25 minute read
Tiger Nation
Tiger
NATION
1960s
John Sibley “Johnny” Butler
(1969 BACH H&SS), the J. Marion West Chair for Constructive Capitalism in the Graduate School of Business (Management), professor in the Management Department, the Darrell K. Royal Regents Professor of Ethics and American Society (Sociology), and faculty director of Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, was named to the University of Texas Texas 10, the annual list of professors considered by their former students as having made a lasting impact on their lives. Butler holds a doctorate from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.
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
1970s
George B. Duke (1977 BACH ENGR), chairman and owner of Zippo Manufacturing Co., was honored by the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford with the naming of a new building in his honor. The George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building, recognizing Duke for his longtime support of and service to the campus, will open in the fall. Duke pledged a $2 million gift, dedicated largely to equipping state-of-the-art engineering labs in the new building. Zippo previously contributed $1 million to support the computer information systems and technology program.
1980s
Richard Arsenault (1980 JD) recently chaired a Baylor Law School LLM Program regarding complex litigation management and resolution strategy. He also chaired the Miami HarrisMartin seminar regarding mass tort/MDL litigation and was selected for inclusion in the Top 50 Lawyers in America list.
Mark Gauthier (1984 BACH BUS) joined Marcum, an accounting and advisory services firm, in Tampa, Fla. Prior to joining Marcum, Gauthier owned and operated a boutique advisory consultancy; founded and managed consulting practices in Big Four accounting firms; served as a leader and advisor to companies on operational and growth strategy and implementation; and secured numerous private equity, debt, and strategic partner funding for clients.
Alonzo Llorens (1984 BACH BUS) was named a partner in Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Atlanta. He focuses his corporate practice on capital markets and finance, mergers and acquisitions, securities compliance, corporate governance, and minority business enterprise (MBE) certification and transactions.
Tim McCarthy (1989 BACH BUS) joined Postlethwaite & Netterville in the newly created role of tax operations director. He is based in the firm’s Metairie, La., office.
Denise C. Puente (1983 BACH MCOM, JD 1987), a commercial litigator practicing primarily in the areas of construction and surety law, was named managing partner of Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn, New Orleans.
Stephen Stewart (1983 BACH MCOM) marked his fiftieth professional play production at the 2022 Houston Scriptwriters 10 x 10 Showcase with his newest work, "She’ll Have What He's Having," a play about "The MeToo Movement.” The play is Stewart’s sixth play in Houston production's fifteen-year history, and his other plays continue to be produced around the nation. In addition to communications, Stewart studied playwriting while attending LSU.
1990s
Tony Barnett (1999 BACH BUS), of Atlanta, was appointed vice president of marketing for Operation Homefront, leading the strategic development of marketing campaigns and securing brand partnerships and sponsorships to drive brand awareness and donor engagement. He was previously with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, USO, and Disney.
Doreen Brasseaux (1996 BACH H&SS, 2001 MPA) joined Sequitur Consulting based in Baton Rouge after serving as president and CEO of the American Council
of Engineering Companies of Louisiana. Sequitur provides strategic planning, policy development, governmental relations, and stakeholder engagement services. Brasseaux retired from LSU as assistant vice president for University Relations.
Rhoman Hardy (1991 BACH ENGR), senior vice president of U.S. Gulf Coast manufacturing locations for Shell Oil Company, was named to a four-year term on the LSU Foundation Board of Directors. He is a member of the College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council; serves on the boards of Louisiana’s Community and Technical Colleges, Louisiana Chemical Association, Shell Pension and Provident Fund Trust, and Baton Rouge Area Chamber; and is a former board member of the Baton Rouge Arts Council and Capital Area United Way. Hardy holds an Executive MBA from Rice University. He and wife, Jolene, have two sons, both of whom are LSU students.
Shanika Jackson Martin
(1997 BACH H&SS) was recently named director of culture and inclusion at Monogram Foods headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., responsible for creating and advancing the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. Previously, she managed corporate social responsibility, public relations, and government affairs for TruGreen and also served as a mayoral appointee leading multicultural and religious affairs for the City of Memphis. Roger R. Messer (1997 BACH H&SS), a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, was appointed to the rank of brigadier general and will serve as commander of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, ACC, Southwest Asia. He was previously deputy director of plans, programs, and requirements at Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. While at LSU, he was a four-year member of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) Det 310, the Flying Tigers.
Terrel A. Thomas (1996 BACH BUS) joined Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s workers compensation group in its Baton Rouge office. She was previously an attorney with the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation
Corporation, representing employers and the largest workers’ compensation carrier in Louisiana before the Office of Workers' Compensation, the U.S. DOL Office of Administrative Law judges, U.S. District Courts, Louisiana State District Courts, and Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal. She earned a JD from Southern University Law Center in 1999.
2000s
Bonnie Dye (2005 BACH BUS) joined Hinshaw & Culbertson, New Orleans, as a partner in the consumer financial services practice group. Dye is a member and treasurer of the New Orleans Women and Children's Shelter. She earned a JD from Tulane University Law School. Danza Huey (2008 BACH H&SS) created Mash Up card games for the 21st Century over-twenty-one crowd and the 21st Century kid, bringing back classic games with new twists. Huey, a first-generation LSU graduate, holds an MBA from Georgia Institute of Technology Scheller College of Business. While at LSU he was a member of LSU Summer Scholars, LSU Ambassadors, LSU Student Senate, and LSU Residential Life and worked with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and LSU Spring Invitational. He currently serves on the board of the National Black MBA Association/Atlanta Chapter as director of marketing content and is a member of The Gathering Spot. Visit mashupcards.com Kyle LaFerney (2007 BACH A&D) was promoted to vice president of marketing at the architectural firm Parkhill. He joined the firm in 2019 and has served in multiple roles centered on business development and client relations, most recently as director of business strategy and client relations. Kyle, his wife, Robin, and sons Cade and Myles reside in Frisco, Texas, and he is a community volunteer with Frisco Family Services.
Nancy Little (2001 BACH MCOM) was named director of alumni and corporate fundraising at The Dunham School in Baton Rouge. She was most recently assistant director for individual giving at Houston Ballet and also has held positions at New York City Ballet, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, and the LSU Office of
Communications & University Relations. She earned master’s degree in arts from the University of Kentucky and an MBA from Texas A&M University Kingsville.
Brian O’Connor (2006 BACH MCOM), principal of Veteran Enhanced Technology Solutions, was one of sixty individuals named to the 2022 Presidential Leadership Scholars program. The program brings together a diverse network of leaders to collaborate and create meaningful change in the U.S. and around the world as they learn about leadership through the lens of the presidential experiences of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
2010s
Vernon K. Dunn, Jr. (2018 PHD SCI) joined the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) as a research staff member for the Science and Technology Policy Institute. Dunn earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Xavier in 2010.
Seth Reich (2010 BACH ENGR), an attorney with Caldwell Cassady & Curry, Dallas, was promoted to principal. He joined the firm in 2018 and handles cases in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. He has served as trial counsel in matters involving patent infringement, contract disputes, contested trademarks, and trade secrets claims. Reich was named to the 2022 Texas Rising Stars list of the state’s top young legal practitioners. Allyce Trapp (2016 BACH MCOM, 2020 MAST MCOM) was promoted to government affairs advisor at Adams & Reese, Baton Rouge. She was previously director of governmental affairs for the Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge and was a former associate at a full-service issues management communications firm.
Jay Weisman (2012 BACH H&SS), a math and social studies teacher at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans, was one of sixty educators nationwide to receive a Milken Educator Award and $25,000 cash prize. The award, sponsored by the Milken Family Foundation to celebrate, elevate, and activate the teaching profession, is the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition program, often hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching.”
2020s
Claire Bermudez (2020 BACH MCOM) completed TEGNA’s Producer-in-Residence Program and is now serving as a morning show producer at KHOU in Houston.
Rachel Mipro (2021 BACH H&SS), former Reveille opinion editor, is among the top five winners of the Explanatory Reporting Competition of the 20212022 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. Her LSU Cold Case Project story, “Horrific 1960 Louisiana Killing of 4 Black Men Leaves Unanswered Questions,” which raises awareness about a racial injustice incident in Louisiana, earned her third place in the competition.
BABY BENGALS
Erin Cadenhead (2007 BACH BUS) and her husband, Jason Arias, announce the birth of their daughter, Lilly Cade Arias, on Oct. 3, 2021. “Lilly’s stepsister, Ryland, made her LSU debut at the LSU-Texas A&M game last fall, and Lilly made her first appearance at a spring baseball game,” writes Cadenhead. “All of Lilly’s maternal aunts and her grandparents went to LSU – we’re a household of Tigers!”
Melissa Hart Dean (2011 BACH MCOM) and Cameron Dean (2017 BACH HS&E) announce the birth of their son, future Tiger Jordan Becker Dean, on Nov. 4, 2021. Jordan was welcomed home by their daughter, Samantha, and the family pet, Rizzo.
Jared and Jenny Adams Wooley (2011 BACH H&SS) announce the birth of their son, Patton Thomas Wooley, on March 15, 2022. Patton weighed in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. and was twenty-one inches long. He was welcomed home by his big brother, three-year-old Palmer Morgan Wooley.
WEDDING BELLS
Levin-Lane Nuptials – Alexandria Levin (2005 BACH AGR) and Joseph “Joe” Lane were married in October 2021 in the bride’s hometown, San Clemente, Calif. The ceremony, an intimate, fall-inspired wedding, took place at a beachside country club where bride and one of her attendants, fellow Tiger Eaugelique Ware, posed for a photo while making the L hand gesture.
In Memoriam
1940s
Benjamin H. “Ben” Alsip, Jr., 1948 BACH AGR, 1949 MAST AGR, April 1, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Frances Lussan Greenfield, 1948 BACH AGR, Jan. 15, 2022, Plaquemine, La.
1950s
Louis Anzalone, Jr., Jan. 21, 2022, Retired Associate Professor of Plant Pathology, 1956 MAST AGR, 1959 PHD AGR, Bellingham, Wash. Arletta Dornier Averett, 1959 BACH H&SS, Jan. 27, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Leslie Oliver Bickham, 1958 BACH AGR, Feb. 2, 2022, St. Francisville, La. Faye Underwood Brown, 1957 MAST HS&E, March 28, 2022, Baton Rouge, La Ursula Bogan Carmena, 1959 BACH H&SS, Feb. 9, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Lloyd Paul Champagne, Sr., 1950 BACH H&SS, 1954 MD, March 6, 2022, Scottsdale, Ariz. John Compton, Jr., 1957 BACH AGR, March 26, 2022 Baton Rouge, La. Adrian L. Decker, 1957 BACH H&SS, March 30, 2022, Zachary, La. Sally Kelly Goynes, 1955 BACH HS&E, March 28, 2022, Pride, La. Michael Arthur Grace, Jr., 1957 BACH BUS, 1979 JD, March 25, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Roland Anthony Gravois, 1950 BACH ENGR, Jan. 23, 2022, Gonzales, La. Norman Lamar Koonce, 1954 BACH A&D, March 22, 2022, Sterling, Va. Lindsey Edward Landreneau, 1957 BACH H&SS, Feb. 11, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Vincent Webb Miranda, Sr., 1956 BACH H&SS, April 10, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Penrose Clyde St. Amant, 1959 JD, March 11, 2022, Gonzales, La. Emily Jane Richard Zeringue, 1957 BACH HS&E, Feb. 21, 2022, Baton Rouge, La.
1960s
Joseph Earl Babin, 1966 BACH BUS, March 1, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Allen U. Bedell, 1960 BACH AGR, Jan. 3, 2022, Hot Springs, Ark. Joseph Oliver Bergeron, 1960 BACH ENGR, Jan. 16, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Lynn Anthony Brou, 1969 MAST H&SS, March 4, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. John Mitchell Carnahan, 1961 BACH BUS, Feb. 24, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Larry James Chaloupka, 1969 PHD HS&E, March 18, 2022, McKinney, Texas Patricia Louise Cheramie, 1966 BACH MCOM, Feb. 18, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Kenneth C. Corkum, Professor Emeritus of Zoology & Physiology, 1960 MAST H&SS, 1963 PHD H&SS, Nov. 15, 2021, Rogers, Ariz. Jack Albert “Bert” Dantin, Jr., 1963 BACH ENGR, Jan. 17, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Thomas Gaylord “Tom” Day, Jr., 1968 BACH BUS, February 2022, San Antonio, Texas Earline Marie Decoteau, 1964 MLS, Feb. 14, 2022, Killeen, Texas Wiley Ray Dial, 1967 BACH H&SS, 1971 JD, March 31, 2022, Jarreau, La. Edith Annette Repp Douthat, 1969 BACH AGR, March 31, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Felix Randall “Boomer” Garret, 1969 BACH H&SS, 1972 JD, March 10, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Bryan Ventis “Buck” Grantham, 1962 BACH AGR, March 18, 2022, Livingston, La. Thomas Joseph Hannie, Jr., 1964 BACH H&SS, Feb. 12, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Louie P. “Pete” Heard, 1960 BACH AGR, 1961 MAST AGR, Jan. 13, 2022, Brandon, Miss Sharon Lytle Hoffeld, 1963 BACH HS&E, 1965 MAST H&SS, Feb. 16, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. James Sidney “Jimmy” Holliday, Jr., 1962 BACH BUS, 1965 JD, March 18, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Rohan Benjamin LaFleur, 1965 BACH ENGR, March 12, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. William C. Morrison, 1963 BACH AGR, Feb. 18, 2022, Weatherford, Texas Rodney Gypsy “Gyp” Olsen, Jr., 1967 BACH AGR, March 22, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. John V. Richey, 1967 BACH H&SS, 1970 MD-NO, Feb. 20, 2022, Ferriday, La. Phillip Charles Scardina, 1966 BACH BUS, Feb. 15, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Arnold T. “Doc” Stevens, Jr., 1968 BACH BUS March 22, 2022, Osyka, Miss. Harry Lee Thibodeaux, Jr., 1965 BACH A&D, Feb. 2, 2022, Pineville, La. Roy Charles ”Moonie” Winston, 1967 BACH HS&E, March 5, 2022, Birmingham, Ala.
1970s
Arthur Howell Andrews, 1973 JD, March 23, 2022 Baton Rouge, La. Michael Joseph Boudreaux, 1972 BACH ENGR, March 19, 2022, Lafayette, La. Robert A. “Buddy” Champion, 1979 BACH AGR, Feb. 24, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Richard Malcolm Cole, 1974 BACH H&SS, Jan. 24, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Gail Ellen Denham, 1978 BACH H&SS, March 4, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. John Evans Dutton, Retired Curator, LSU Rural Life Museum, 1973 BACH H&SS, March 27, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. James Saxon “Pete” Farmer, 1974 JD, Jan. 28, 2022, Bogalusa, La. William Francis “Bill” Font, 1971 MAST H&SS, 1975 PHD H&SS, April 8, 2022, Hammond, La. Barton Lee Frye, 1971 BACH H&SS, 1977 DDS-NO, March 11, 2022, St. Francisville, La. Douglas Fleet Herrin, Sr., 1977 BACH AGR, Feb. 15, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Shirley Sue Anderson Hill, 1979 MLS, March 9, 2022, Broussard, La. James Randall “Randy” Loyd, 1975 BACH BUS, Jan. 16, 2022, Dallas, Pa. Patricia “Pat” Morgan, 1972 BACH HS&E, Instructor of English (retired), Feb. 17, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Kathleen Noel Smith, 1972 BACH HS&E, March 11, 2022 Baton Rouge, La. Merwyn Lamar Varnado, Sr., 1979 BACH H&SS, Jan. 16, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Teryl Lin Chambers Vincent, 1978 MSW, Feb. 15, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Mary Stella Woolfolk Williamson, 1975 BACH H&SS, 1978 JD, Feb. 11, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Dorothy Wallace Percy Woodside, 1971 BACH H&SS, March 15, 2022, St. Francisville, La.
1980s
Paul Thomas “Paul Cat” Catalanatto, 1987 BACH H&SSm Feb. 18, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Amy Caroline Coe, 1984 BACH A&D, Feb. 5, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Aven Vernon Dearman, 1981 BACH H&SS, March 12, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Charles Wayne Dunaway, 1985 BACH BUS, Feb. 21, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. David Wayne “John” Floyd, Retired Executive Director, LSU Rural Life Museum, 1980 BACH H&SS, Feb. 22, 2022, St. Francisville, La. Judy Fate Barbay Hammonds, 1986 MAST H&SS, March 12, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Kevin Owens LaCour, 1982 BACH H&SS, Jan. 20, 2022, Prairieville, La. Juliette Landry Massey, 1985 BACH H&SS, Feb. 17, 2022, Zachary, La. Alan Patrick McGlynn, Jan. 25, 2022, 1987 BACH H&SS, 1992 JD, St. Gabriel, La. Joel Philip Oustalet, 1983 BACH H&SS, March 2, 2022, Jennings, La. Thomas Carlyle Stuckey, Jr., 1984 DVM, Jan. 30, 2022, Baton Rouge, La. Curtis A. Varnado, MBA 1982, March 22, 2022, Watson, La.
1990s
John Ashley Barras, 1991 MAST H&SS, Feb. 14, 2022, Houma, La. Kimberly Carol Waters, 1993 BACH BUS, Pflugerville, Texas Jan. 22, 2022
2000s
Charles R. Watson, 2008 MAST H&SS, March 3, 2022, Baton Rouge, La.
A memorial gift to the LSU Alumni Association in the name of a family member, friend, or classmate is a caring way to pay tribute to a person’s life and accomplishments. To make a gift or for more information, call 225.578.3838 or 1.888.746.4578.
Paul Richard Baier George M. Armstrong, Jr. Professor of Law Judge Henry A. Politz Professor of Law Feb. 18, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Susan Hubbell Dawson Professor Emerita of Social Work March 6, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Joyce Marie Vince Dodds Retired Administrative Coordinator, Career Services Feb. 23, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Edward P. Dunigan Professor Emeritus/Department Head of Agronomy March 1, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Vincent Grenfell, Sr. Alumnus by Choice March 22, 2022 Houston, Texas
Bruce Frederick Jenny Retired D.L. Evans Professor of Dairy Science Feb. 12, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Arlo U. Landolt Ball Family Professor Emeritus of Physics & Astronomy Jan. 21, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Fritz McCameron Professor Emeritus of Accounting Retired Dean, LSU Continuing Education January 19, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Shirley Ann White Retired Professor of Management Jan. 21, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Martha Cornelia Yarbrough Professor Emerita of Music Education April 5, 2022 Baton Rouge, La.
Tigers in Print
Margaret Olson Tassin (1971 BACH AGR) Forms Management Book of Knowledge
Margaret Olson Tassin and Louise Laperrière, members of the Business Forms Management Association, published online the Forms Management Book of Knowledge. Both authors spent careers in the forms industry and realized there were no formal training or education programs in that discipline. The book, paired with an online certificate program, aims to fill that gap and provide best practices. The book is not about forms design or development, although the subject is referenced in the book. It is about the multiple and varied areas and elements that affect forms, their development, use, and management throughout a life cycle that can last decades.
Wendy Barnes (1997 BACH H&SS) Landscape with Bloodfeud
Scarred by nuclear smokestacks, oil wells, and surging floodwaters, and haunted by the legacies of slavery, racism, and French rule, the Louisiana of Landscape with Bloodfeud is disenchanted but still exerts an undeniable pull. Reckoning with displacement, ancestral guilt, and centuries of human and environmental exploitation, Wendy Barnes dissects the state's turbulent past as a microcosm of colonial oppression, westward expansion, and the birth of global capitalism. With an expat's detachment, our Louisiana-born speaker contemplates her fraught relationship with her home culture and her white working-class roots, raising questions about complicity and shame, as history "bleeds us all for its tax, some for more, / digging down into every wet wound, / digging down among the taproots, under old folks' / marble tombs or unmarked graves.
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.
By Rachel Holland
Rachel Balkovec, the first woman manager in affiliated professional baseball history.
Rachel Balkovec (2012 MAST HS&E) is the first woman manager in affiliated professional baseball history. The New York Yankees named Balkovec the new manager for the team’s minor league Low-A affiliate team, the Tampa Tarpons.
“LSU was an absolutely critical point in my career when I learned about elite level standards in championship programs. The coaches, players, and professors all played a huge role in developing a foundation on which to build a career in professional sports. I gained the confidence I needed to be at the next level through the mentorship I received at LSU,” Balkovec said.
While studying at LSU, she was a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach. Balkovec is no stranger to Yankees’ pinstripes. In 2019, she joined the organization as a minor league hitting coach – the first woman to hold that position in professional baseball history.
“Just being able to empower young people, and for me the vehicle is baseball. Being able to coach young men and help them grow and mature as people, more so than anything else, that really is the dream. To be able to empower people and show people what they’re capable of. I’m not talking about hitting a white ball; I’m talking about what they’re capable of as humans. So I really think that is the dream. To give everyone the opportunity to maximize the potential,” Balkovec said.
After receiving a master’s degree in sports administration from LSU, Balkovec’s coaching career started in minor league baseball.
“In 2014, I was with St. Louis Cardinals on one of their rookie league teams as a strength and conditioning coach. When it ended, I moved to the Dominican Republic and worked with a winter baseball team,” Balkovec said. She was the first woman to be hired as a full-time strength and conditioning coach in affiliated baseball.
She also worked for the Houston Astros as their Latin America strength and conditioning coordinator and their double-A strength and conditioning coach.
“Then I quit at the end of 2018 and went back to school, this time to Amsterdam for a year and completed my research for that degree in Seattle. Then I was hired by the New York Yankees as a minor league hitting coach. It’s been quite a journey, a little bit different, but I wouldn’t take any of it back,” Balkovec said.
By Brian Hudgins
Stephanie Robert in the operating room. Photo: Dr. Joseph King Jr., MD, MSCE, FAANS
When Stephanie Robert encountered a major barrier, she received a clear signal to surge forward.
Robert (2008 BACH SCI), a senior resident in neurological surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, was an undergrad chemistry major at LSU when she met Graca Vicente, Boyd Professor of Chemistry and the Charles H. Barré Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. In 2007, Vicente was working on developing molecules that could cross the blood-brain barrier for drug delivery purposes. She served as a mentor for Robert’s senior thesis.
“I fell in love with the brain,” Robert said. “I really found a fascination and awe of how the brain works.”
Robert, a Metairie, La., native who moved to Huntsville, Ala., during elementary school, is the first physician and surgeon in her family. The chemistry department gave her a foundation to further pursue that goal.
“LSU was where I learned how to do research; how to ask scientific questions, come up with a hypothesis, do experiments, and analyze that data,” Robert said. “It was what allowed me to really start learning about the brain, the physiology of it and how different and fascinating it is.”
Robert received her medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Ala. Neurosurgery offered her a career that combined her interests in surgery, the brain, and the neuroscience research she wanted to continue. The research paths have fanned out in multiple directions. Her PhD-level research, under the mentorship of Harald Sontheimer, professor and chair of neuroscience at the University of Virginia, focused on issues around the brain and brain tumors. She explored how tumors change the brain and how the brain responds.
“Patients with brain tumors often have seizures,” Robert said. “We looked at what the tumor is doing to induce this hyperexcitable peritumoral environment.”
Since then, Robert has transitioned to examining how the brain responds to treatment of metastatic brain tumors, specifically after stereotactic radiosurgery. She also researches how infection and blood in the brain ventricles cause hydrocephalus (when ventricles in the brain enlarge), which can happen both with tumors and other pathologies that occur.
“When it comes to the brain, there is still so much we don’t understand,” Robert said. “It’s the organ that makes us who we are. We see in patients who have dementia, they can be completely healthy otherwise, but they are not themselves anymore.”
Those brain conditions present a different dynamic than pathologies in other areas of the body. “Cancer in the abdomen – there are a lot of consequences with that – but at the end of the day, you are still going to be you,” Robert said. “The brain is much different. A brain tumor can change your ability to move, to take care of yourself, and can quickly take away who you are fundamentally. I have always wanted to be a part of learning how it works and how we can fix the things that go wrong.”
What nurtured that interest? LSU. Robert noted the influence of many of her professors and mentors, including the late James Wharton, chancellor emeritus, who served as chancellor from 1981-1988 and then taught general chemistry until his official retirement in 2008.
“The mentorship I received, even in such a large institution, it was so focused and dedicated,” Robert said.
Brian Hudgins is a Houston native who enjoys SEC sports and covering a variety of subjects as a freelance writer.
BR Press Club – Sarah Holliday Jams (1984 BACH H&SS), chats with LSU President William F. Tate, IV, guest speaker at the March 7 meeting of the Press Club of Baton Rouge.
The Magic Jones, Arin Jackson and Alexis Jones.
The Magic Jones
New Orleans natives Arin Jackson (2007 BACH H&SS) and her sister, Alexis Jones (2010 BACH H&SS) – The Magic Jones – are part of the history-making GRAMMY® nominated group of twenty-six black artists and musicians known as the 1 Tribe Collective.
Jackson of GRAMMY®-nominated group, Brownstone, and Jones, a singer/ actress whose performance credits include Tyler Perry's “A Madea Christmas,” as well as Kanye West's Sunday Service Choir, were inspired to create music that both children and parents could enjoy listening to, with the goal of increasing ethnic diversity in lullabies and nursery rhymes.
“As an artist and mother of two young boys, I wanted to expose them to various elements of music as early as possible. During their toddler and pre-kindergarten stages, the options for the music we could enjoy together were somewhat limited which is why we sought to create this collection,” said Jackson, who resides in Atlanta with her husband and two children. “With so many families with young children under quarantine, it gave us the opportunity to collaborate again on something timely and meaningful” added Jackson.
Prior to the collaborative project, the duo created R&B music for parents coping with homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic with the goal of increasing ethnic diversity in lullabies and nursery rhymes. The lens of their work aligned squarely with the goals of the collective album before it was even created.
In November 2021, the Recording Academy announced that All 1 Tribe was one of five albums earning a GRAMMY® nomination in the Best Children’s Music Album category. All 1 Tribe spans musical genres and is suitable for families and children of all ages. The tracklist addresses topics of STEM, vaccinations, family, Black history, and the beauty of differences. The collective’s single, “1 Tribe” brings the artists together for an energetic expression of universal belonging and unity.
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.
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