge to restore our coast, advance new forms of healing, and educate and empower the next generation of leaders, creators, and cultivators. Our drive to innovate is fueled by our desire to create a better world for those who inhabit our planet. Because the future belongs to all of us. Fierce minds. Fierce hearts.

Visit fierceforthefuturecampaign.org to learn more. LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Tiger

NATION

1970s

Richard Arsenault (1977 BACH H&SS, 1980 JD), of Neblett, Beard & Arsenault in Alexandria, La., co-chaired a Mass Torts conference in Cancun and the Harris Martin Complex Litigation Symposium in Washington, D.C. He also spoke at the Louisiana State Bar Association Symposium in Québec City, Canada, on the topic of “Bet the Company” Mass Torts. Arsenault has been nominated as a biographical candidate to be featured in the 2019 Who’s Who in America.

Degrees BACH Bachelor’s Degree MAST Master’s Degree PHD Doctorate SPEC Specialist DVM Doctor of Veterinary Medicine JD Juris Doctorate (LSU Law School) LLM Master of Laws MD Medical Doctor (LSU School of Medicine) DDS Doctor of Dental Science (LSU School of Dentistry) Colleges/Schools AGR Agriculture A&D Art & Design C&E Coast & Environment H&SS Humanities & Social Sciences SCI Science BUS Business HS&E Human Sciences & Education ENGR Engineering M&DA Music & Dramatic Arts MCOM Mass Communication SCE School of the Coast & Environment SVM School of Veterinary Medicine SW Social Work

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Robert Barsley (attended 1971-73, 1977 DDS), of Ponchatoula, La., received a 2019 Distinguished Service Award from the Louisiana Dental Association during the 139th House of Delegates conference in April. The award, the highest honor bestowed by the LDA, recognizes individual members who exemplify the highest standards of professional conduct in dentistry and make extraordinary contributions in organized dentistry and in their communities. Charles B. Foy, Jr. (1978 BACH H&SS, 1984 DDS), of Madisonville, La., received the 2019 Humanitarian Award presented by the Louisiana Dental Association (LDA) during the 139th House of Delegates conference in April. The award recognizes dentists who have distinguished themselves through outstanding dental service activities in the United States or abroad; embrace common moral decencies, respect and embrace human diversity; and work to improve the lives of those in need through selfless, courageous, creative, and compassionate acts. Preston Kennedy (1978 BACH BUS), president emeritus of the Bank of Zachary, was named chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) in March. He is the third Louisiana community banker to assume the post in the ICBA’s ninetyyear history. In a family of Tigers, Kennedy followed his mother, the former Mary June Hunt, a 1945 School of Commerce graduate, and preceded his daughter, Jill Johnson Kennedy (2006 BACH BUS). He received a diploma

from the Graduate School of Banking at LSU (formerly the School of Banking of the South) in 1984. Visit independentbanker.org/2019/03/newchairman-preston-kennedy-a-voice-forcommunity-banks/.

1980s

John Anjier (1984 BACH H&SS, 1990 JD) was selected as chairman of the National Food & Beverage Foundation (NatFAB), which is dedicated to the discovery, understanding, and celebration of food, drink, and its related culture throughout the world. The foundation operates the Museum of Southern Food and Beverage and the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans and the Pacific Food and Beverage Museum in Los Angeles, Calif. He has served on the NatFAB board of directors for four years. Anjier is a business and litigation lawyer and advisor at Liskow & Lewis, New Orleans. John Jefferson Daigle (1987 BACH H&SS) was nominated by President Donald J. Trump to be the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Republic of Cabo Verde. Daigle, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of MinisterCounselor, serves on detail as the Designated Federal Official for the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. He was previously executive assistant in the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; deputy coordinator in the Bureau of International Information Programs; deputy chief of mission in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and a public diplomacy officer on the Babil Provincial Reconstruction Team in Iraq. Daigle is the recipient of the Secretary’s

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Tiger Nation

Expeditionary Service Award, and his language studies include French, Khmer, and Portuguese. Nelson P. Daly (1984 BACH H&SS, 1993 DDS), of Baton Rouge, received a 2019 Distinguished Service Award from the Louisiana Dental Association during the 139th House of Delegates conference in April. The award, the highest honor bestowed by the LDA, recognizes individual members who exemplify the highest standards of professional conduct in dentistry and make extraordinary contributions in organized dentistry and in their communities. Glen Duncan (1988 MAST MCOM) joined Professional Engineering Consultants Corporation (PEC) as client support director focusing on client satisfaction, business development, marketing, and public relations. Duncan previously was president of his own advertising company, On Assignment, Inc.; communications director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center; served on senior staff for the House of Representatives; and was vice president of advancement for Louisiana Community Colleges. Alecisa Aucoin Matte (1988 BACH BUS) was promoted to vice president of human resources and marketing at Peoples Bank. Matte has more than thirty years of experience in the financial industry.

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David Moore (1980 DVM), associate professor of veterinary medicine in the VirginiaMaryland College of Veterinary Medicine and former associate vice president for research compliance at Virginia Tech, was conferred the title of associate professor emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors in April. A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 1985, Moore served as University Attending Veterinarian from 1985 to 2001 and in an interim capacity from 2007 to 2009. He developed and established the Lab Animal Medicine Residency Program. In addition to his faculty appointment in the veterinary college, Moore held a faculty appointment in the Basic Science Education Department in the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and was an adjunct faculty member in the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. He is a Diplomate in the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.

1990s

Terry Brown (1993 BACH H&SS), owner of Coastal Precast, Inc., in Eunice, La., received a Top 25 Plant Award from the National Precast Concrete Association during the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Precast Show in Louisville, Ky., in February. It was the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second award, earning a score of 100 percent in both 2017 and 2018 performance and quality audits. Alan Dabdoub (1994 BACH H&SS, 1997 JD), an attorney with Pinker Cox & Hurst, was listed as a Texas Super Lawyer in business litigation and employment litigation by Law & Politics in Texas Monthly. He also

was recognized by his peers in D Magazine as one of the 2016 Best Lawyers in Dallas. He is married to Michelle Ackal Dabdoub and they have a son, Grant, and two daughters, Ava and Sloane. John Everett (1994 MBA) was named executive vice president and Baton Rouge market president at IberiaBank in March. Everett joined the bank in 2008 and has more than twenty years of commercial banking experience. He most recently served as senior vice president and commercial group manager in Baton Rouge. He began his banking career with First Commerce Corporation in New Orleans, then served as vice president in commercial banking with Whitney National Bank in Baton Rouge. He is a member of Rotary Club of Baton Rouge and Baton Rouge Area Chamber Business Development Committee and serves on the advisory board for the LSU Museum of Art. A graduate of University High School, he earned an undergraduate degree from Millsaps College in 1991. Everett and his wife, Shannan, have two daughters. Scott Hackler (1998 BACH BUS, 1998 BACH H&SS), founding owner of Halo del Santo, in his first podcast interview, shares how he got started in the food industry, and offers advice to entrepreneurs just starting out. The Culinary School of Fort Worth's "Fort Worth Food Stories" celebrates chefs, restaurateurs, and food makers from America's fifteenth-largest city. Podcast episodes are available on several players, including Apple iTunes (apple. co/2QUDl78).

Suzana Keller (1997 BACH BUS), of Marietta, Ga., was appointed chief procurement officer of Coca-Cola Bottlers Sales and Services in March. Most recently, she was the vice president of supply chain for EIS Inc., a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company. Previously she served as head of manufacturing and distribution operations transformation at HDD Supply and was strategy and transformation lead for CSM Bakery Solutions. Keller received an Executive MBA from Emory University and started her career in Big 4 consulting with eight years of experience at KPMG and Ernst & Young. Kathy Hurstell Riedlinger (1972 BACH HS&E, 1976 MAST HS&E), chief executive officer of Lusher Charter School in New Orleans, La., received the 2018 National Blue Ribbon Schools Program Terrel H. Bell Lifetime of Leadership Award from the U.S. Department of Education. The award recognizes leaders in transforming local public schooling. Riedlinger was the only school leader who received the award this year, and it has only been given once before, in 2013. She became principal at Lusher in 1981 and is the longest continually serving principal currently employed in a public school in Orleans Parish. Lusher received its second National Blue Ribbon School award this year. Monica Santaella (1994 BACH BUS, 1995 BACH BUS, 1997 BACH BUS, 2001 MAST MCOM, 2007 PHD AGR), an instructor in the LSU Department of

Marketing, was chosen to participate in the Alexandria Museum of Art Concurrent Exhibition Concrete & Adrift: On the Poverty Line, an invitational exhibition featuring regional and national contemporary artists addressing poverty and homelessness. Benton Toups (1997 BACH H&SS, 2000 JD), an attorney with Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog in Raleigh, N.C., was selected for inclusion in the Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists in the 2019 edition of North Carolina Super Lawyers in the areas of Employment & Labor. Terri Broussard Williams (1999 BACH MCOM), of Austin, Texas, director of Strategic Partnerships and Alliances for Government Relations, American Heart Association, and founder of MovementMakerTribe.com, was named one of Austin’s Fab Five by Seedling, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support children challenged by parental incarceration with innovative, research-driven, school-based mentoring. The honor recognizes “the achievements of extraordinary individuals, who have impacted so many through their leadership, community service, personal stories, and philanthropy.”

2000s

Tyler Batiste (2009 BACH MCOM), assistant managing editor/sports for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pennsylvania was named to Editor & Publisher Magazine’s Top 25 Under 35, which

recognizes talent within the newspaper industry and a wide range of skills, from technology and content to events and marketing. After graduating, Batiste worked at The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., The Courier in Houma, La., and The Daily Comet in Thibodaux, La. He joined the sports department of the Post-Gazette in 2016 and was named assistant managing editor the following year. Batiste was a “Young, Gifted & Black Award” honoree as recognition for his leadership and service to the Pittsburgh community. Erin Percy (2007 BACH MCOM, 2010 JD) joined Liskow & Lewis in New Orleans as a member of the firm’s maritime, oilfield, and insurance practice group. She was senior associate for Louisiana Law Review while in law school. Richard “Robbie” Robinson (2002 BACH BUS) joined Peoples Bank as vice president of credit administration. Robinson has been working in the financial industry since 2003. Lauren Walck (2008 BACH MCOM), audience and news editor for the Sun Herald in Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss., was named to Editor & Publisher Magazine’s Top 25 Under 35, which recognizes talent within the newspaper industry and a wide range of skills, from technology and content to events and marketing. Walck is responsible for studying the newspaper’s analytics and putting that data to use. She leads the newsroom’s weekly Digital Café

SHARE YOUR NEWS Share news of your new job or promotion, your wedding, honors, awards, new babies, and other

celebrations with fellow alumni. To submit an item and photos for publication, e-mail jackie@lsualumni.org or call 225-578-3370.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Tiger Nation

meetings to evaluate what material did well and what didn’t, and she offers advice to reporters for future use in achieving their goals.

2010s

Josh Bergeron (2013 BACH MCOM ), editor of the Salisbury Post in North Carolina was named to Editor & Publisher Magazine’s Top 25 Under 35, which recognizes talent within the newspaper industry and a wide range of skills, from technology and content to events and marketing. Bergeron’s career started as a reporter for the Natchez Democrat in Mississippi and the Selma Times-Journal in Alabama. In 2014, he joined the Salisbury Post to cover county government and politics and was promoted to associate editor in early 2017. He became managing editor of the State Journal in Frankfort, Ky., in October 2017, then returned to the Post as editor in December 2018. Tristen Bergholtz (2014 MAST HS&E), of Alpharetta, Ga., formerly a site supervisor at Woodlawn Middle School in Baton Rouge, was notified that the school was awarded the American School Counselor Association Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) Award. Woodlawn Middle is only the fourth school in Louisiana to be awarded this honor. Applying for RAMP helps schools evaluate their school counseling program, discover areas for

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improvement, and enhance program efforts to contribute to student success. Jacob Blais (2018 BACH H&SS), of New Orleans, was accepted into the Peace Corps and departed for Mozambique in April to begin training as a Community Health Services Promoter volunteer. Blais will live with a host family in Mozambique for three months to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture, then be sworn into service and assigned to a community in Mozambique, where he will live and work for two years with the local people. Blais joins the forty-five Louisiana residents currently serving in the Peace Corps and more than 1,214 Louisiana residents who have served since 1961. Danielle Borel (2011 BACH BUS, 2014 JD), an attorney with Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, was recognized by the American Bar Association Health Law Section with an Emerging Young Lawyers in Healthcare Award for her broad range of achievement, vision, leadership, and legal and community service in health law. Borel serves on the board of directors and as the chairman of the Baton Rouge Advisory Board for Lighthouse Louisiana. Drew Cotten (2018 BACH ENGR), of Zachary, La., joined Professional Engineering Consultants Corporation in Baton Rouge and is involved in transportation, water resources, and other infrastructure projects. Cotton

took first place in the Daniel W. Mead paper competition with his presentation at the 2018 ASCE Deep South Conference. Talbot Quinn (2012 BACH BUS) joined Adams and Reese in New Orleans as an associate representing clients in labor and employment matters, particularly in the area of employee benefit plans in the context of mergers and acquisitions. He earned his Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School in 2015. Carl Dillon, Jr. (2010 MBA) was appointed president and chief executive officer of Urban Restoration Enhancement Corporation (UREC) in March. An employee of UREC for more than a decade, Dillon holds National Development Council’s Economic Development Finance Professional Certification, the Neighborworks America Professional Certificate in Community and Neighborhood Revitalization, and a Louisiana real estate license. He is an alumnus of the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Baton Rouge Program and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Southern University.

James Andrews

Orthopedic Surgeon, Founder, Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Photo by AP file)

Tsira Kemularia

VP, Shell Pension Strategy & Standards, London, England

Shaquille O’Neal

4-time NBA Champion, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist

John Butler

Professor of Management and Sociology; Director of the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, UT-Austin

TIGER SPIRIT TRANSFORMS LIVES LSU Alumni Share Their Knowledge, Talents Around the World

Bernette Joshua Johnson

James Williams

Chief Justice, Louisiana Supreme Court

Keith Comeaux

Deputy Chief Engineer, NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission

Attorney and Chair, LSU Board of Supervisors

Sandra Smith

Co-anchor, America's Newsroom, Fox News

Nanette Noland LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019 63 President/CEO, The Powell Group

Alums Chosen for Techstars Program

Tiger Nation

Chris Cummings (2010 BACH H&SS, 2013 JD), founder and CEO of Pass It Down, Inc., and Katy Aucoin (2009 BACH BUS), founder and CEO of Dearduck were selected to participate in the Techstars Austin Accelerator program, one of the most competitive and rigorous technology accelerators in the world.

Chris Cummings.

The program enables Dearduck and Pass It Down to access fast-track industry partnership opportunities, mentoring, and its network of mentors, founders, investors, and corporate Katy Aucoin. partners across 150 countries. Pass It Down’s acceptance comes on the heels of graduation from Coca-Cola’s Innovation Accelerator – BridgeCommunity – and its selection as one of the 100 most innovative startups in the world in the Startup of the Year contest hosted by Established and the Consumer Technology Association.

From left Jacob Landry, Kyle Huling, and Alex Flores.

Celebrating Success – Urban South Brewery (USB) co-founders Jacob Landry (2006 BACH MCOM), president, and Kyle Huling (2005 BACH H&SS), vice president, celebrated three years of growth and success in April. During that time, USB has grown to be the largest brewery by volume in New Orleans and the third-largest brewery in the state of Louisiana, and since its inception has contributed more than $100,000+ in beer, cash, and sponsorships to local organizations. Among USB’s thirty-five team members is another Tiger, head brewer Alex Flores, who attended LSU.

64 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

T H E G E AU X T O W I N E FOR LSU ALUMNI

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BUY ONLINE AT STORE.MARTINWINE.COM

OR VISIT LSUALUMNI.ORG/GEAUX-VINEYARDS FOR A LIST OF RETAIL LOCATIONS Distributed by Republic National Distributing Company LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Peggi Wolfe’s Art Work ‘Shines’ on National TV

Tiger Nation

Peggi Wolfe’s fractal sun appeared twice on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

Artist Margaret “Peggi” Reed Wolfe (1971 BACH H&SS), of Natchez, Miss., saw her work introduced to millions when “CBS Sunday Morning” featured her fractal rendition of the sun on two video profiles in a four-week period this spring. The program’s sun logo has appeared in the top corner of every segment since the show debuted in 1979. Associate producer/sun coordinator Jessica Frank has received more than 9,000 sun images over the past twenty years, choosing one that best complements a specific show segment and featuring it for a few seconds at the segment’s end. After choosing Wolfe’s image to end a profile of George Washington’s unknown personal life, she returned to the fractal sun to end a feature on the Broadway musical “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” based on the life and music of The Temptations, and an interview with the chart-topping Motown group’s last surviving member. “As a longtime ‘Sunday Morning’ viewer,” Wolfe said, “I’ve always admired the different sun images that end the feature segments. Out of curiosity, I checked out the program’s website to see where all those images come from, learned that they’re submitted by viewers and sent the fractal sun I created in 2009 to Jessica Frank in late 2018. Then I just forgot about it.” Frank contacted Wolfe in early December to thank her for the submission, then again in February to inform the artist that her fractal sun would end the George Washington feature the next day. Wolfe got another notice that “her sun” would conclude “The Temptations” segment airing on March 10. “This amazing and exciting experience just goes to prove how true the old adage ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained” really is. “I’d say I’m over the moon, but ‘sun’ seems a lot more appropriate.”

66 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

ON THE WEB deviantart.com/wolfepaw and redbubble.com/

Haymons Establish Music Therapy Chair

Investing in Tigers, Transforming Lives I’m from New Orleans, La., and I’m majoring in political science. I enjoy learning about politics

Cordell and Ava Haymon.

LSU alumni Ava Leavell Haymon (1967 MAST H&SS) and Cordell Haymon (1968 JD), of Baton Rouge, made a $1.2 million gift to the College of Music & Dramatic Arts to fund an endowed chair in music therapy, making LSU a leader in creating such a position. The Haymons’ gift is eligible for $800,000 in competitive matching funds from the Louisiana Board of Regents and will establish the first music therapy program at a public university in Louisiana. The Ava and Cordell Haymon Chair in Music Therapy enables the college to offer a new degree program, the Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy, which will leverage an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating curricula from the College of Science and College of Humanities & Social Sciences. The LSU Music Therapy program will intertwine with related efforts of local community health partners, including Baton Rouge General Medical Center and The Emerge Center.

and plan on attending law school after graduation, but I am passionate about other things, as well. Attending LSU has allowed me to pursue all my interests and even develop new passions. As a student in the Honors College, I am able to take Honors courses on a wide variety of subjects that I may not otherwise encounter, such as a course that examines female friendship in fiction. I am a member of the LSU Mock Trial team, which has been a good opportunity for me to learn about courtroom procedure in preparation for law school. Last semester, I discovered that I also have a passion for journalism. I have always enjoyed writing, so I became a news reporter at the Reveille. Being a news reporter has allowed me to develop my writing and communication skills and has made me feel more connected with the LSU community. All of the wonderful experiences I have had at LSU would not be possible without the Flagship Scholarship I received from the LSU Alumni Association. Because of your generosity, I am receiving a quality, well-rounded education here at LSU. Because of your contributions to the LSU Alumni Association, LSU is able to attract more students like Bailey every year. This doesn’t just make a difference now; it makes a difference for the future, for students like Bailey will be tomorrow’s top scientists, educators, and business leaders. And you make that possible.

BAILEY CHAUVIN Julian Carruth Memorial Endowed Flagship Scholars

To contribute to or endow a scholarship, visit www.lsualumni.org/giving or call 225.578.3838.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Tiger Nation

BABY

BENGALS

WEDDING

BELLS

Jonathan Bradley (2006 BACH ENGR) and Mandy Bradley, proudly announce the birth of their first son and future Tiger, Mason Allan Bradley, on Sept. 6, 2018, at 12:39 a.m. Mason weighed 9 lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 inches long. The family resides in Dallas, Texas.

Sophie Sumrall (2011 BACH ENGR) and Payton Dupree (2015 BACH AGR) were married on March 23 at Carter Plantation in Springfield, La., and honeymooned in Italy. Sophie works for Ford, Bacon, and Davis, and Payton is an environmental coordinator at Exxon.

Brett Moreau (2011 BACH SCI) and Samantha Alleman (2011 BACH H&SS, 2012 MAST HS&E) were married on Jan. 26 at The Abacus in Lafayette, La. They live in Charlottesville, Va. Brett is a post-doctoral research assistant at the University of Virginia, and Samantha is an office coordinator for a group of local construction companies.

Ali Duplessis (2014 BACH BUS) and Blaine Brooks exchanged wedding vows on March 16 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in New Orleans, La. The couple resides in Prairieville, La. Ali is the alumni engagement and travel manager at the LSU Alumni Association, and Blaine is a unit price auditor with John L. Lowery & Associates at Exxon in Baton Rouge.

68 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Decades Past Taking a Look ‘The Way We Were’

YEARS

AGO

May 20, 1994 - The Summer 1994 issue of LSU Magazine spotlighted three former

presidents – Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and George Bush – who joined Lod and Carole Cook for the grand opening of the LSU Alumni Association’s new home, the Lod Cook Alumni Center.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Tiger Nation

Tigers in Print Vincent A. Cellucci (2008 MFA) Absence Like Sun (Lavender Ink) Absence Like Sun illuminates an axiomatic paradox subverting the foremost symbol of the Platonic ideal and the writer’s working relationship with Louisiana regionalism. This book of lyric poetry also presents a creative, mythic worldview, which orbits the title imagery’s subverted symbolism, where the sun becomes the warming image of absence. Conceptually, these poems function like heliophysics – alternating between solar flares and an axis poem in concurrent verse utilizing the left and right side of the page. Some of the predominant recurring themes of the manuscript are haunting homelessness, filiation/ affiliation, post-Katrina New Orleans, Christian myth, and the paradoxical nature of the universe. Matthew A. Gallagher (2015 BACH HS&E) 50 Cheeky Truths to Improve Your Day (Matthew A. Gallagher) 50 Cheeky Truths to Improve Your Day is a lighthearted collection of simple truths with hilarious twists and memorable punchlines, written to bring more positivity into the world. While humor cannot take out our

70 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

trash, pay our bills, or deal with the arduous responsibilities our bosses tasks us with – it can make our days better. Designed to give readers a quick laugh, it's full of bite-sized humor with genuine wisdom sprinkled throughout. 50 Cheeky Truths to Improve Your Day is sure to ... uh ... improve your day! (Clearly not a mystery novel.) David Krueger (1973 MD-NO) Engaging the Ineffable: Toward Mindfulness and Meaning (Paragon House) Every day we use words like “desire,” “time,” “story,” “hope,” and “mastery” thinking we know what they mean. But these concepts are beyond words – ineffable. Our understanding of each concept passes through our neuro filters shaped by our societies and life stories. When we reflect on these topics we have to ask whose understanding? Do we engage these concepts in ways that trap us in confusion or lead us to happiness and success? Engaging the Ineffable is unique in that each of the twenty-one topics is treated from the perspective of a psychoanalyst, neuroscientist, and Mentor Coach. These notions are ineffable, in part, because there is

no single place in the brain you can point to and say, “This is the location of memory, hope, nostalgia, mastery, desire, or serendipity.” Nor are these functions even located in a single hemisphere of the brain. Gerald Kennedy, Boyd Professor of English and Scott Peeples (1993 PHD H&SS) The Oxford Handbook of Edgar Allan Poe (Oxford Handbooks Online/Oxford University Press) No American author of the early 19th century enjoys a larger international audience than Edgar Allan Poe. Widely translated, read, and studied, he occupies an iconic place in global culture. Such acclaim would have gratified Poe, who deliberately wrote for “the world at large” and mocked the provincialism of strictly nationalistic themes. Partly for this reason, early literary historians cast Poe as an outsider, regarding his dark fantasies as extraneous to American life and experience. Only in the 20th century did Poe finally gain a prominent place in the national canon. Changing critical approaches have deepened our understanding of Poe’s complexity and revealed an author who defies easy classification.

New models of interpretation have excited fresh debates about his essential genius, his subversive imagination, his cultural insight, and his ultimate impact, urging an expansive reconsideration of his literary achievement. Megan Volpert (2006 MFA) Boss Broad (Sibling Rivalry Press) Boss Broad contains forty poems and dozens of essays that explore what it takes to be a middle-aged hero. The poems are English-to-English translations of Bruce Springsteen songs – popular ones in which he directly addresses a female listener, which Volpert audaciously rewrites to answer the Boss back using his own rhyme and meter. In these pages Volpert wears Springsteen's own lyrical swagger so that Rosalita becomes a drag queen, Wendy captains her own ship, and Bobby Jean finally comes out of the closet. The essays examine injections of spirituality in progressive politics, with topics including Stephen Colbert, Patti Smith, the author’s career as a punk high school English teacher, what she learned surviving hurricanes in Louisiana, and meditations on what it means to be a cool liberal. As usual, Volpert trespasses on hallowed ground, doing battle with her white lady demons in the name of rock ‘n’ roll. Megan Volpert (2006 MFA) Tom Petty & Philosophy: We Need to Know (Open Court) For the first time, serious thinkers explore the work of this towering genius of rock music. For fans of Tom Petty, this volume is an eye-opener, with fourteen musicsavvy philosophers looking at

different facets of Petty’s artistic contribution. They examine not only Tom Petty’s thoughts but also the thoughts we have while we listen. The authors, all Petty fans, come from every philosophical viewpoint: classical, analytic, postmodernist, phenomenological, and Nietzschean. Katharine Ritter Wallace (1965 MLS) Cover Name: Dr. Rantzau (University Press of Kentucky) Cover Name: Dr. Rantzau is a gripping diary-like personal account of espionage during the Second World War and one of few historic memoirs written by an ex-Abwehr officer, Col. Nikolaus Ritter. Edited by his daughter, Katharine, it details how Col. Ritter, following a brief World War I career and more than ten years as a businessman in America, returned to Germany in spring of 1935 and became Chief of Air Intelligence in the Abwehr. He was assigned to establish a network of agents to gather information on British and U.S. airfields, aircrafts, and state-of-the-art developments in the aerospace industry. Among others, Ritter’s cover names were Dr. Rantzau and Dr. Reinhard in Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg, Dr. Jansen in Hungary, Dr. Renken in Germany, and Mr. Johnson in America. Throughout his service in the Abwehr, Ritter smuggled America’s most jealously guarded secret, the Norden bombsight and the Sperry gyroscope, into Germany, and coordinated the planning for the invasion of the British Isles (Operation Sea Lion). Ritter was incarcerated by the British in 1945 and sent to the Bad Nenndorf interrogation center.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

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In Memoriam Lora Maye Barrow Cross (1941 BACH HS&E) passed away on Feb. 1, 2019. She endowed the Albion B. Cross, Jr., M.D. Flagship Scholarship and the Lora Maye Barrow Cross Flagship Scholarship in the LSU Alumni Association, adopted a Memorial Oak on campus, donated more than 600 historic volumes to Middleton Library, was a founding member of the LSU Alumni Federation Loyalty club, and was honored with the LSU Foundation President's Award for Lifetime Support.

1940s

Robert A. Bogan, Jr., 1949 BACH ENGR, March 7, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Annabella Gorham, 1941 BACH HS&E, 1950 MAST HS&E, April 12, 2019, Lake Charles, La. Leon Clifford Kenyon, 1949 BACH ENGR, March 24, 2019, Red Lodge, Mont. Donald Markham Kirk, Jr., 1949 BACH ENGR, April 14, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Frank Morat O’Quinn, 1949 BACH ENGR, Retired Instructor of Construction Management, Feb. 9, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Mary Esther Brown Scheps, 1940 BACH BUS, Feb. 17, 2019, Lafayette, La. Dorothy Flower Davis Thomas, 1947 BACH H&SS, Feb. 23, 2019, Baton Rouge, La.

1950s

Sara Alice Boteler Bateman, 1953 BACH H&SS, March 16, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Thomas H. “Tommy” Benton, Sr., 1951 BACH H&SS, 1953 JD, March 25, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Hayden Thomas Blanchard, Jr., 1955 BACH M&DA, 1957 MAST M&DA, Jan. 26, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Owen Joseph Braud, 1955 BACH AGR, April10, 2019, Prairieville, La. Neil Paul Brechtel, 1952 BACH ENGR, Feb. 9, 2019, New Castle, Del. Lamar Noble “L.N.” Coxe, Jr., 1958 BACH BUS, Feb. 13, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. J. Nelson Fairbanks, 1957 BACH AGR, 1964 MAST AGR, Feb. 18, 2019, Orlando, Fla. Harvey Howard Hester, Jr., 1953 BACH AGR, 1954 MAST AGR, Lakeland, Fla. John Kaiser, 1955 BACH AGR, March 25, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Frederick Gatz “Pete” Landry, 1954 BACH ENGR, Jan. 28, Brusly, La. George Enfield McNutt, Jr., 1950 BACH BUS, Feb. 201, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. T.H. Milby, Jr., 1950 BACH AGR, 1957 MLS, Dec. 1, 2018, Norman, Okla. Darrell Tate Thompson, 1950 BACH H&SS, 1956 MD-NO, Feb. 5, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Patricia Clare Holliday Thompson, 1955 BACH H&SS, Jan. 27, 2019, Dayton, Texas Merrick J. Wyble, 1958 MD-NO, March 13, 2018, Opelousas, La.

1960s

Ralph John Babin, 1962 BACH BUS, Feb. 9, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Raymond Vail Burkart, Jr., 1965 BACH ENGR, Jan. 22, 2019, Hammond, La. Glenn Martin Brady, 1960 MAST HS&E, 1968 PHD HS&E, Feb. 3, 2019, Clinton, La. Leroy J. Colter, 1961 BACH MCOM, April 9, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Marimae Pullam Crochet, 1964 BACH HS&E, 1965 MLA, March 9, 2019, Paris, Ky. Ray Falcon, 1968 BACH SCI, Feb. 24, 2019, Jones Creek, Ga. Rosalie Lueli Tull Fowler, 1966 BACH HS&E, 1970 MAST HS&E, 1985 BACH HS&E, March 4, 2019, Oak Ridge, Tenn. Walter Raymond “Walt” Hays, Sr., 1962 BACH H&SS, Feb. 26, 2019, St. Amant, La. James Heaslip, 1961 BACH ENGR, March 11, 2019, Mandeville, La. Margarete “Maggie” Spinks Hendrick, 1964 BACH HS&E, April 2, 2019, Baton Rouge, La.

Frances Pirotte Zink (1973 PHD HS&E) passed away on Feb. 8, 2019, in Pensacola, Fla. Feb. 8, 2019. A native of Lafayette, La., and longtime faculty member at the University Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette), she was an elected member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society at LSU. She donated two rooms in The Cook Hotel in memory of her late husband, Dr. William L. Zink. Melvin E. Hopper, 1969 BACH ENGR, Feb. 27, 2019, Lakeway, Texas Robert Gregory “Greg” Hussey, 1962 BACH SCI, Professor Emeritus of Physics and Retired Dean of the College of Basic Sciences, March 9, 2019, Roswell, Ga. B. Boyd Jeffers, 1961 BACH ENGR, 1971 MAST ENGR, Feb. 22, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Paul Marks, Jr., 1965 BACH H&SS, 1969 JD, March 8, 2018, Baton Rouge, La. Robert Linfield Singer, Jr., 1968 BACH H&SS, Feb. 26, 2019, St. Francisville, La. Orus Ross Stephens, 1969 BACH BUS, 1975 DDS-NO, Feb. 6, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Bryan M. Vaughn, 1963 BACH HS&E, 1971 MAST HS&E, Feb. 23, 2019, Houston, Texas Walter Eichard Whitehead, 1964 MAST ENGR, 1975 PHD ENGR, Retired Professor of Petroleum Engineering, March 3, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Margaret Vandaworker Wilson, 1966 BACH HS&E, March 17, 2019, Baton Rouge, La.

1970s

Bonnie Bray, 1970 BACH MCOM, Feb. 21, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Cade Edward Carter, Sr., 1972 MAST ENGR, April 12, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Eddie Jenkins Courtney, Jr., 1972 BACH AGR, April 9, 2019, Amite, La. Allan Brian Crow, 1976 BACH H&SS, March 8, 2019, Decatur, Ga. Mary Lynn Dupeey, 1973 MSW, March 31, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Sheila Moore Gordon, 1975 JD, March 28, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. William Emile “Bill” Haydel, 1971 BACH HS&E, 2002 MLS, March 24, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Charles Wayne Heurtevant, 1971 MAST SCI, March 12, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Carle Lorenz Jackson, 1973 BACH H&SS, 1982 JD, Feb. 7, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Cammie Aline Lapenas, 1971 BACH H&SS, 1985 MSW, Jan. 19, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Eugene “Gen” A. LeJeune, 1971 BACH H&SS, March 24, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Ronald Joseph Liuzza, 1977 DDS-NO, Feb. 3, 2019, New Orleans, La. Brent Randall Salter, 1979 BACH BUS, March 27, 2019, Baton Rouge, La.

1980s

Angela Gautreaux Bratcher, 1983 BACH BUS, Jan. 31, 2019, Gonzales, La. Elizabeth Brewster Allison Cameron, 1982 MSW, April 7, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Scott Edward Frazier, 1984 BACH BUS, 1987JD, Jan. 17, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Mary Joseph, 1986 PHD H&SS, Jan. 17, 2019, Baton Rouge, La. Ruth A. Langford, 1988 BACH AGR, Nov. 3, 2018, Maringouin, La. Betty L. Peresich Vignes, 1974 BACH H&SS, 1977 MAST A&D, April 7, 2019, Fairfax, Va.

2000s

Kenneth E. Viger, III, 2004 BACH H&SS, Feb. 15, 2019, Baton Rouge, La.

2010s

Patrick Joseph Mascarella, 2016 MAST H&SS, Jan. 24, 2019, Baton Rouge, La.

Frank Joseph Burns Alumnus By Choice/Traveling Tiger March 18, 2019 Greenwell Springs, La.

Chris Samuel Cimo Alumnus By Choice Feb. 23, 2019 Metairie, La.

Doris W. Hernandez Executive Assistant, College of Humanities & Social Sciences March 20, 2019 Baton Rouge, La.

Frank A. “Doc” Iddings Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Science March 17, 2019 San Antonio, Texas

Graham O. Peavy Retired Director of Purchasing Jan. 23, 2019 Port Allen, La.

Joseph Stephen Popadic Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture Feb. 4, 2019 Shelton, Conn.

William A. Pryor Boyd Professor of Chemistry March 13, 2019 Baton Rouge, La.

John D. Scott, III Retired Professor/Director Center for Advanced Microstructures & Devices April 11, 2019 Baton Rouge, La.

If you would like to make a gift to the LSU Alumni Association in memory of a family member, friend or classmate, please contact our office for additional information at 225-578-3838 or 1-888-746-4578.

72 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

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"I will forever cherish my years at LSU. It is the place where my road to adulthood began, my interest for servant leadership was heightened, my appreciation for the essentiality of friendship was strengthened and the trajectory for my career was established."

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President, CHI St. Luke’s Vintage Hospital LSU Alumnus (2002 BS Microbiology) 2016 LSU Young Alumnus of the Year Member, LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors Tower Club Member

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Alum Helps Guide NASA Craft Beyond Pluto By Ed Cullen

Future astronomer Marc Buie sits on his desk in the basement of Nicholson Hall in this 1970s photo.

“Marc’s real mark was once he started something he did it all the way. New Horizons and the trip to Patagonia showed that.”

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A bad economy in the mid-1970s meant Marc Buie’s parents couldn’t keep their promise to send him to MIT. Tuition was $250 a semester at LSU in 1976. Buie, a product of Baton Rouge public schools, stayed home. Following his physics degree, Buie (1980 BACH SCI) earned a Ph.D. in planetary science at the University of Arizona. “I wouldn’t trade LSU and the University of Arizona for anything,” said Buie, who helped guide NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft past Pluto to a photographic rendezvous with Ultima Thule, a peanut-shaped rock just twenty-one miles long and four-billion miles from Earth. “I know people who went to MIT; I can kick their butts,” he laughed. The kid from Broadmoor High with a chip on his shoulder liked the physics department at LSU from day one. William O. “Bill” Hamilton, LSU physics professor emeritus, had come from Stanford University in 1970 to start what became a precursor of LIGO, the gravitational wave detector that won the Nobel Prize for some of its researchers. Physics researchers in other places were doing similar, pre-LIGO work. Hamilton’s presence at LSU influenced the construction of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory in Livingston Parish. In 2016, LIGO in Louisiana and a sister observatory in Hanford, Wash., confirmed the existence of gravity waves. Barry Barish (California Institute of Technology), Rainer Weiss (MIT and LSU adjunct professor), and Kip Thorne (Caltech) shared a Nobel Prize in 2017 for their LIGO contributions. Though Hamilton’s work at LSU failed to detect gravitational waves, it did generate waves of influence that washed over undergrads in the physics department. Hamilton’s work exposed Buie and classmate Robert Gardner to big-time physics and life in the basement of Nicholson Hall, then a sort of LSU physics clubhouse. “All the guys who worked in the basement,” Hamilton said, “they were the strong backs, you might say. They learned to use all the machines in the machine shop. Mostly, what they learned was that everything’s not in books.” Hamilton’s students say he provided a sophisticated playground for undergraduates in physics and much needed money in the form of student jobs that hardly seemed like work. “I’ve been trying to pay back Bill Hamilton my whole career,” said Buie from his desk at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. “I’ve tried to provide those opportunities to undergraduates, particularly undergraduates. That’s what Dr. Hamilton did for us.” “Marc’s real mark,” said Hamilton, “was, once he started something he did it all the way. New Horizons and the trip to Patagonia showed that.” Buie showed the old Nicholson basement can-do in Patagonia where he and fellow astronomers had gone to try to see an occultation or shadow of Ultima Thule as it passed in front of a star. The window was tiny, the chance for a sighting just seconds in duration. Local Argentines, impressed by the astronomers’ traveling so far on a mysterious – let’s say it, loony – mission, pitched in. They produced tarps to block the wind-buffeting sensitive telescopes and brought up freight trucks for shelter. Police blocked a highway for two hours. “I have never in all my years doing this work seen a community so accommodating, especially for this crazy idea,” Buie told The Advocate’s Steve Hardy. Classmate Robert Gardner says he was the first to move his desk into the equipment loft in the basement. “We studied down there because we wanted to be close to Dr. Hamilton’s gravitational wave experiment,” Gardner said. “We were only paid for twenty hours, but we were available for work all the time. We knew how special the gravitational wave project was. It was leading-edge, full-scale physics.” “It was just my dumb luck to work with Dr. Hamilton,” Gardner continued. “I learned a lot, though I don’t think I contributed anything to the work. Marc and John

Villarrubia (another basement dweller) were world-class smart people. I wanted to put my B.S. in physics to immediate use.” Gardner spent five-and-a-half years in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet before becoming a civilian systems engineer working on combat submarine simulators. Along with Hamilton, Buie said professors Richard L. Imlay, William J. Metcalf, and Paul N. Kirk were the kind of teachers “you interact with, who have the mindset that feeds forward in whatever you do.” Buie meant to go to grad school in physics. “I had no training in astronomy.” Kirk, whose course in quantum mechanics Buie described as “so hard, he really worked us,” suggested Buie apply for a graduate program in planetary science. He applied to five or six schools in physics. He applied to one, the University of Arizona, for admittance to graduate school in planetary science. Buie made a career contribution in planetary science in his work with NASA, but he paid small, quiet homage to his old professor with the discovery and naming of asteroid 9116 Billhamilton. Search Google “New Horizons – Summiting the Solar System: Part 1 and Part 2” for the story of Buie’s and other scientists’ work in the fly-by of Pluto and Ultima Thule.

Marc Buie holds up five fingers for the number of telescopes used in Argentina to try to see the Ultima Thule occultation. Photo: NASA

Ed Cullen, an LSU journalism graduate, is author of Letter in a Woodpile, a collection of his essays for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” He is retired from the Baton Rouge Advocate where he wrote the Sunday column “Attic Salt.”

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Uniting Baton Rouge Through Music

By Ed Cullen

Jody Hanet, left, Kids’ Orchestra executive director, and founder Nanette Noland. Photo by Amber Broussard/Kids’ Orchestra

“But you have to start young. Learning music is like learning a language.”

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One spring evening in 2010, Nanette Noland clicked on the television to watch a 60 Minutes story on the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon disaster. In the same broadcast, there was a story about a musical program for poor children in Venezuela being brought to Los Angeles. Why not Baton Rouge? Noland, CEO of the Powell Group, asked herself. “My daddy said if I was going to live in Louisiana,” Noland said, “I should go to the state university so no matter where I went in the state I would know people.” Noland’s great-grandfather started a rice mill a hundred years ago that became the Powell Group. The Lake Charles milling operation, one of the world’s largest, Noland said, includes other agricultural interests, land management, real estate, and radio stations. Noland (1980 BACH H&SS) had the contacts her father had suggested, many of them in Baton Rouge. Within days of switching off her television that evening, Kids’ Orchestra existed as an idea. The idea, Noland said, was not just to put musical instruments into the hands of poor children but to crosspollinate an elementary school-age orchestra with children from families across the economic spectrum of Louisiana’s capital city. Kids’ Orchestra was about fifty students in four or five schools when another LSU graduate, Jody Hanet (1986 BACH M&DA), signed on about six years ago as the orchestra program’s second executive director. Noland knew of Hanet (pronounced “ah-nay”) from St. James Episcopal Church where the businesswoman is a parishioner and Hanet was making a name for herself as director of St. James’ children’s choir. What most people in Baton Rouge knew of Hanet was but the tip of the baton. Hanet, the mother of two sons, had been doing this sort of thing – growing organizations for children – for twentysix years as “I followed my husband” Michel Hanet’s “career around.”

From New Jersey to Arizona, Hanet, helped start a private school to include children with learning difficulties, took the time to get a masters in educational leadership, started a community choir, grew a church choir from eight children to 120, and was one of the conductors of the seventy-five-year-old Phoenix Boys Choir. Hanet knew how to do what Noland envisioned, but it would take lots of money, mainly money from foundations like Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Pennington, and wealthy individuals to start. As time went on, Kids’ Orchestra donors were often people who weren’t wealthy but liked the idea of a children’s orchestra that would bring Baton Rougeans together, Hanet said. Today, Kids’ Orchestra is a learners orchestra and an honors orchestra in twenty-seven schools, choirs involving twenty-one schools, and a 21st Century Orchestra at schools in North Baton Rouge. The orchestra takes its name from 21st Century Community Learning Center grants that require private matching money. Hanet’s interest in large, performing groups goes back to her flag corps and choir days at Baton Rouge’s Belaire High School. There may be larger children’s orchestras in the United States, Hanet said, but she believes the program here for kindergartners through fifth grade is the largest in the country. “Nanette’s support has been incredible,” Hanet said. “The support of the Powell Group in inkind services like auditing, payroll, and [printing] pay checks has been fantastic.” Fantastic describes the growth of Kids’ Orchestra under Hanet’s leadership. “In July and August of 2013, we went from fifty kids to 500,” Hanet said. “Schools and parents were calling. At 800 kids, we stopped the madness.” The success of Kids’ Orchestra was like free ice cream on a blisteringly hot day. The orchestra, its after-school practices and musical instruction, loaned instruments, transportation, homework tutoring, and after school meals are free to many students. Other students pay

on a sliding scale according to family income. The organization’s $1.6 million annual budget works out to tuition of about $1,200 a child. No child pays anything close to $1,200. Tuitions range from free to $800, according to Hanet. “Eighty-three percent of the families pay something,” she said. “It could be as little as $10 a semester. Or $800.” A little over half the musicians are from poor families, 35 to 40 percent from middle income up and, maybe, 5 percent from families whose incomes range from $100,000 to $200,000, Hanet said. Since the idea is to crosspollinate – to have children from failing schools sitting next to children from topperforming schools, poor children next to well-off children – the poorer children are bused in vehicles chartered by Kids’ Orchestra. No child travels more than four miles from his home school to keep a chockablock after-school schedule between the end of school and 5:30 p.m. Parents and grandparents pick the children up from practice in automobiles or on foot. “A principal at a D-F school told me, ‘You have no idea what it means to my students to be with successful students,” Hanet said. The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board provides none of the buses for transportation, but “they do give us a $50,000 grant,” Hanet said. The City of Baker, a municipality inside East Baton Rouge Parish, fully funds its Kids’ Orchestra program. That comes to about $15,000 for twelve students, according to Hanet. If Baton Rouge has public schools in need of help, it also has an abundance of students just waiting to sing in choirs and play in bands and orchestras, Hanet explained. “It’s meeting a need, then marketing that need,” she said. “We are in a musical desert for kids in Baton Rouge. Kids’ Orchestra provides the “creative outlet,” she said, “that has been taken away from our children.” With her know-how and Noland’s zeal, Hanet started calling principals to arrange “instrument petting zoos.” Into the hands and arms of elementary school

children went violins, violas, cellos, string basses, flutes, trumpets, trombones, clarinets, and percussion instruments. Little kids get a foundation in music literacy that includes reading music. The younger children are introduced to bells, the xylophone, drums, singing, and dance. Kids' Orchestra hires about half the music teachers available in the parish, Noland said. "I'm the LSU music dean's best friend," she said. "We hire seventy music artists (teachers), mostly from LSU, but we're working with Southern University's school of music, too," Hanet said. "We hire a lot of East Baton Rouge Parish teachers. They work in schools during the day and for us at night." "Overall, Louisiana has a poor strings program for middle schoolers," Hanet said. "We might expand to middle schools but not high schools. Towns come to us, now, and we say, 'It’s about funding.' But you have to start young. Learning music is like learning a language." These children don't have to end up in a band on late-night television or first violin in a big city's orchestra to have gotten something from Kids’ Orchestra. Studies suggest their musicianship increases classroom performance by up to15 percent, Hanet said. Grants make up a big part of the $1.6 million budget, but donations from businesses and individuals aren’t inconsequential in the growth of Kids' Orchestra. A woman donor told Hanet that she was giving money for the classical music audiences of tomorrow. Other donors, mindful of the thoughtful mixing of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds, put it this way said Hanet: "We like the idea of healing Baton Rouge." Ed Cullen, an LSU journalism graduate, is author of Letter in a Woodpile, a collection of his essays for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” He is retired from the Baton Rouge Advocate where he wrote the Sunday column “Attic Salt.”

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

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Finding ‘The One’ - Mary Sue Disch Meador, of Baton Rouge, writes: “I was a cheerleader in 1947-48 and rode on Mike's cage for all the games – even when we traveled. It was wonderful. I met my future husband, the late Robert J. Meador (1951 BACH HS&E, MAST 1957 HS&E, +30) at LSU in 1949. He lettered four years in basketball and baseball and two years in track. We had six children – they all attended LSU – and ten grandchildren.”

Bob Meador. Photo: 1948 Gumbo

Mary Sue Disch.

SHARE YOUR “HOW WE MET” STORY WITH LSU TIGER NATION. Send a brief item and photos to jackie@lsualumni.org.

78 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Tigers Around the World

Tiger Nation

Corporal Selwyn Dante, seated third from left, with fellow honorees Motor Machinist 2nd Class William Dunsmore and 1st Class Radioman William Kendall and Honorary Consul of France Sébastien Thévenin, far right.

WWII Vet Honored – Selwyn Dante

was one of three veterans awarded the French Legion of Honor in the Rank of Knight for their service during World War II. The presentations were made by Sébastien Thévenin, Honorary Consul of France in Southern Nevada, in November 2018 at M Resort in Las Vegas. Dante attended LSU in 1944 before shipping out to Europe. With the 638th Tank Destroyer Battalion, he went ashore at Normandy and pursued the German army across France, Belgium, and Germany before returning to the United States. He also enrolled in classes at LSU in 1946 and 1948.

From left, Kyle, Rebecca, John, Elaine, Dominic, and Katie Rodgers.

Team Rodgers – Sid Rodgers (1962 BACH BUS) of Deatsville, Ala., #1 on Team Rodgers shares a recent shot of team members. Sid (#1) writes, “Kyle (#3), wife Katie, and nine-month-old Dominic (#4) are in the picture along with John (#2), his wife, Elaine, and daughter, Rebecca, who is going to Jacksonville State when she graduates. Geaux Tigers!”

Photo: Veterans Reporter News, Dec. 1, 2018

Happy 101st – Earlier this year, Ron

Kipfer, minister at Apostolic Christian Church in Bluffton, Ind., gave the magazine a heads up about Florence Young Kellogg, who turned 101 on April 5. After seeing the article in the spring issue, he wrote, “It is my turn to preach the Sunday service at the rest home on March 17. I think I will make your newsletter a part of my message. There are usually around seventy-five residents and family members there. They will appreciate that LSU remembered one of its older alums.”

Florence Kellogg reading her LSU Alumni Magazine and wearing her 1940 class ring.

Kathy Crossin.

80 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

Crossin in Cuba – LSU San Diego Tiger Kathy Crossin visited Cuba in February and shares a photo taken next to one of the famed old cars in Havana. “I left my LSU cap for the son of one of my guesthouse hostesses, and also went to the beach in Trinidad with my LSU tote.”

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Mahtook Donates Jersey Mikie Mahtook (2013 BACH HS&E), outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, donated a game-worn jersey to the Arab American National Museum in Dearbon, Mich., in January during the Tigers Winter Caravan visit to announce Arab American Night at Comerica Park scheduled for Aug. 6, 2019. During the ceremony, Mahtook revealed and autographed the jersey he wore during the Tigers 2018 season opener. The jersey joins autographed game-worn cleats, a cap, and a bat in the permanent Mikie Mahtook Collection at the museum. The museum gifted Mahtook with information about his family history. From a Syrian Lebanese business directory circa 1908, Mahtook received an image of the page listing the dry goods and grocery store in Patterson, La., owned by his greatgreat-grandfather, Butros Mahtook. Another image was a census record from 1930 listing Mahtook’s great-grandfather, Antoine, his wife Elle, and their four children, residing in Lafayette, La., Mikie Mahtook’s hometown. “Being here and learning the history, seeing how beautiful this museum is, it inspires me,” Mahtook said. “I’m very grateful for my ancestors and what they did to come here to make a better life.”

Mikie Mahtook signs a game-worn jersey he donated to the Arab American National Museum.

82 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

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Kids Zone

Future Cadets – Former Professor of Military Science Lt. Col. (Ret.) Mark A. Caruso shares photos of his grandchildren, two-and-a-half-year-old James Barnette, left, and eighteen-month-old Henry Whitt. “They are both Tiger cubs now but definitely future Tiger cadets,” Caruso said. Mike’s Kids - Three-year-old Connor

Rogers poses with a trio of Tiger Girls at Mike’s Kids Club event at the spring game in April. The future Tiger, son of Scott (2003 JD) and Tiffany Rogers, of Iowa, La., will celebrate his fourth birthday on Sept. 20.

WHAT’S YOUR VOLUNTEER PASSION? Send a photo of yourself “in action” and tell Tigers Around the World how and why you share your time and talents with others.

84 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2019

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