Winter 2015, Volume 91, Number 4 by LSU Alumni Association

A L U M N I ' M A G A Z I N E Winter 2015, Volume 91, Number 4

From the

PRESIDENT/CHANCELLOR

Tiger Advocates = Great Achievements This semester revealed great achievements for LSU – achievements that would not have been possible without your support through Tiger Advocates. Because you gathered together and spoke with one voice during the last legislative session, we were able to avoid unprecedented budget cuts and continue to provide top-notch educational opportunities for our students, and our faculty were able to continue their vitally important research and scholarly work. Our recent achievements run the gamut from philanthropic giving to student success and faculty discoveries. We welcomed one of our largest freshman classes to campus, a group that also happened to be our most academically qualified class ever. We were also awarded the Higher Education Diversity Award for the fourth year in a row. After closing our most successful philanthropic year on record, we have been able to celebrate many high-level gifts from loyal alumni and friends, including $1 million from the late T.J. Moran and $2 million from Boyd Professor Emerita Shirley Tucker. Our Paul M. Hebert Law School was recognized as the #8 Best Value Law School in the nation, and its students once again received the highest bar exam passage rates in the state. Our Flores MBA program was recognized by Forbes as one of the Top 30 in the nation. Researchers at our Museum of Natural Science recently discovered a new genus and species of mammal in Indonesia, and one of our anthropologists was part of the international team responsible for identifying a new human ancestor, Homo naledi. And, our internationally renowned physicists continue to rake in high-level achievements, leading the U.S. Science Team’s research on the International Space Station and participating in Nobel-winning research on neutrinos. We do all this with some of the lowest levels of state financial support in the country – imagine what we could do with more. I know we left some hard-won battles behind us last spring, but more await, along with tremendous opportunity. Once again, our state faces considerable budgetary challenges. But the change in state leadership will likely lead to a special session, a large portion of which could be focused on funding higher education. We stand poised at a time that could see a real shift in how LSU is funded in the future. I encourage you to consider joining Tiger Advocates at www.lsualumni.org/ tigeradvocates if you haven’t already and to spread the word to your friends and family who care about LSU. It is an excellent way to stay updated on important issues related to your alma mater, and they will keep you abreast of upcoming challenges and relevant legislation. Your support, along with the outpouring shown by our students, made the difference and showed our leaders how important this university is to the people of Louisiana. Without you, there would be no LSU. With your continued dedication, I am certain we will enter into a new era, one that will provide stable funding, allowing us to capitalize on previous successes and use that traction to build our national reputation while continuing to provide high-value, affordable higher education for the citizens of Louisiana and beyond. Thank you for everything you do, and Geaux Tigers!

F. King Alexander President and Chancellor @lsuprez

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Publisher LSU Alumni Association

Contents

Editor Jackie Bartkiewicz Advertising Kelsey David Art Director Chuck Sanchez STUN Design & Interactive

A L U M N I ' M A G A Z I N E Features

22 Religion on Campus Despite surveys that show organized religion continuing to lose ground on United States college campuses, chaplains and leaders of other religious organizations at LSU say religion, in its many forms, is healthy on the Baton Rouge campus. Campus ministers estimate that of the 30,000 students on the main campus maybe 5,000 go to some church or identify with a religious organization while 3,000 are active members of a religious group, and the presence of religion at LSU is about what is found around the Southeastern Conference.

28 Rising Stars Each spring, the University recognizes the teaching, research, and service accomplishments of its faculty with more than 120 awards presented at the Distinguished Faculty Awards Ceremony. Twenty-four of the individuals honored this year received awards underwritten by the LSU Alumni Association, including ten recipients of the new Rising Faculty Research Award. Meet this year’s winners, who represent seven different colleges in disciplines spanning the arts, humanities, and sciences.

In Each Issue 1

From the President/Chancellor

President’s Message

LSU Alumni Association News

36 Around Campus 52 Focus on Faculty 54 Locker Room 60 Tiger Nation

Cover design by STUN Design & Interactive.

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Editorial Assistants Patti Garner, Brenda Macon Contributors Christopher E. Carlton, Barry Cowan, Ed Cullen, Rebecca Docter, Kyle E. Harms, Bud Johnson, Olivia McClure, Meg Ryan Photography Emily Berniard, Abagail Cambre, Mark Claesgens, Saara DeWalt, Ray Dry, Mike Ferro, Steve Franz, Adrienne Gale, Johnny Gordon, Larry Hubbard, Richard Leschen, LSU Sports Information, Olivia McClure, Claire McVea, School of Veterinary Medicine, Stacey Messina, Eddy Perez, Brandli Roberts, Josie Taylor, Beth Tope, Jim Zietz Printing Baton Rouge Printing

NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS Gil Rew Chair, Mansfield, La. Jan K. Liuzza Chair-Elect, Kenner, La. Jack A. Andonie Immediate Past Chair, Metairie, La. Lodwrick M. Cook Director Emeritus, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

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Mary Lou Applewhite, New Orleans, La. Leo C. Hamilton, Baton Rouge, La. Jon D. “Jay” Babb, Baton Rouge, La. Ronald M. Johnson, Baton Rouge, La. Karen G. Brack, La Jolla, Calif. Louis R. Minsky, Baton Rouge, La. C. A. “Buddy” Brice III, Biloxi, Miss. Richard C. “Rick” Oustalet, Jennings, La. Stephen “Steve” Brown, Sherman Oaks, Calif. Beverly G. Shea, New Iberia, La. Gregg Cordaro, Baton Rouge, La. John T. Shelton, Jr. Houston, Texas Randy L. Ewing, Quitman, La. Carl Streva, Morgan City, La. Kathy Fives, Las Vegas, Nev. Susan K. Whitelaw, Bossier City, La. Stan Williams, Fort Worth, 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. Approval of Periodicals Postage Paid prices is pending at Baton Rouge, La., and at additional mailing offices. 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 © 2015 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.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

President and CEO

MESSAGE

Thanks to YOU, We’re Growing Your Association is growing! Five years ago, our contributing membership stood at about 9,500. As of Aug. 31, 2015, we have 15,146 contributors, as compared to 14,225 on Aug. 31, 2014 – an increase of more than 900 members. This progress is a testament to many alumni chapters across the globe that are encouraging local alumni and friends to take part in giving back to LSU. Before the semester began, the Association, working with the Department of Student Life & Enrollment, took part in events welcoming freshman future alumni to campus – STRIPES, Bengal Bound, First Year Experience, and Food Truck Wroundup. During the fall, we actively engaged thousands of alumni, friends, former students, and future alumni at home football game events at The Cook Hotel, the Andonie Sports Museum, and the Tiger Tailgate Party at the Maravich Assembly Center, a collaborative event for donors sponsored by the Tiger Athletic Foundation, the LSU Foundation, and the Association. Hundreds of Tiger Band alumni returned to campus and to Tiger Stadium for the popular Tiger Band Reunion, sponsored by the Association and LSU Tiger Band. In conjunction with Barnes & Noble, we hosted thousands of future alumni for Grad Fair, a one-stop-shopping event for graduating seniors. Donors to the Association’s Flagship Scholarship program met recipients and their parents at the Scholars Banquet, and at the Annual Meeting & Past President’s Luncheon, we hosted donors and volunteer leaders who reviewed the annual financial report and voted on a slate of new board members to serve on our Global Board of Directors. A highlight of the fall semester was the announcement of the 2016 LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction. We surprised Alumnus of the Year Roger W. Jenkins, president and CEO of Murphy Oil Corporation, by making his selection known in Tiger Stadium during the LSU-Auburn game in September. Special delivery letters and follow-up phone calls notified four other alums of their selection to the Hall of Distinction: Young Alumnus of the Year Mario J. Garner, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Pearland Hospital; Louisiana Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson; Sidney E. Fuchs, president and CEO of MacAuley-Brown, Inc.; and attorney Frank P. Simoneaux, a former state representative and Louisiana Secretary of Natural Resources. They will be inducted on March 4, 2016, at the LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction black-tie gala. We hosted two successful Partners in Progress events to bring together campus leaders and faculty members to encourage collaborative efforts among colleges, schools, and research centers. Other year-end events include the Retired Faculty-Staff Christmas Party and Senior Happy Hour prior to winter commencement. Finally, the New Year’s Eve Extravaganza featuring David St. Romain is open to everyone and is a fabulous way for all Tigers to ring in 2016. (See ad on page 17.) Thanks to each and every one of you for all you do for LSU and the LSU Alumni Association, and on behalf of all of us at the Lod Cook Alumni Center and The Cook Hotel – Happy Holidays and all the best in 2016.

Cliff Vannoy President and CEO

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From Our Readers Many thanks to you and John Capdevielle for providing me with your article about my WW II Field Artillery Battery Commander Willis Scudder (Tigers Around the World, Fall 2015). Oddly, as an Auburn alumnus, I have no Auburn friends remaining from that period, but I have three from LSU. I have great respect for each and still enjoy keeping in touch.

Just got back from a three-week trip to the Pacific Northwest and found the alumni magazine in our mail. Imagine our delight to see the article about our recent donation! It was so nice and such a joy to know that we have made a small difference in the life of the University.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading the Fall 2015 issue of LSU Alumni Magazine and was impressed with the Annual Report. Graphics showing the Tiger Nation distribution by state and country were fun to study. Having once lived in Pago Pago, American Samoa, I noted that there are three alumni currently there, and that makes me want to trade notes with them. Enjoyed the Locker Room regarding Billy Cannon’s long, long run. I was an LSU student at the time and saw it up front and personal. But what will long remain a highlight is the article on the Black Male Leadership Initiative. Louisiana State University has come a long long way since the days of a segregated campus. Compliments to all.

Sharilynn Aucoin 1964 BACH H&SS, 1973 MLS Baton Rouge, La.

Camille Gannon 1962 BACH H&SS Tucson, Ariz.

Jim Fitzpatrick

On behalf of the LSU STRIPES program, I want to thank the LSU Alumni Association for its generous $2,500 donation to this summer’s sessions. We truly appreciate your support of our students and the 2015 program.

Missy Korduner Associate Director First Year Experience Adviser, STRIPES Editor’s note: STRIPES prepares firstyear students for the transition to LSU.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Association

NEWS

LSU alumna Laura Stockdale hosted a Summer Send Off party at her home in Dallas.

Chapter Events Dallas Send Offs – The Dallas and Tarrant Tigers chapters hosted two Summer Send Off parties in July for LSU incoming freshmen from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. The students, their parents, alumni, and LSU administrators gathered on July 22 at Humperdink’s in Arlington and on July 26 at the Dallas home of LSU alumna Laura Stockdale to send the new Tigers off to Baton Rouge. The events mark the twenty-sixth anniversary Incoming freshmen from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of the first party. Students exchanged attended a Summer Send Off party at Humperdink’s in Arlington, Texas. phone numbers and compared dorm assignments and majors while their parents got a chance to visit with local area alumni. DeShanna Brown, director of development for LSU Student Life & Enrollment, brought greetings from campus, and several current upperclassmen in attendance answered questions about Tiger Band, Study Abroad, LSU Ambassadors, and other topics. The new Tigers received gift cards from Raising Cane’s, Texas Tiger buttons, and LSU Yard Signs that “scream” AN LSU TEXAS TIGER LIVES HERE! Dallas Legacy Award – First-year

Front, from left, Pedro Cobos, LSU Dallas area recruiter; Bruce Emery, chapter president; DeShanna Brown, director of development for LSU Student Life & Enrollment; Kyle Wall and his son, Chandler Wall, an LSU Ambassador; back, Allison Kullenberg, Linda Young, Jennifer Morris, Harriet Robinette, and Laura Stockdale.

Tyler Brasseaux, the 2015 recipient of the Dallas Legacy Award.

student Tyler Brasseaux, a 2015 Coppell High School graduate, received the LSU Alumni Dallas Chapter’s 2015 Dallas Legacy Award. Brasseaux continues a family tradition – his mom and dad, as well as sixteen other family members, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, were LSU Tigers. A member of the engineering academy STEM in high school, he plans to major in mechanical engineering. Brasseaux joins the chapter’s 2014 recipient Grant Amerson, 2013 recipient Andrew Halphen, and 2012 recipient Mandy Morgan on campus. Each student receives $1,500 a year for four years.

Golf Tourney Proceeds – Webster/

Chapter Director BJ Bellow, Assistant Vice President Tracy Jones, Webster/Claiborne Alumni Chapter President Gary Haynes, President Cliff Vannoy, and Vice President Jason Ramezan.

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Claiborne Alumni Chapter President Gary Haynes presented a $20,000 check to the LSU Alumni Association on Sept. 5, proceeds from the chapter’s annual golf tournament held in July at Pine Hill Country Club in Minden. The chapter donated $5,000 to the Alumni Annual Fund and earmarked the remaining dollars for the chapter’s scholarship fund.

BR Kickoff Tailgate â€“ Anticipating the fall sports season, the Greater Baton Rouge LSU Alumni Chapter hosted a kickoff tailgate at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on Aug. 13. More than 100 alumni and friends were treated to jambalaya, meat pies, and other traditional tailgate fare while catching up on sporting news after the long, sizzling summer. Following a welcome by BJ Bellow, director of chapters, Shea Dixon of 24-7 Paula Dupuy, Mackie Musgrove, Chrystal Musgrove, Sports provided a preseason look at the Miss LSU Ashley Barbier, and BJ Bellow. Tigers. Next, head golf coach Chuck Photo by Beth Tope Winstead discussed the LSU teamâ€™s national championship win, receiving a rousing standing ovation from the appreciative crowd. As a special treat, ten models strutted the runway to show the latest game-day fashions from the Shelton Gift Shop in The Cook Hotel, and the awarding of door prizes concluded the evening. Jennifer and Chuck Winstead. Photo by Stacey Messina

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Association News

Chapter Events

Mirage Elementary fourth graders at a Glendale, Ariz., No Excuses University school, adopted LSU as “their” college.

Fourth Grade Tigers – Satya Mahapatra (2005 MAST ENGR) and Tracee Antley McElvogue (Alumna By Choice), members of LSU Alumni Phoenix, visited the fourth graders at Mirage Elementary in Glendale, Ariz., on Sept. 4 to share information on college and the LSU experience. Mirage Elementary recently became a No Excuses University school, choosing a college to represent each classroom, incorporating discussions of college into daily lessons and collaborating with local groups and businesses to promote the idea of college enrollment for all students. According to teacher Maria Wacienga, the class adopted LSU. They listen to “I’ve Got the Tiger in Me” or “Eye of the Tiger” each morning, they decorated the classroom in purple and gold, and they tapped an LSU pennant at the entryway to get motivated. The students were full of questions about campus life: “How do you pick your roommate?” “Can you bring pets to college?” “Where do you eat?” “How many classes do you go to?” They also wanted to learn more about Mike: “Can you pet him?” “What does he eat?” “Does he walk on a leash?” “This fall was the first time I’ve had students include ‘college’ in their mission statements,” said Wacienga. “I’m excited to see the impact this program is having on the students.”

Class of 2019 students gather for a picture during the Houston Send Off Party at the Houston Club.

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Houston Send Off – The Houston Chapter and the LSU Family Association hosted the third annual Greater Houston Area Send Off. The new Tigers, along with their parents and friends, were welcomed into the LSU family by LSU representatives and volunteers. On hand were Stacia Haynie, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Krista Allen, senior director of development for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Music & Dramatic Arts, and LSU Press; Rhonda Armor, regional director of development; DeShanna Brown, director of development for the Office of Student Life and Enrollment; Claudia Valbuena, admissions counselor; Ashley Wright, Texas alumni coordinator; and Lisa Bunch, president of the Houston Chapter. Family Association Council members Susan and Tom Forestier chaired and sponsored the event, and Patrick Evans, of UBS Financial Services also contributed. The event was a great opportunity for LSU administrators, staff, and alumni to help students build new peer networks, provide tips for success, and show our future Texas Tigers what the LSU spirit is all about.

LSU Tiger Nation: A 2016 Legislative Special Session is on the Horizon Another projected budget shortfall means the future of higher education at LSU is once again at stake. Are you ready to advocate for your university? If you have not yet joined us, we need you to join our COLLECTIVE ROAR in support of our future alumni, faculty/staff and the exemplary academic offerings of our great university.

The following are 10 fine examples of the top-notch performance of LSU higher education programs: 1) Coast: LSU’s Coastal Studies Institute has been one of the world’s most respected and internationallyrenowned for 60 years. 2) Chemistry PhDs: LSU is the top university in the nation in granting Ph.D. degrees to women and underrepresented minority students. 3) PERTT lab: The LSU Petroleum Engineering Research & Technology Transfer, or PERTT, Laboratory is the only university-based facility for blowout prevention research and training in North America. 4) Physics & Astronomy: LSU’s Department of Physics & Astronomy offers some of the world’s best programs in gravity research, quantum optics and information, medical physics and compact objects in astrophysics. 5) Vet Med: LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine is one of only 30 accredited colleges of veterinary medicine in the US.

6) Internal Audit: The LSU Center for Internal Auditing is the premier internal audit program in the world. 7) Landscape Architecture: The LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture undergraduate program is ranked consistently as one of the top programs in the country. 8) Manship, Political Communication: The Manship School of Mass Communication is home to the nation’s only doctoral program in media and public affairs. 9) Entrepreneurship: LSU’s Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute is one of only eight to host an Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities. 10) LSU students are competing on the national and international stage, and in 2015 alone, university students have received the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Goldwater Scholarship, Harry S. Truman Scholarship, Critical Language Scholarship, Fulbright Scholarship and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

PLEASE JOIN US TODAY AT WWW.LSUALUMNI.ORG/TIGERADVOCATES There is no cost for advocating for LSU – except a portion of your time. Thank you! LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015 9

LSU Alumni Association News

Chapter Events Boiling n’ Bragging – The Greater

Paul Chin-lai and Mark Crain, present and past presidents, greeted the crowds at Boiling n’ Bragging 2015.

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Birmingham Chapter teamed up with fifteen other collegiate groups and hundreds of fans to support Children’s Hospital of Alabama in August. The 8th Annual Boiling n’ Bragging cookout and low country boil raised nearly $60,000 for the hospital’s critical care transport team. Regarded as the “ultimate football season kick-off party,” the event was sponsored by Rotary District 6860 and featured live music, drink specials, children’s activities, corn hole tournament, silent auction, Rival teams joined forces for a good cause at and entertainment. Fans decked out in Birmingham Boiling n’ Bragging 2015. their favorite team colors, paid one price to enjoy the food and festivities and got in some good trash talk before the season’s official kick off. Since 2007, Boiling n’ Bragging has donated nearly half a million dollars to the hospital.

ADVERTISE

WITH US! LSU ALUMNI

MAGAZINE Kevin Hellman, Jason Ramezan, BJ Bellow, and Gil Rew.

For Scholarship Coffers – Kevin Hellman, chair of LSU Alumni San Diego’s twenty-seventh annual crawfish boil, was on campus for the LSU-Auburn game in September and took the opportunity to present a $130,000 check – proceeds from the boil – to the LSU Alumni Association to benefit the chapter’s scholarship fund. On hand to accept the check were Jason Ramezan, vice president for alumni engagement; BJ Bellow, director of chapters; and Dr. Gil Rew, chair of the Association’s national board of directors.

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62,000 READERS FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.lsualumni.org/magazine or contact Kelsey David at 225-578-4529 or kelsey@lsualumni.org

Karen Larson, Atlanta Chapter President Tim Schmidt, Stephanie Schmidt, and Josie Taylor at the Atlanta Sweet Send Off.

Atlanta Sweet Send Off – The St. Pius X Catholic High School was a sea of purple and gold on Aug. 2 as the LSU Atlanta Chapter hosted its eighth annual Sweet SendOff party for 119 incoming freshmen from the Atlanta area. It was an afternoon of networking and sharing LSU pride among future LSU students, their families, guests, and LSU Atlanta alums. The crowd was treated to cupcakes and bread pudding by Kevin Ashford with Catered Cakes and chocolate covered strawberries and desserts by Copeland’s of Atlanta, with refreshments of lemonade and soft drinks. Special guest DeShanna Brown from the Office of Student Life & Enrollment was at the event and provided a table with information about the LSU Family Association. The program concluded with a raffle drawing of Copeland’s gift certificates for four lucky students. Students were given an LSU branded gift to go along with their LSU purple and gold attire, making for a truly LSU spirited sweet send off.

Photo by Josie Taylor

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Association News

2016 Hall of Distinction Roger Jenkins Named LSU Alumnus of the Year

Photo by Claire McVea

Roger W. Jenkins, president and chief executive officer of Murphy Oil Corporation, was named the 2016 LSU Alumnus of the Year. The announcement was made Sept. 19, in a surprise visit to a suite in Tiger Stadium during the LSU-Auburn game. Jenkins will be inducted into the LSU Alumni Association’s Hall of Distinction on March 4, 2016, along with Young Alumnus of the Year Mario J. Garner, senior vice president and chief executive officer at Memorial Hermann Pearland Hospital in Pearland, Texas, and three other outstanding alumni.

President and Chancellor F. King Alexander and LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors chair Dr. Gil Rew made the surprise presentation. Also representing the association were Jason Ramezan, vice president for alumni engagement, and Brandli Roberts, director of oncampus events. “I was greatly surprised. It’s an incredible honor,” Jenkins said “This is where you go to school, this is your nameplate, this is what you represent, this is what it’s all about. There are different ways to support the university – there’s education support, athletic support. I’ve long been a big supporter of LSU athletics, and I am very proud to be an LSU guy.” “The Alumnus of the Year designation is the highest honor awarded to a distinguished graduate of LSU,” said Rew. “Each year, the LSU Alumni Association recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves through their careers, their personal and civic accomplishments and their loyalty to their alma mater. Roger Jenkins has excelled in all of these areas. He exemplifies the essence of a true Tiger, and we are delighted to honor him with this prestigious award.” “Roger is most deserving of this great award,” said Alexander. “He has Roger W. Jenkins, left, the 2016 LSU Alumnus of the Year, was told of the honor in a surprise visit to a suite in Tiger Stadium during the LSU- done so much for the University, and he’s done so much for so many other Auburn football game Sept. 19. Making the presentation were LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors chair Gil Rew, President and Chancellor people all over the country. We should always support the next generation F. King Alexander, and LSU Alumni Association vice president of alumni of students so they can become Roger. They are the new economy and engagement Jason Ramezan. the new inventors, so when we talk about job creators, I talk about our students becoming those job creators like Roger.” Also named to the 2016 Hall of Distinction are Sidney E. Fuchs, of Oak Hill, Va., president and chief executive officer of MacAulay-Brown, Inc.; Bernette Joshua Johnson, of New Orleans, chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court; and Frank P. Simoneaux, of Baton Rouge, attorney and former state cabinet secretary and speaker pro tempore. Jenkins joined Murphy Oil in 2001 as drilling manager in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he received various promotions and in 2007 was named vice president/general manager of Sabah operations. In 2007, he was promoted to senior vice president, North America, and in 2009 became president of Murphy Exploration & Production Company. He was named chief operating officer of Murphy Oil Corporation in 2012 and elected president and CEO in 2013. He earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from LSU in 1983 and received an M.B.A. from Tulane University in 1994. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Garner was previously president and CEO of New Orleans East Hospital; CEO of Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin, Ga.; and COO of Regional Medical Center of Acadiana in Lafayette, La.; associate administrator at West Houston Medical Center; and administrative resident at Tulane University Hospital. During his career, he has led numerous initiatives, among them the LEAN Hospital operational efficiency program; patient satisfaction initiatives; employee/physician engagement program; and a comprehensive facility construction and renovation plan. He earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from LSU in 2002.

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Fuchs is a nationally recognized business leader with more than twenty-five years of experience in business and industry, government, commercial, international investments, and academic markets. In 2013, he was named Executive in Residence at the College of Engineering, is chair of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Board of Advisors, and is a Stephenson Disaster Management Institute Senior Fellow. He holds bachelor’s (1984) and master’s (1987) degrees in engineering from LSU. Johnson was one of the first African-American women to earn a degree from LSU Law School (1969) and the first woman elected to the Civil District Court of New Orleans. She was elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1994 and re-elected in 2000 and 2010. She was sworn in as chief justice in 2013. She is the court’s twenty-fifth chief justice, its second female chief justice, and its first African-American chief justice. She is an active member of the A.P. Tureaud, Sr. Black Alumni Chapter, was inducted in the LSU Law Center Hall of Fame, and was named an Honorary Inductee in Order of the Coif. Simoneaux earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from LSU in 1956 and a juris doctor degree from LSU Law School in 1961. He served in offices at the highest levels of state government, as a gubernatorial cabinet secretary and as speaker pro tempore. He retired from the military as a full colonel with duty as State Judge Advocate and was inducted into the LSU Military Hall of Honor. His legal experience spans decades, and his contributions to the profession earned him induction into the LSU Law Center Hall of Fame. He was elected by the House of Representatives to the Louisiana Board of Ethics and served as chair for four years. Simoneaux is in private practice and active in community volunteer activities.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Association News

Snapshots

Graduate Joy Dal, next to Mike, with dad Debasilh and mom Banani Dal.

Mike peeks over the heads of members of the Smith and Heath families who celebrated with graduate Aubrey Heath, seated.

Graduate Amethyst Watson and her father, Bill Watson, pose with Mike.

A Toast to Grads – Summer 2015 graduates were honored at Senior Happy Hour on Aug. 5 at the Lod Cook Alumni Center. The event, sponsored by the LSU Alumni Association, is held the evening before commencement for graduating seniors and their parents and guests. The soon-to-be alums were treated to cocktails and a dinner buffet, visited with Mike the Tiger, and explored the myriad opportunities available to them as new members of Tiger Nation. Photos by Larry Hubbard

“Traveling” to Tiger Stadium – Vivian White (1973 BACH HS&E, 1976 MLS) and husband Walter (1979 MSW), of Wetumpka, Ala., had planned to watch LSU take on South Carolina with fellow Traveling Tigers in Columbia until stormrelated flooding forced the game to be moved to Baton Rouge, where they were guests in South Stadium Suites. The game was also the occasion to celebrate Vivian’s recent retirement from the Montgomery City-County Public Library. “Thought you would enjoy seeing the banner Vivian’s staff made for her retirement reception,” Walter wrote. “As you can see, her love of LSU was featured.” LSU Alumni Association Vice President for Alumni Engagement Jason Ramezan, left, with Vivian and Walter White.

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Joleen Llorence, Sam Warren, Conner Graham, LSU Alumni Association Vice President Jason Ramezan, Erin Douget, and Samantha Costas.

Theo William and Jason Ramezan.

Young Alums Gather â€“ Nearly forty young LSU alums gathered at Barcadia on Oct. 15 for a Young Alumni Happy Hour hosted by the LSU Alumni Association. While visiting with Assocation staffers and networking, they were treated to cocktails, appetizers, and giveaways, and a number of them walked away with door prizes.

Dallas Alumni Chapter President Bruce Emory and Director of Chapters BJ Bellow.

Photos by Emily Berniard

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Association News

Snapshots

Two members of the Class of 2019 stop for a photo at the Future Alumni banner.

Dakota Civello and David St. Romain.

Food Truck Wroundup – The LSU Alumni Association welcomed its newest future alumni – members of the Class of 2019 – at a fall Food Truck Wroundup at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on Sept. 2. Some 300 guests enjoyed dinner and tempting treats offered by Taco De Paco, Pullin Pork, Fleur De Licious, Ninja Snowballs, Louisiana Lemonade, and City Gelato, as well as the music of David St. Romain, provided courtesy of Campus Federal Credit Union. President Cliff Vannoy with, from left, Kathryn Knaus, First Year Experience program coordinator; Missy Korduner, associate director; and Maggi Spurlock, senior program coordinator.

LSU Public Administration Institute Director Jim Richardson, center, with, from left, Freddie Martin, Joy Bagur, Kathy Bosworth, and Ken Koonce.

Faculty-Staff Retirees – LSU Public Administration Institute Director Jim Richardson spoke to the LSU Faculty and Staff Retirees Club on Sept. 14 about the tax study he headed for the Louisiana Legislature. He told lawmakers that a tax structure must provide sufficient revenues, be predictable and stable, promote competitiveness, be fair, and be simple. The guiding principle is that taxes should have a broad base and a low rate. On Sept. 28, club members toured the Emerge Center, which houses labs and classrooms to treat autism, speech, language, hearing, psychological, and behavioral problems, primarily for children ages three and up. Director of Communications and Partnerships Lauren Knotts and social worker Jessica Langlois noted the center also offers occupational therapy and school readiness programs. Photo by Mark Claesgens

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LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Association News

Traveling Tigers Treat Teen Tiger Fan

The Derrenbacher family – Jim, Eden, Emily, Ryley and Tracy – with LSU Alumni Association President Cliff Vannoy at the Traveling Tigers Tailgate party in Syracuse, N.Y.

When Jim Derrenbacher, of Syracuse, N.Y., reached out about the possibility of attending events surrounding the LSU-Syracuse match-up on Sept. 26, he received an immediate invitation from the Tiger Athletic Foundation and the LSU Alumni Association to join fans at the Traveling Tigers Tailgate Party at OnCenter near Carrier Stadium. His request was made especially for his fifteen-year-old son, Ryley. “Ryley is on the autism spectrum, so when he fixates on something he’s all in, and he’s a staunch, devoted LSU Tiger fan,” Derrenbacher wrote. “It started around 2009, and since then he has been the ultimate purple-and-gold-bleeding fan. He could go more than a month wearing nothing but LSU attire, as he has countless T-shirts, jerseys – and even an LSU tie that he wore during his eighth-grade graduation.” The family planned to make the game a family affair – borrowing Ryley’s Tiger garb and cheering on LSU at the Carrier Dome. The invitation to tailgate was icing on the cake. “This is amazing news,” Derrenbacher responded. “My wife and I are ready to burst as we are so excited for Ryley. We have decided to surprise him on Saturday morning, and all five Derrenbachers will be in attendance.” Ryley was right at home among fellow die-hard fans, and TAF and the Association received a heartwarming follow-up from his dad: “Where do I begin? Words cannot thank you enough for allowing the Derrenbacher family to be a part of the tailgate party. We had a great time and met some wonderful people (Southern hospitality at its best). Ryley was completely surprised and somewhat overwhelmed with the experience. He will always remember the day the Tigers came to Syracuse.”

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LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Association News

One More Chance to Shine

Photos by Johnny Gordon

Rae Phillips, Frank Wickes, Carol Thomas, and Roy King.

Diane Benton Murphy, Suzanne Marroy Minville, Beverly Christina, Dale Melancon Norred, Glenda Gaar Lofton, Mary Elizabeth Norckauer; Shirley Piper Lichtenstein, Linda Ann Miller, Claire Gendron Campbell, and Linda Wilson Mason at the Golden Girls reunion luncheon.

Ruby Douglas Neely. Veteran Tiger Band members . . . and a new generation of musicians.

The Tigerettes celebrate a fiftieth anniversary.

The Alumni Band – representing fifty decades of music – at practice.

Percussion at practice.

More than 300 former Tiger Band members took part in the 2015 LSU Tiger Alumni Band Reunion on Oct. 2-3, reuniting for a weekend of activities highlighted by the 50-year reunion of the baton-twirling Tigerettes.

The junior and senior Tommy Cormiers.

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Friday events included a Golden Girls reunion luncheon and an evening social honoring the Tigerettes. An early Saturday breakfast at Tiger Band Hall was followed by practice and rehearsal with the Tiger Band, and the group gathered again for a tailgate party at the Maravich Assembly Center before the game. At halftime during the LSU-Eastern Michigan game, Alumni Band musicians, Golden Girls, Flag Corps, and Tigerettes joined the Golden Band from Tigerland – a group totaling nearly 700 strong – for another chance to shine on Saturday Night in Tiger Stadium.

Thank You! – Former Golden Girl Connie Cambre, in a note to Association President Cliff Vannoy, writes: “Thank you and all your staff for making it possible to renew old memories and create new ones! It was a terrific reunion. In 1968, Hoppy was a Tigerette and I, having been a drum major and twirler in high school, wanted to be a Tigerette also. Since Golden Girl auditions were a few weeks before Tigerette auditions that year, Hoppy taught me a dance routine so I could get some practice and be ready to try out for Tigerettes later. Obviously, I wasn’t supposed to make the Golden Girls squad, but I did, and so I never became a twirler for LSU. Hoppy and I had not seen each other in about twenty years until this weekend. Thanks again for the opportunity.”

Former Tigerette Marsha “Hoppy” Scarle and Golden Girl Connie Tillman Cambre.

Photo by Connie’s nine-year-old Abagail Cambre, and, yes – it’s Abagail with an “a.”

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

ON C AMPUS

22 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

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& rebecc

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espite surveys that show organized religion continuing to lose ground on United States college campuses, chaplains and leaders of

other religious organizations at LSU say religion, in its many forms, is healthy on the Baton Rouge campus.

According to a Pew Research report, the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans has grown significantly, from 15 to right under 20 percent of U.S. adults in the last five years. One third of adults under thirty in the U.S. are religiously unaffiliated. â€œLess than a majority of LSU students regularly attend church services at the various ministries around campus,â€? said Michael Pasquier, LSU associate professor of religious studies and history.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

“On a practical level, there just aren’t enough seats, pews, and church services to accommodate so many students,” Pasquier said in an email. “I think it’s safe to say that college-aged students, with their busy academic and social lives, are less likely to attend church regularly . . . this is not to say that a majority of students don’t self-identify as Christian; it’s just that church attendance isn’t always their priority.” And, it’s important not to focus entirely on the Christian students, as students of a number of religions attend LSU, Pasquier said. However, church leaders say attendance is high at LSU, and the presence of religion on campus at LSU is about what is found around the Southeastern Conference. This fall, ministers from some of the mainline churches on campus, as well as an evangelical minister, gathered to talk one morning at St. Alban’s Episcopal Chapel, founded in 1928 and the first Episcopal chapel in the United States built on a state university campus. The ministers estimate that of the 30,000 students on the main campus maybe 5,000 go to some church or identify with a religious organization while 3,000 are active members of a religious group. The LSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry, Christ the King Catholic Church, and St. Alban’s greet visitors entering campus on Highland Road from the North Gate. Dalrymple Drive is home to Chapel on the Campus and University Presbyterian, University Methodist, and Chapel of the Cross Lutheran churches. Because many students commute to the main campus, some students attend services in their home churches, and not all religious students practice their religion in houses of worship on campus. Some practice their religion in a classroom or at Free Speech Plaza. Muslims pray at five set times daily, and students are free to use a prayer room provided by the University in the Human Ecology Building during the school day. To teach others about Islam, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) sometimes operates a table outside of the LSU Student Union with information for students. For example, for the past two years, MSA has celebrated World Hijab Day by showing students in Free Speech Plaza the proper way to wear the traditional headscarf.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

If religion at LSU is more robust than on some other campuses, it may be because of the conservative nature of Louisiana college students. And, there’s what one religion writer calls Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD), a view of religion shared by many

American young people. Christian Smith and researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill coined the term. Smith writes that MTD consists of such beliefs as a creator who watches over life on earth, a god who wants people to play nice, an acceptance of the Bible and most other world religions, a god standing by if needed but not particularly involved in one’s life, and the belief that good people go to heaven when they die. “They’re missing the part about the Bible’s good news,” said Drew Rollins, chaplain at St. Alban’s. Though students don’t use MTD to describe their beliefs, the more than 3,000 adolescents interviewed expressed similar ideas about religion. Surveys show young people don’t wait until they leave home to leave the church they were reared in. Most students leave organized religion before they graduate from high school, said Steve Masters, director of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at LSU. “There’s a sense of right and wrong,” said Chris Cook with The Refuge, a student ministry of the Chapel on the Campus. “[But] there’s no knowledge of the good news (the gospel), and that’s extremely dangerous.” At twenty-eight, Cook is one of the youngest pastors ministering to students at LSU. “I’m the old guy,” he said, “when I go into a dorm full of eighteen-year-olds.” Masters, with twenty-four years at LSU after ministering to students at colleges in Oklahoma and Arkansas, doesn’t see much difference in students’ involvement with religion over the years. “Sin and the message I’m trying to share haven’t changed,” he said.

The College Ministry

College pastors have long dealt with students’ feelings of loneliness, but today those feelings may be more accurately described as depression. Student sobriety is a concern of long standing, but add to that eating disorders, body image, pornography and what Father Robert Stine, pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church at LSU, called the most under-reported crime on college campuses – attacks on women. The University Chaplains Association (UCA) has a presence at campus events just as fraternities and sororities are represented by Greek umbrella groups, and religious groups enjoy privileges as student organizations, not as churches, according to Masters. “LSU is supportive of student religious organizations,” Masters said. “The UCA is our umbrella group of religious organizations. We have a table at all LSU orientations, Spring Invitational, and Fall Fest, but

Religion, in its many forms, is healthy on the Baton Rouge campus. 24 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Not all religious students practice their religion in houses of worship on campus. Some practice their religion in a classroom or at Free Speech Plaza. we cannot be there as churches or even as individual religious organizations.”

At Lsu Feeding Students is a Ministry

Mondays, about 150 students have lunch at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry and listen to a speaker. Wednesdays, about the same number of students queue for the C.S. Lewis Lunch and a short talk by Rollins at St. Albans. Pizza is served after The Refuge’s 7:37 p.m. service on Sundays. Cook said 400 students or more attend every week. Christ the King holds a free lunch every Thursday, which feeds 300-400 students, Stine said. One Wednesday this fall, it was lasagna, red beans and rice and the crowd-pleasing C.S. Lewis/St. Alban’s salad instead of loaves and fishes, but the message was the same. “The

free food, the volunteer hosts, the warm hospitality is all a demonstration of grace,” Rollins said. “We extend to the students the same grace that we believe that God gives each of us. The meals are a preparation for the message, which is a word of grace to sinners, meaning all of us. It’s also just plain fun to be with the students.” Sunday congregants streaming across Dalrymple Drive from the parking lot next to the Hebert Law Center are testimony to the number of Catholics on campus, said Stine, who estimated 40 to 50 percent of students on campus identify as Catholic whether they attend church or not. A thousand people, most of them students, at evening services isn’t unusual. A popular mass at 10 p.m. draws 200 late-night students. “We get more faculty at morning services,” he said. Some organizations around campus focus more on the community aspect of religion. The Wesley Foundation is

Religious Preference Breakdown of Incoming LSU Freshman Classes, 2010-14

Graphic by Zach Wiley/The Daily Reveille. The story appeared in the Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, issue of the newspaper

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

At LSU, feeding students is a ministry. Each week some 150 students queue for the C.S. Lewis Lunch and a short talk by Drew Rollins, chaplain at St. Alban’s Episcopal Chapel. Photo by Johnny Gordon

Ministering to students at a transitional time in their lives is the best thing about college ministry. a Methodist organization with a house on East Chimes Street. Students stop in to chat with friends or grab a meal on Wednesday nights. “Since we have the space and we have students who live here, it enables us to be a space that’s open almost all of the time,” said LSU Wesley Foundation Director Adam Darragh. As Darragh pointed out, some even live at the house, and not all are Methodist. Angelle Menier lives at the Wesley house, as did her brother eight years ago. “I like Methodists – I’m Catholic, but I don’t really associate with it. I like the customs and all the things that they do,” Menier said. Ande Johnson, minister at the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), the college ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America, said most of the group’s students aren’t Presbyterian. “I’d say fewer than half of our RUF students are Presbyterian. We have a wide range of students with many different backgrounds,” he said. The RUF is funded by local Presbyterian churches, the Presbytery of South Louisiana and private individuals, Johnson said. The Refuge is an evangelical ministry of the Chapel on the Campus which grew out of a 1970 Billy Graham Crusade at LSU. Founded in 1972, Chapel on the Campus didn’t have a regular meeting place. Founding members called the fledgling church “The Chapel on the Move.” The Chapel on the Campus has 1,500 members at two churches, and about 400 students attend services on campus. Ministering to students at a transitional time in their lives is the best thing about college ministry, pastors said. Former MSA President Hafsah Mohammed transferred to LSU after starting her college career at Southeastern University. She came to LSU in search of a more diverse campus, a luxury she now enjoys, Mohammed said. The

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Muslim Student Association at LSU has about sixteen members attending weekly meetings and between thirty-five and fifty for group events. While she doesn’t see much diversity in her child and family studies classes, Mohammed said, she sees diversity in her job at International Services and in her day-to-day experiences on campus. “Just walking on campus, just walking around and being like, ‘OK, you know, it’s not just all white people,’” Mohammed said. Other groups, like the Jewish campus organization Hillel, practice their religion both on and off campus. Current Hillel President Lexi DeWitt said roughly thirty to forty students take part in the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, with some ten to fifteen students attending events. Those events are often centered on Jewish holidays, such as the group’s Sushi in the Sukkah gathering in celebration of Sukkot. The group also worships together, observing the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at local synagogues off campus. “We always put services out in the open, letting people know when they are,” DeWitt said. Numbers churned up in research and surveys may spot societal trends, but college ministers say the students who are real to them are the ones they meet on campus. Even if a survey said 80 percent of college students don’t go to church, Stine said, “We’d say, ‘OK, we’ll work with the 20 percent who do.’” 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.” Rebecca Docter, a graduating senior in the School of Mass Communication, is co-managing editor of The Daily Reveille.

FIND US @ BETHANY YOUNG ADULTS www.bethany.com/ministries/bya

ANTIOCH COLLEGE MINISTRY www.antiochbr.com/home

BAPTIST COLLEGIATE MINISTRY www.lsubcm.org

CHRISTIAN STUDENT CENTER (CHURCH OF CHRIST) www.lsucsc.com

MUSLIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION www.facebook.com/MSAatLSU

CRU/CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST www.lsucru.com

DEVOTED U lsu.collegiatelink.net/organization/ devotedu

DISCIPLES ON CAMPUS www.bridgechurchbr.com/campus

REFORMED UNIVERSITY FELLOWSHIP - RUF www.ruf.org/ministry/louisianastate-university

THE GATHERING www.istrouma.org/college

CAMPUS OUTREACH-IMPACT www.facebook.com/LSU-808628012137341700/timeline

CANTERBURY CLUB – ST. ALBAN’S www.stalban.org

CHI ALPHA CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP Facebook – Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship at LSU www.lsuxa.org

CHRIST THE KING CATHOLIC STUDENT CENTER www.ctklsu.org

FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES www.fcabr.org

THE REFUGE www.refugelsu.com

HILLEL www.hillelatlsu.org

UKIRK PRESBYTERIAN CAMPUS MINISTRY www.upcbr.org

LATTER DAY SAINTS STUDENT ASSOCIATION lsu.collegiatelink.net/organization/ LDSSA

WESLEY FOUNDATION lsuwesley.com

YOUNG LIFE BATON ROUGE batonrouge.younglife.org LUTHERAN CAMPUS MINISTRY www.stpaulbr.com LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

ach spring, the University recognizes the teaching, research, and service accomplishments of its faculty with more than 120 awards presented at the Distinguished Faculty Awards Ceremony. Twenty-four of the individuals honored this year received awards underwritten by the LSU Alumni Association, including ten recipients of the new Rising Faculty Research Award. “The prestigious Rising Faculty Research Award approved by our National Board of Directors is key to rewarding and retaining promising young faculty,” said Association President Cliff Vannoy. “These individuals are already making significant contributions in their fields, and we are delighted to provide resources that will help them shape their futures and advance their careers.” “The recipients of this award have been exceptionally productive junior faculty who are making a difference at the University as well as throughout our state and beyond,” said Senior Vice Provost Jane Cassidy. “The recipients represent seven different colleges in disciplines spanning the arts, humanities, and sciences. We are fortunate to have these scholars at LSU and are grateful for the continued generous support of the LSU Alumni Association.” Created in 2013, and first presented the following year, the $5,000 award recognizes the superior research efforts of assistant professors who have outstanding records of scholarship and published research. Any full-time faculty at the rank of assistant professor may be nominated with letters of support from the department chair and two tenured colleagues.

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY GORDON

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CHARLES LEE COMPARATIVE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

School of Veterinary Medicine

I am very honored and humbled to have been selected as a recipient of an LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award. It was truly an unexpected surprise. I would like to express my gratitude to the Association for supporting the vast array of research occurring throughout the University. In addition, I would like to thank colleagues, administrators, staff, and students at the School of Veterinary Medicine for their support. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their unconditional encouragement and understanding.” Charles Lee earned a bachelor’s degree from California Institute of Technology, Pasadena and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He did postdoctoral work at the University Chicago. The human brain is one of the last frontiers of science. Lee’s laboratory is interested in understanding how the brain transforms the vast panoply of sensory information into a neural signal and how the emergent properties of the brain arise from those neural signals. They are particularly interested in understanding how disruptions to normal brain circuitry give rise to complex neurological disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia and overall wish to derive from their studies the rules governing the emergent properties of neural ensembles and their roles in regulating behavior in both normal and diseased states.

Charles Lee

Cherie Pucheu-Haston

CHERIE PUCHEU-HASTON VETERINARY CLINICAL SCIENCES School of Veterinary Medicine

I am excited and proud to be one of the recipients of the LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research award. It is an honor and a privilege to work at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. I am incredibly grateful and appreciative of all of the support and care that I have received and continue to receive from my family, my colleagues, my department head, and the administration of the LSU-SVM.” Cherie Pucheu-Haston received her D.V.M. from LSU and completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University. She received her residency training in veterinary dermatology at North Carolina State University. Pucheu-Haston specializes in dermatologic and immunologic disorders in animals. Her work is heavily influenced by the “one health initiative,” which seeks to advance health care for all species by integrating knowledge from multiple fields of biomedical research. Her goals include the development of in vitro screening assays for the identification of strongly allergenic compounds; the development and use of minimally invasive models for preclinical evaluation of anti-allergic therapies; and the development of improved methods for the diagnosis of food allergies in veterinary species.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

KENNETH J. FASCHING-VARNER EDUCATION

College of Human Sciences & Education Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner

Being selected as a rising researcher is both a great honor and nice recognition of one’s work. It feels very supportive to have colleagues and LSU recognize and value the breadth and depth of your research.” Kenneth Fasching-Varner holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary and inclusive education from Niagara University, a master’s degree in literacy from St. John Fisher College, and a doctoral degree in language, literacy, and culture from Ohio State University. Fasching-Varner’s research centers on bifocal intersecting agenda focused on identity construction within educational settings and on Critical Race Theory (CRT). The cornerstone of his work centers on the study of whiteness with the unique contribution of a focus that blends autoethnographic considerations of identity with oral life history of educators, drawing on critical qualitative methodologies. Within CRT he pays particular attention to the role of race in conceptualizing, materializing, and critiquing approaches to education. Since receiving the Rising Faculty Research Award, Fasching-Varner was promoted to associate professor with tenure.

Benjamin Kahan

BENJAMIN KAHAN

ENGLISH AND WOMEN’S & GENDER STUDIES College of Humanities & Social Sciences

I am profoundly honored and humbled to receive the LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award.”

Recipients of the 2015 LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award were recognized at the Distinguished Faculty Award Ceremony last spring. Pictured are, from left, front, LSU Alumni Association President Cliff Vannoy, former Provost Stuart Bell, Inessa Bazayev, Samuel Stroope, and President and Chancellor F. King Alexander; back, Kanchan Maiti, James Bunch, and Charles Lee.

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Benjamin Kahan earned a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He held postdoctoral fellowships at Washington University in St. Louis, Emory University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Sydney. Kahan’s research focuses on the history of sexuality and gender, queer theory, twentieth-century American literature and culture, psychoanalysis and sexology, race and ethnicity, and critical theory. Redressing the scholarly, popular tendency to read celibacy as closeted homosexuality, the project differentiates the history of celibacy from the history of homosexuality. Through a consideration of celibacy in selected texts, Kahan traces the emergence of celibacy as a crucial political identity of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He is working on a monograph theorizing an etiological rather than an epistemological approach to the history of sexuality with a particular emphasis on sexology.

KANCHAN MAITI OCEANOGRAPHY & COASTAL SCIENCES School of the Coast & Environment

Kanchan Maiti

It is a great privilege to teach and pursue scientific and academic research at LSU. I am delighted to be honored for my work with the LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award. I am grateful for the continuous support of this institution, its alumni, my colleagues, and our chairperson and dean at the School of the Coast & Environment without whom most of my work would not have been possible.” Kanchan Maiti earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Calcutta, a master’s degree in applied geology from the Indian Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography from the University of South Carolina. Maiti’s research specializes in biologically driven sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere to the deep sea and the fate and transport of organic matter and contaminants in marine and aquatic systems. He utilizes artificial and natural radioisotopes present in water in very small concentration levels. These radioisotopes, unlike any other material in nature, act as natural clocks that allow him to answer such questions as how long a particular contaminant stays in the water; how long it takes coastal water to mix with deep ocean water; what happens to pollutants once they are deposited in sediments; and how much sediment is accreted to our coastlines on an annual basis.

Ineesa Bazayev

INESSA BAZAYEV MUSIC

College of Music & Dramatic Arts

I am very humbled by the Alumni Rising Faculty Research Award and especially grateful for my supportive colleagues Jeff Perry and Andreas Giger for their guidance and advice, as well as Dean Todd Queen for his unceasing support of my research.” Inessa Bazayev holds a dual bachelor’s/master’s degree in music theory from Queens College, City University of New York and concurrently earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the same institution. She has a certificate in classical piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music and received a Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Bazayev’s research focuses on Russian and Soviet music, Russian Futurism, history of Russian music theory, and voice leading in twentieth-century music. Her current research focuses on early twentieth-century Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, and she is writing an article on the structure of his late musical style. Bazayev is the director of the forthcoming international Symposium on Prokofiev and the Russian Tradition at LSU, to be held on campus in February 2016. She was able to receive for the event exclusive rights from the Sergey Prokofiev Estate in Paris to perform the unfinished fragments of Piano Concerto No. 6.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO PROVIDE RESOURCES THAT WILL HELP THEM SHAPE THEIR FUTURES AND ADVANCE THEIR CAREERS. JAMES C. BUNCH AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION College of Agriculture

I am honored to be a recipient of the Rising Faculty Research Award. It is great to work for an institution with a strong Alumni Association that recognizes the work of faculty.” J.C. Bunch earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in agricultural education from Oklahoma State University. He holds the Association’s J.C. Atherton Departmental Professorship in the School of Human Resource Education & Workforce Development. In his research, Bunch focuses on the impact of international experiences on undergraduate student learning and their development of global human capital. In addition, he concentrates on technology integration/technology-enhanced instruction by teachers in K-12 and post-secondary settings. Since joining the LSU faculty three years ago, he has had thirteen peer-reviewed journal articles published or accepted for publication. Of these, nine are published in his discipline’s premier journal – Journal of Agricultural Education. The remaining four journal articles are published in top-tier journals based on his discipline’s standards. James C. Bunch

SAMUEL STROOPE SOCIOLOGY

College of Humanities & Social Sciences

The LSU Alumni Association has my sincerest thanks for selecting me for this award. I am also grateful to the Sociology Department, the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, and others across the University for supporting my research.”

Samuel Stroope

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Samuel Stroope holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Ouachita Baptist University; master’s degrees in intercultural studies from Union University, in theological studies from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and in sociology from Baylor University; and a Ph.D. in sociology from Baylor. Methodologically, Stroope uses statistical analysis and large-scale social survey data in his research and is currently working on several projects using datasets from the United States and national data from India. Substantively, his interests center on two, at times overlapping, areas: the social determinants of health and the sociology of religion. In the area of social determinants of health, he is interested in understanding how residential and other social contexts shape health and health inequalities. Stroope is interested in both causes and consequences of religious involvement: How do influences such as educational attainment, social network composition, and congregational characteristics shape people’s religious commitment? How does religious involvement influence people’s health, educational attainment, and civic engagement?

SABRINA TAYLOR RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES College of Agriculture

Mark M. Wilde

I would like to thank the LSU Alumni Association for this honor, as well as my students and colleagues who make my work so very enjoyable and worthwhile.” Sabrina Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada; a master’s degree in biology from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada; and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Taylor specializes in conservation genetics, applying genetic and evolutionary theory to managing species of conservation and recreational concern. She focuses primarily on four areas of research, frequently combining areas in individual research projects: The relationship between genetic variation at immune genes and fitness associated with disease resistance; genetic structure, gene flow, and effective population size in threatened species; hybridization, a natural process that is also an issue of increasing concern as formerly isolated species are brought into contact, via introductions and habitat modification, that may reduce reproductive success if offspring are sterile or cause extinction if offspring are fertile; and the use of genetics to examine questions in behavioral ecology such as inbreeding avoidance (red wolves) and extra-pair paternity in birds.

Sabrina Taylor

MARK M. WILDE PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY College of Science

I am immensely grateful to the LSU Alumni Association for its support of LSU faculty.” Mark Wilde holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Texas A&M, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Tulane University, and a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. What are the ultimate limits that nature imposes on communication and computation and what are effective procedures for achieving these limits? These are the questions that drive Wilde’s research and to answer them convincingly, one must reassess the theories of information and computation under a “quantum lens.” That is, since quantum mechanics represents the best understanding of microscopic physical phenomena, and since information is ultimately encoded into a physical system of some form, it is necessary to revise the laws of information and computation established years ago. Entanglement, superposition, and interference are aspects of quantum theory once regarded as strange and in some cases, nuisances. It is now understood that these phenomena are the enabling fuel for a new quantum theory of information and computation, in which seemingly magical possibilities such as teleportation are becoming reality.

Above left photo: Recipients of the inaugural LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award were honored at the 2014 Distinguished Faculty Awards Ceremony. Pictured are front row, from left, President and Chancellor F. King Alexander, Kristine DeLong, geography and anthropology; Ying Wang, mechanical engineering; Supratik Mukhopadhyay, computer science; Hongchao Zhang, mathematics; former Provost Stuart Bell, and LSU Alumni Association Vice President Mike Garner; back, from left, Crystal Johnson, environmental sciences; Zach Godshall, English; Katherine Stamps Mitchell, social work; Blake Howe, music; and Neil Johannsen, kinesiology. Not pictured, Sophie Warny, geology and geophysics.

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LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Around

CAMPUS

In Focus Summer Commencement –

Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, delivered the keynote address at summer commencement. Photo by Jim Zietz

Alumni staffers BJ Bellow, left, director of chapters, and Tracy Jones, assistant vice president, welcome newly commissioned U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Andrew Luke Hargroder to Tiger Nation. Photo by Brandli Roberts

Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, delivered the keynote address at LSU’s 287th commencement ceremony on Aug. 7, during which 672 students received degrees. Of the graduates, 332 earned bachelor’s degrees, 212 earned master’s degrees, six received a certificate of education specialist, seven received post-bachelorette certificates, and 115 received doctoral degrees. The August 2015 graduating class represented fortyone Louisiana parishes, thirty-two states, and thirty-four foreign countries. Men made up 51.19 percent of the graduates, and women made up 48.81 percent. The oldest graduate was sixty-four, and the two youngest graduates were twenty.

Former Chancellor Sean O’Keefe and Adam Grashoff.

Leadership Award – LSU senior Adam Grashoff, Mandeville, La., received the inaugural Sean O’Keefe Leadership Award during the Katrina & Rita: A Decade of Research & Response Symposium on Aug. 28. Former Chancellor O’Keefe was on hand for the event and presented the $10,000 cash award to Grashoff, an accounting major planning to graduate in May 2016. The award – created by LSU donors who recognized O’Keefe’s leadership during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – recognizes and rewards an outstanding undergraduate student leader who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in the past and possesses the character, capability, vision, and motivation to be a leader in the future. O’Keefe is a longtime public administrator, national security expert, and aerospace industry executive who has served in several top leadership positions in government, higher education, and industry. He led LSU during its response to Hurricane Katrina in August and September 2005, when the campus was transformed into what has been called “the largest acute-care field hospital established in a contingency in the nation’s history.” Photo by Eddy Perez

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Manship Hall of Fame – The Manship School of Mass Communication honored Gary Hymel and James O’Byrne and posthumously honored Michael Danna and Malva Haynes Huson Brown at its 41st annual Hall of Fame gala on Oct. 22 at Juban’s. Hymel (1959 MAST MCOM), former chief aide and press secretary to James O’Byrne Gary Hymel the late Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, Jr., joined Hill and Knowlton Public Affairs Worldwide in 1981 as senior vice-president and chief lobbyist and is now retired. O’Byrne (1982 BACH MCOM), a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has worked at The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com for the past thirty-four years. He is currently vice president of innovation. Danna (1983 BACH MCOM), had a 30-year career as public relations director for the Louisiana Farm Bureau and was host of the organization’s long-running agricultural television program “This Week in Louisiana Agriculture.” Brown (1936 BACH MCOM, 1972 MLS), journalist, editor, and newspaper publisher/owner, was one of the first female editors of The Daily Reveille. After graduation, she worked as a society editor at the State-Times and in public relations for the Division of Tourism of the Louisiana Department of Commerce and Industry.

Michael Danna

Malva Haynes Huson Brown

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Around Campus

In Focus

The first-place dog house was painted by veterinary students Catherine Breland, Erin Olsen, Jim Chaffin, and Sara Roy.

Homes for Hounds – Some 120 School of Veterinary Medicine (LSU SVM) faculty, staff, and students took part in the third annual Homes for Hounds event – assembling and painting dog houses that were donated to local shelters and rescue organizations. Twenty teams competed to assemble, design, and paint the most creative doghouses, with the top three teams receiving a prize donated by the LSU SVM Bookstore. The winning houses were at the LSU SVM’s Fall Family Picnic this fall, and proceeds benefited a Nestlé Purina scholarship for an LSU SVM student. Photo provided by School of Veterinary Medicine

Students and faculty celebrate the University Laboratory School’s designation as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

Blue Ribbon School – University Laboratory School (ULS) was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in September as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, one of only 285 public schools nationwide to receive the honor this year. It was also named as one of Louisiana’s exemplary high performing schools, as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. For these schools, student subgroup performance and high school graduation rates are at the highest level. In addition to this national award, ULS has been recognized as a school of Academic Distinction. Founded 100 years ago as the University Demonstration School for what was then the LSU Teachers College, ULS now operates under the auspices of the College of Human Sciences & Education. Photo provided by Adrienne Gale

38 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Around Campus

In Focus

Students reach for freebies being thrown from the main stage at Fall Fest.

Fall Fest 2015 â€“ Food, fun, freebies, and the sounds of music ignited Tiger spirit and welcomed thousands of new and returning students, faculty, and staff to campus at Fall Fest on Oct. 2. The annual event, held on the Parade Ground, offers myriad activities, free food, and entertainment, including a special appearance of the Golden Band from Tigerland. Photo by Eddy Perez

40 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Online

Around Campus

The Online Education Evolution By Amanda Major Photo by Jim Zietz

Entering the 100 percent online space requires a paradigm shift for traditional universities. In addition to adding to their education repertoire, these universities must add or enrich methods for reaching and supporting online students – to the point of reconstructing business processes. LSU is a prime example of an institution seeking solutions to increase its online learning program offerings while maintaining its academic reputation as a highly regarded research university.

• Master of Social Work

Realizing the challenges involved in entering the competitive landscape of online education, LSU has partnered with the online program management provider Academic Partnerships (AP), which offers full-service online programmatic support, including graduate degree course development, digital marketing, and consulting expertise. With this support, the University can remove geographic, time, and financial barriers students may face and offer coursework from respected faculty members, renowned experts, and exceptional practitioners. The University has to its credit a number of successes. LSU Online has launched eleven programs – master’s degrees and professional certification – in two years and graduated forty-two students in its May 2015 commencement. The spring graduates of LSU Online M.Ed. in educational leadership achieved a 100 percent pass rate on the School Leaders Licensure Assessment, and LSU Online’s master’s programs in higher education administration and social work are ranked among the top ten in the country, according to TheBestSchools.org and BestColleges.com. LSU Online also offers professional development and instructional design support for online courses and programs on campus. “In just over two years this effort has provided access to nearly 400 students who likely would not have otherwise enrolled at LSU,” said Matt Lee, vice provost for academic programs. “Launching 100 percent online programs offers students – often working adults with multiple demands – a means to attain an advanced degree. It enhances the level at which students with outstanding potential can access the learning opportunities at LSU enormously.” Administrators across campus coordinated efforts to ensure that systems aligned to offer the recommended six annual starts and seven-week terms. They also adjusted schedules to provide an accelerated format that lets students complete their programs sooner than in a traditional semester timeframe. The effort was branded with a cohesive identity as LSU Online. “Each program area revisited its admissions practices with the aim of attracting qualified professionals and prospective students, while key faculty and personnel championed student-centered support and focus,” Lee explained. “This, paired with AP’s enrollment specialist and student support-services team, used integrated data to enhance and maintain a student-centered focus with solid customer service.” Ongoing quality measurements ensure that online students receive the same rigorous, top-tier instruction as on-campus students, with an emphasis on fostering students’ competencies for career success. “While these efforts have resulted in high retention rates and high program rankings across several areas, the success of LSU Online is more than that,” said Lee. “The program allows the University to expand its reach by offering excellent master’s-level education to qualified students who would not normally pursue a graduate education on campus, allowing them to achieve their dreams of earning a high-quality, reputable degree.”

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

Amanda Major is interim director of LSU Online.

LSU Online removes the geographic, time, and financial barriers students may face in pursuing a master’s degree.

“In just over two years this effort has provided access to nearly 400 students who likely would not have otherwise enrolled at LSU.” MASTER’S DEGREES • Master of Arts in Education with a Specialization in Higher Education Administration • Master of Business Administration • Master of Science in Human Resource Education with a Concentration in Human Resource and Leadership Development • Master of Science in Construction Management • Master of Education in Educational Leadership • Master of Science in Kinesiology with a Specialization in Sport Management • Master of Science in Human Resource Education with a Concentration in Workforce Development • Master of Business Administration with a Specialization in Business Analytics • Master of Business Administration with a Specialization in Internal Auditing

• Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Construction Management

42 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

ON THE WEB www.lsuonline.lsu.edu

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Around Campus

Biodiversity Immersion Tropical Studies Program Offers Unique Opportunities

By Kyle E. Harms and Christopher E. Carlton

Professor of biological sciences Kyle Harms censusing understory plants along a forest transcect at La Selva field station. Photo by former Ph.D. student Saara DeWalt

Leptochromus laselva. Photo by former Ph.D. student Mike Ferro

“The University recently joined a growing list of OTS member institutions that have become permanent members of the consortium, eliminating the substantial annual membership fee and helping ensure the long-term viability of OTS, its institutional partnerships, and its mission to promote science education and research in the tropics.”

44 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

A growing number of LSU graduate and undergraduate alumni have made lifelong memories during tropical field courses taught in Costa Rica through the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS). Since 1964, LSU has been a member university in OTS. In fact, LSU was an inaugural member when the first few universities joined together to form the consortium that today comprises fiftyfour universities and research institutions. Member institutions partner with OTS to provide their students, faculty, and others abundant opportunities to study and conduct research in the tropics. The administrative home for OTS is Duke University. Courses and research are conducted primarily in Costa Rica, although venues have expanded recently to other countries, most notably South Africa. A second office in San Jose coordinates these activities, and most coursework in Costa Rica is conducted at three field stations, giving users access to the organisms and ecosystems in representative tropical habitats such as lowland rainforests, montane forests, and wetlands. La Selva, the first field station acquired by OTS, is about a two-hour drive from San Jose toward the Caribbean lowlands. After passing through the perennially cloudenveloped forests of Braulio Carrillo National Park, the road descends into steamy, lowland rainforests. La Selva protects and provides educational access to about 1500 hectares of that lowland forest – teaming with a diversity of insects, colorful birds, and more species of plants than there are in the entire state of Louisiana. On any day some seventy students, researchers, and other visitors can be found at the station. The other two field stations are smaller than La Selva and farther from San Jose, providing abundant opportunities to immerse oneself in tropical biodiversity across a range of habitats. Las Cruces is located in a montane forest near the border with Panama and is also home to the Wilson Botanical Garden. Palo Verde lies close to the Pacific Coast and provides ready access to both dry forest and wetlands replete with bird life. Visitors at all three stations enjoy hot showers, three meals a day, Internet access, and state-of-the-art research equipment in the modern laboratories. Of course, the main reason to go to OTS field stations is to study or conduct research on tropical organisms and ecosystems. Rubber boots are de rigueur at the field stations, since observing, collecting, experimenting, and otherwise enjoying tropical nature are allweather, around-the-clock activities, which usually include getting one’s footwear muddy. During the past five decades scores of LSU students have traveled to Costa Rica to take OTS courses. The cornerstone of these course offerings is the graduate “Fundamentals” course in tropical biology, and students who take the course typically visit several sites, including national parks, OTS field stations, and other privately owned and managed areas. Students also have taken specialty courses covering diverse topics, including bat biology and tropical beetle diversity. Professor of Entomology Chris Carlton, a delegate to OTS, and colleagues taught tropical beetle diversity during 2014 and plan to teach the course again during summer 2017. Students enrolled in the 2014 beetle course made several novel discoveries, including a new species of beetle that was named Leptochromus laselva, after La Selva field station. Among other LSU faculty who have taught or helped teach OTS courses is Professor of Biological Sciences Kyle Harms, also an OTS delegate, who has served as a resource person for both graduate and undergraduate courses in Costa Rica. These courses appeal to our preference for active, hands-on learning. Field courses invariably contain elements of surprise and serendipity that break common misconceptions that science is a static body of facts and that science education is fact-driven memorization. Field courses create trajectories of novel inquiry and enlightenment that characterize scientific research and discovery.

Faculty, students, and researchers at OTS member institutions have priority access to OTS courses, student scholarships, and research stations, and membership provides these opportunities and benefits to all LSU faculty and students. LSU faculty have taught OTS courses, LSU students have taken OTS courses, and LSU researchers at all levels have conducted research at OTS research stations. Fortunately, these opportunities will remain available to the LSU community in perpetuity through the LSU-OTS partnership. Owing to the generosity of private donors and the foresight of key LSU administrators, the University recently joined a growing list of OTS member institutions that have become permanent members of the consortium, eliminating the substantial annual membership fee and helping ensure the long-term viability of OTS, its institutional partnerships, and its mission to promote science education and research in the tropics. OTS has expanded its geographic scope as well as its conceptual breadth. New course offerings in human health – with an obvious emphasis on tropical diseases – are proving to be highly popular and successful. The “Global Health Issues Summer Program” in South Africa gives students an in-depth view into tropical health care. A new, semesterlong course, “Environmental Change and Human Health,” offered this year in Costa Rica, is geared toward students who wish to gain first-hand experience understanding tropical diseases in the context of environmental change.

Professor of entomology Chris Carlton overseeing beetle collection at La Selva field station. Photo by Richard Leschen

For more information, contact Kyle Harms (kharms@lsu.edu) or Chris Carlton (ccarlt@lsu.edu). ON THE WEB www.ots.ac.cr

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Around Campus

LSU AgCenter Food Incubator Family Recipe Becomes Popular Product

Story and photos by Olivia McClure Reprinted with permission of the LSU AgCenter Communications

Truly Southern Pretzel Crunch is made in the LSU AgCenter Food Incubator. Pictured counterclockwise from right are James McAdams, Linda McAdams, Karen Daigle, and Nancy McAdams.

46 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Some people turn to family recipes for comfort during stressful times. Others, like Linda McAdams, turn them into a new career. When McAdams was laid off in 2013, she interviewed for several jobs but was not selected. Then, she realized, “maybe what we needed to do was right in front of us all this time.” For about thirty years, McAdams and her sister, Karen Daigle, had been making a salty-sweet treat using crushed pretzels and melted chocolate. Daigle had come up with the recipe, and her family and friends loved it. The sisters have since made so much of what they call Pretzel Crunch over the years that they “could do it lefthanded,” McAdams said. Soon after losing her job, McAdams remembers hearing people use the phrase “leap of faith” several times in one week. So she took a leap of faith of her own, asking Daigle to help turn Pretzel Crunch into a business. They joined the LSU AgCenter Food Incubator in July 2014. In just a year, Truly Southern Pretzel Crunch became one of the incubator’s most popular products. It is now sold in thirty-four Associated Grocers stores in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. “We tell anybody and everybody where we make it,” McAdams said. “That’s a huge selling point. So many people are so interested in local, and they want to support local businesses. The minute you tell them we make it here locally, they’re like ‘Really?’ and when you say the AgCenter Food Incubator, they’re like ‘Wow.’” When the sisters first came to the Food Incubator, they worked under the brand name Truly Scrumptious. Now it’s called Truly Southern – a nod to their roots as the product spreads past Louisiana’s borders. The sisters and McAdams’s husband,

TIGER TRIVIA

Olivia McClure, a graduate assistant in LSU AgCenter Communications, is pursuing a master’s degree in the Manship School of Mass Communication.

1. Which two campus literary endeavors are marking their 80th anniversaries in 2015? The Reveille and the Gumbo The Southern Review and LSU Press The Delta and Exquisite Corpse The State Times and Morning Advocate 2. Besides Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks, what other member of the English Department was involved with the founding of The Southern Review? Charles Pipkin Katherine Anne Porter Louise Garig Cecil Taylor 3. Which alumnus succeeded Thomas Boyd as president of LSU in 1927? Marin Woodin Campbell Hodges Thomas Atkinson James Monroe Smith 4. How many students were in the first graduating class of 1869? 12 9 15 118 5. Which former student served as football coach and commandant of cadets in the same year? Troy Middleton Lawrence “Biff” Jones Charles McClendon Edmond Chavanne 6. How many different football fields were on the downtown campus (now the state capitol grounds)? Three Two One None 7. Which federal agency funded the construction of the original Alex Box Stadium? NASA The War Department The WPA The USDA 8. According to the cadet regulations, why were male freshmen required to wear LSU beanies? It was part of the hazing ritual It was part of the cadet uniform To cover the cadet’s shaved head To help develop a spirit of loyalty and esprit de corps 9. In the 1960s, what method was used to transport students around campus? Tiger Trails buses The Tiger Train CATS buses Campus Jitney Service 10. When did the Ballet Corps change its name to the LSU Golden Girls? 1965 1968 1976 1980 11. When did streaking reach the height of its popularity on campus? 1965 1972 1974 1980 12. For what purpose were Hatcher, Hodges, and Johnston halls constructed? As offices for LSU’s burgeoning As dormitories for LSU’s burgeoning post-WWII bureaucracy post-WWII student population As space for additional As the first women’s dormitories beds for the infirmary on campus Tiger Trivia is compiled by Barry Cowan, assistant archivist, Hill Memorial Library. Answers: 1:b 2:a 3:c 4:b 5:d 6:a 7:c 8:d 9:b 10:a 11:c 12:b

James McAdams, make four kinds of Pretzel Crunch – original white chocolate, Tiger white chocolate, cranberry almond, and peanut butter. They are planning on more, plus gift boxes for the holidays. McAdams said she expected the purple-and-goldstriped Tiger variety to be in high demand come football season. Unlike most incubator tenants, whose recipes must be adjusted by food scientists for shelf stability, the Pretzel Crunch recipe was left virtually unchanged. The quantities, however, skyrocketed along with demand. “We did our first test batch, to our first full batch, to our first farmers market, to our first store shelves all in a month,” McAdams said. At home, the sisters made batches of Pretzel Crunch using one or two pounds of chocolate at a time. Now, they use as much as thirteen pounds of chocolate in each batch they make at the incubator and often make six or seven batches per day. James McAdams said they’re hoping to move Pretzel Crunch production to a co-packer to help keep up with rising demand. Right now, the whole process is still done by hand in the incubator’s kitchen, including bagging and labeling. “When we first started, we didn’t know how much it was going to take off,” he said. “We figured it would stay local. Here we are in three states and more to come. Now we’d love to see it go nationwide.” The family also sells their confection at the Red Stick Farmer’s Market in downtown Baton Rouge, where they often run into other food incubator tenants. The market also offers a chance to talk to their ever-growing customer base, Linda McAdams said. “It’s surreal to be selling it to people I haven’t met and personally given it to,” she said. It takes a lot of hard work, but McAdams has a lot of help. Besides her husband and sister, everyone from her parents to a sister-in-law pitch in – a true family affair, she said. They also have the support of their second family – incubator staff and other tenants. “You get motivated in here, producing it and knowing how well it’s been received in the public,” James McAdams said. “It boosts you. You might come in tired, and you certainly leave tired. But you know how well it’s been received.”

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Noteworthy

Around Campus

Damon Andrew, dean of the College of Human Sciences & Education, was named an Active Fellow in the National Academy of Kinesiology in recognition of “the high esteem and respect your peers hold for your scholarship and leadership in the field.” He was inducted at the organization’s annual meeting in September, and he joins only four other sport management professors named NAK fellows in the history of the field.

Damon Andrew

Stephen David Beck

Greg Guzik

Mike Cherry

Jason Hicks

Maria “Mari” Fuentes-Martin

Sherif Ishak

Joyce Marie Jackson

Andrew Maverick

48 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Stephen David Beck, the Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor of Music, has been named associate vice president in the Office of Research & Economic Development (ORED). Beck received his doctorate in music composition and theory from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1988, and held a Fulbright Fellowship in 1985-86 as a researcher at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/ Musique in Paris, France. Mike Cherry and Greg Guzik, professors of physics and astronomy, are members of a team working on a new experiment that will be conducted at the International Space Station (ISS). The experiment will use the CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) instrument to gather new and expanded data over multiple years in the search of possible nearby sources of high-energy cosmic ray particles and signatures of dark matter, which make up about one-quarter of the mass-energy of the Universe yet is poorly understood. The CALET instrument launched to the ISS aboard the HTV-5 vehicle on Aug. 19 from the Tanegashima Space Center off the southern coast of Japan. Cherry represented LSU at the launch. Lisa Pond and Robert Paul, cartographers with the Louisiana Geological Survey (LGS) at LSU, won “Best of Category in the Recreational/Travel Map Category” in the 2015 Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) Map Competition. Their entry, “Bayou Teche Paddle Trail and Historical and Cultural Map” received the award at the 42nd CaGIS Map Design Competition at Montgomery College, Rockville, Md. The map was produced in conjunction with the TECHE Project, a non-profit organization that manages the Bayou Teche Paddle Trail, a U.S. Department of the Interior Water Trail. Maria “Mari” Fuentes-Martin, associate vice president and dean of students at the University of Texas-Pan American and associate vice president for student life and dean of students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, was named associate vice president and dean of students at LSU. She received a bachelor’s degree in history and business administration and her master’s degree in not-forprofit administration from the University of Notre Dame and a doctoral degree in education from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Fuentes-Martin has more than twentyfive years of experience in higher education and has served in a dean of students role for the past fifteen years. Jason Hicks, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology; Sherif Ishak, professor of engineering and interim associate dean for academic programs, College of Engineering; Joyce Marie Jackson, director of African and African-American Studies; and Andrew Maverick, professor of chemistry and associate dean for student services, College of Science, were selected as 2015-16 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Fellows. The program seeks to identify, prepare, and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Noteworthy

Around Campus

Michael Khonsari

Bridget Robicheaux

College of Engineering and College of Science faculty spearheaded efforts through the Louisiana Board of Regents to win a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create a national consortium supporting advanced manufacturing research. The Louisiana Board of Regents submitted the grant on behalf of Louisiana with support from five state universities: LSU, Louisiana Tech, Grambling, Southern, and University of New Orleans. Leading the overall project for the Board of Regents is LSU DOW Chemical Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Michael Khonsari. The Consortium for Innovation in Manufacturing and Materials leverages a network of university intellect, state resources, and centers of excellence, including LSU’s National Center for Advanced Manufacturing, and LA-SiGMA to propagate research, workforce development and diversity, K-12 outreach, and education in support of advanced manufacturing technologies. Bridget Robicheaux, counselor for the College of Human Sciences & Education, was selected as an Outstanding Advising Award Winner from the National Academic Advising Association. The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated qualities associated with outstanding academic advising of students or outstanding academic advising administration, whose primary role at the institution is the direct delivery of advising services to students. In U.S. News & World Report’s 2016 edition of Best Colleges, LSU is ranked in the top tier for “Best National Universities” for the eighth straight year and is ranked sixty-second overall among public universities. The University’s ranking moved up to 129 overall and is tied with five other schools: Arizona State University, University at Albany-SUNY, University of Arkansas, University of Illinois-Chicago, and University of Kentucky. LSU also appeared on the publication’s list of “A-Plus Schools for B Students,” and both the E J. Ourso College of Business and College of Engineering undergraduate programs are ranked in the top fifty among public universities. Engineering is ranked forty-ninth in the Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs, and business is ranked fiftieth in the Best Undergraduate Business Programs. The Flores MBA Program ranked twenty-ninth in the nation on the 2015 List of America’s Best Business Schools, which ranks programs on their return on investment. According to Forbes’ data, the average LSU Flores MBA student salary – before joining the program – in the class of 2010 was $25,000. Four years after graduation, the average salary among the class of 2010 was $81,000. The total five-year MBA gain was $28,700. LSU received the 2015 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine – the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education – for the fourth year in a row. The national honor recognizes colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. LSU was featured along with eighty-nine other recipients in the magazine’s November issue. LSU scored high on every value-based metric among peer flagship and Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities on the new College Scorecard (collegescorecard.ed.gov). The tool, which was built including input from President F. King Alexander, highlights details such as average annual cost, graduation rate, and salary after attending. Among fifty flagships, LSU ranks fifth-lowest in terms of cost of attendance, twenty-seventh in graduation rates, and twenty-eighth in salary after attending. The scorecard also shows LSU students aren’t accruing as much debt as flagship peers. LSU comes in forty-fifth in the percentage of students carrying debt and forty-first in the total debt amount. Among the fourteen SEC Schools, LSU’s cost of attendance is thirteenth and LSU is sixth overall in salary after attending and eighth in graduation rates. LSU students also carry some of the lowest debt totals among the SEC, coming in tenth in total dollar amount and twelfth in percentage of students carrying debt.

50 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Focus on

Alumni Prof Puts Work Skills to Work for LSU

FACULTY By Meg Ryan

W.H. “Bill” Leblanc Endowed Alumni Professor Reid Bates.

“I’ve worked in a lot of places – from the Caribbean to Africa – and I tried to pull those experiences into the classroom.”

52 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

One could say Reid Bates has a lot on his plate. As interim director of the School of Human Resource Education & Workforce Development, as well as director of the International Studies Program, he has received numerous awards for his work, most recently being designated the W.H. “Bill” LeBlanc Endowed Alumni Professor. His progression from workplace to award-winning University faculty member was an indirect one. Bates received his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Iowa and found employment as a counselor in a group home for adolescent and emotionally disturbed children. He then took a different path. After working as a carpenter for a company in Iowa for some twelve years, he opened his own carpentry company, but “one winter I decided to leave carpentry work and join the Peace Corps,” he said. During his four-year service with the Peace Corps, Bates used his carpentry skills to teach cabinet making in Swaziland, Africa. When he returned to the States, Bates enrolled at Oregon State University and earned a master’s degree with a specialty in managing international training programs. He was soon offered the directorship of Workforce Training & Development at the College of the Marshall Islands, and he developed vocational training programs for two years. “Then,” he said, “that’s when I began traveling again.” He was hired by the Peace Corps to develop a training program for new volunteer instructors in Cameroon, Africa. During this year-and-half-long

stint, he met his future wife – and that is what brought him to Louisiana and LSU. His bride-to-be, a native of St. Martinville, La., told him he would have to find his way back to her home state for them to be together. “I began applying for Ph.D. programs,” he said, “and was accepted with a full scholarship to LSU.” After completing his degree, he joined the faculty in the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development. According to Bates, the school is organized into four specialties: organizational behavior, workforce development, adult education, and human resource development. While he no longer teaches because of his administrative duties, his training is primarily focused on human resource development – a section concerned with teaching students to make change happen in positive ways in organizations. “These can be community-based, forprofit, private-sector, or governmental organizations,” he explained. “We train people how to be effective practitioners and researchers in that particular field.” Bates said his time in places like Africa provided him some of his most powerful and meaningful experiences, and that is what motivated him to become involved in the international studies program. He took what he learned in his years of experience and brought that lived experience into his workplace to share with his students. “I’ve worked in a lot of places – from the Caribbean to Africa – and I tried to pull those experiences into the classroom,” he said. Meg Ryan is a junior in the Manship School of Mass Communication and is the entertainment editor for The Daily Reveille.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

High Hopes

Locker

ROOM

Nationally Ranked Recruiting Lifts Basketball Expectations

By Bud Johnson Photos provided by LSU Sports Information

Coach Johnny Jones.

Senior Keith Hornsby.

Ben Simmons, college basketball’s No. 1 recruit.

“[Coach] Jones finally has a roster that includes size, depth and versatility. He can field a big team. He can field a quick team.” 54 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU is not accustomed to rubbing shoulders with college basketball’s elite. Since the Tigers brought home the nation’s No. 1 recruit and the No. 3-ranked recruiting class in 2015, there is growing respect for Johnny Jones and his boys. Only the recruiting classes hauled in by Kentucky (No. 1) and Duke (No. 2) were rated higher than LSU’s incoming freshmen in ESPN’s Top Forty. Ben Simmons has changed the way the Tigers are perceived. The 6-10 power forward is labeled as the best player in this freshman class, and he is virtually everyone’s pick to be the No. 1 player chosen in the NBA draft next spring. Simmons’ scoring, rebounding, and court savvy will make the Tigers a team to be reckoned with this season. Yet, it is his ball-handling skills that set him apart – and not just for a player his size. Coach Jones feels comfortable letting Simmons bring the ball up the floor against pressure defenses. Two other freshmen – Antonio Blakeney (6-4) and Brandon Sampson (6-5) – were also ranked among the nation’s Top Forty basketball recruits. Blakeney was rated the fifteenth best player overall, and Sampson was pegged at No. 39. Their speed and scoring potential, combined with Simmons’ explosiveness and versatility, gives the Tigers some interesting options. In addition to Blakeney and Sampson, four returning lettermen at guard – junior Tim Quarterman (6-6), seniors Keith Hornsby (6-3) and Josh Gray (6-1), and sophomore Jayln Patterson (6-1) – give Jones ample depth on the perimeter. “These guys can handle the ball, are good passers and have the ability to create,” Jones says. “And that helps us as a team.” Simmons and Blakeney, who were both McDonald’s All-Americas in high school, are likely starters for LSU. Quarterman, versatile enough to play all three guard positions, and Hornsby, a steady three-point shooter, are favorites to claim two positions in the starting five. Transfer forward Craig Victor (6-9) is expected to gain a starting spot when he becomes eligible Dec. 12. “We are expecting some big things from Victor,” Jones said. If the Tigers are to make a run in NCAA tournament play this season, Jones and his staff must develop a deeper bench. LSU’s lack of depth last season kept the team from advancing. “The earlier we can develop our bench,” Jones says, “the more helpful it will be to us.” Translation: Look for the Tigers to use many young players early in an attempt to develop quality depth. Sheer numbers won’t be enough when LSU gets into conference play. Although Simmons has received monumental media attention, the buzz inside the team has been about another big man – the development of sophomore center Elbert Robinson, a 7-foot, one-inch 292-pound sophomore. “Big guys develop a little bit

differently,” Jones insists. “He’s benefitting from the time in the weight room and the special attention that he’s been getting.” Off-season work in the weight room has increased the strength in his legs. Robinson’s improvement as a rebounder and scorer should be a sizeable addition to LSU’s depth inside. More importantly, his ability to get up and down the court, has improved. The coaching staff is continuing to focus on his development, and that of 7-foot junior center Darcy Malone. Sophomore Aaron Epps, 6-9, 220-pound forward, has also shown improvement in early practices, drawing praise from his teammates. Robinson, Malone, and Epps not only will have to furnish depth inside for the Tigers but also must help make up for the loss of All-SEC forwards Jarrell Martin and Jordan Mickey to the NBA. Jones, beginning his fourth season coaching his alma mater, finally has a roster that includes size, depth and versatility. He can field a big team. He can field a quick team. He has the numbers to play a pressing defense. All of these elements are essential to competing with the SEC’s best. Jones and his staff hope that the younger players will benefit from extensive playing time in November and December as the Tigers prepare for a rigorous conference schedule. Bud Johnson, director of the Andonie Sports Museum, is a former LSU Sports Information director and author of The Perfect Season: LSU’s Magic Year – 1958. Junior Tim Quarterman.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Historical Sports Notes: Did You Know?

Locker Room

By Bud Johnson

Pat Chase.

Sam Chase.

56 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

The Hoosiers Connection The movie Hoosiers had two connections to LSU basketball. The movie’s “big school” – beaten in the Indiana state high school championship game – was in reality Muncie Central High, a perennial power in Hoosier hoops. The Muncie Central coach was Jay McCreary, an Indiana basketball legend who coached LSU’s basketball Tigers from 1957 to 1965. He also served as associate coach to Press Maravich during the Pistol Pete era. McCreary was elected to the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1970. Hoosiers was filmed in the Knightstown, Ind., gym, where two former Tiger basketball players – Sam Jay McCreary, LSU basketball coach from 1957 to 1965. and Pat Chase – played in high school. Sam still holds all the scoring records for Hoosier Gym, which is now the most famous high school basketball arena in Indiana. After the movie, Hoosier Gym became a shrine to Hoosier Hysteria, and a time when small town schools in Indiana could compete with the big boys. If you remember the fictional Jimmy Chitwood in the movie, Sam Chase had the same deadly outside shot for Knightstown, leading the Panthers to the sectional championship in 1958. It was a first for the small school. Wins at New Castle, a much larger school, and Middletown set off a celebration in the town square that is still talked about by old-timers in Knightstown. The Panthers lost to Richmond in the regional championship a week later in Muncie. But word of Chase reached McCreary at LSU. Sam had several college offers and had signed a letter of intent with Purdue. There was no national letter of intent in those days, and Chase visited Florida and LSU. At this point, McCreary’s reputation as a Hoosier basketball champion took over. He had played on a state championship high school team and earned all-state honors at Frankfort, Ind., under Everett Case, an Indiana coaching icon. McCreary got a scholarship to Indiana and played for another legendary coach – Branch McCracken. Indiana won the NCAA championship in 1940, and Jay made the All-America team. After leading Muncie Central to the state championship and finishing second twice, McCreary became LSU’s first full-time basketball coach in 1957-58. LSU and McCreary won the recruiting battle for Chase, who became a mainstay at guard for the Tigers in 1962-63-64. His brother Pat followed him to Tigertown in 1965. Sam was good enough at the college level to be drafted by the New Orleans Bucs of the ABA, but he was attending law school in Indianapolis at the time and bypassed pro basketball. He had a successful career in investment management and corporate finance in New York and Atlanta where he and his wife, Nancy, raised two sons, Samuel III and Andy, who both played college soccer. Upon retirement, the couple moved to Houston where both sons and their families live, and they enjoy returning to Baton Rouge to watch the Tigers play.

From Metairie Playgrounds to Hall of Fame Until Peyton and Eli Manning came along, the only brothers ever to be drafted in the NFL’s first round were Steve and Ebert Van Buren of LSU. Pro football was not even a dream for the Van Burens, who were born in Honduras. Steve was a 167-pound end when LSU alumnus Ike Carriere discovered him at Warren Easton High. He was a blocking back for the Tigers until World War II called up Coach Bernie Moore’s three talented tailbacks – Sulcer Harris, Alvin Dark, and Dub Jones. Steve had one stellar season as a running back at LSU before being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of 1944. He went on to the pro football Hall of Fame. Ebert’s only preparation for LSU football was on the playgrounds of Metairie. He was inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame in September along with team trainers Mike Chambers and Herman Lang, gymnast April Buckholder, Kim Carson and Laverne Eve of women’s track and field, Sylvia Fowles of women’s basketball, and Todd Torres of men’s swimming and diving. Ebert came to LSU in 1947 after serving in the Army as a private first class in the 96th Infantry during the war. He received the Bronze Star (two), the Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantry Badge. He was wounded by mortar fire on Okinawa. Two of Ebert’s friends from Metairie pickup games told LSU’s Bernie Moore about Van Buren. Moore, no doubt thinking he might hit the jackpot again, invited Ebert to Baton Rouge. The LSU coach was the only one that recruited either of the Van Burens. He played on both sides of the ball for the Tigers, but Ebert excelled at defense. As a freshman linebacker in 1947, Ebert was scrimmaging against the LSU varsity. Van Buren hurdled an offensive tackle, landed on running back Jim Cason’s chest, and threw him roughly to the ground. “Coach, did you see what he did to me?” Cason complained. “Yes,” Moore said. “I wish I had ten more like him.” Van Buren had so little football background, that the game’s terminology mystified him. At practice one day, Moore told him to “run out in the flat for a pass.” When the ball snapped, Van Buren headed for the goal line. “I thought I told you to go in the flat,” Moore scolded. “Coach, I don’t know where the flat is,” Van Buren replied. Ebert played both running back and linebacker at LSU for Coach Gaynell Tinsley. He was a fullback on LSU’s “Cinderella Team” of 1949 that upset three conference champions – Rice (Southwest), North Carolina (ACC) ,and Tulane (SEC) – en route to the Sugar Bowl. Only one LSU player – star defensive back Kenny Konz – could outrun him. But prior to the 1949 season, Van Buren worked out by running in the surf at Grand Isle. “By the end of the season, I could outrun Konz,” Van Buren recalled. As a senior and captain in 1950, he was singled out by the LSU coaching staff for unselfishly giving up his running back role to play defense. “Van Buren helped the team by concentrating on defense,” assistant coach Ed McKeever said. His final season in Tigertown was marred by three different injuries. But the Philadelphia Eagles had seen enough to draft him in the first round. Ebert played running back, linebacker, and defensive back in his three seasons with the Eagles and was chosen to play in the Pro Bowl in 1952. Van Buren earned two degrees from LSU, a bachelor’s in 1953 and a master’s in 1961. At 91, he is still a practicing psychologist in Monroe.

Ebert Van Buren.

Bud Johnson, director of the Andonie Sports Museum, is a former LSU Sports Information director and author of The Perfect Season: LSU’s Magic Year – 1958.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Every Fall The Stars Come Out …

Locker Room

At the Andonie Sports Museum! Photos by Ray Dry and Johnny Gordon

Billy Cannon and Bobby Theriot. Sherman Hicks, Laura Leach, Billy Cannon, Steven Davenport, and Billie Hicks.

Warren Capone with mom Marie Capone.

Paul and Paula Dupuy with LSU Alumni Association Assistant Vice President Tracy Jones.

LSU’s sports history is special. Every fall we are reminded of that by the special guests … the elite of Tiger sports history … who are featured in programs sponsored by the Andonie Sports Museum, the LSU Alumni Association, and Tiger Rag.

Ron Estay, Lynn LeBlanc, and Warren Capone.

Coach Paul Manieri.

58 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

The headliners who came this fall included everyone from Hall of Fame baseball coach Paul Mainieri to Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon. Cannon won college football’s most treasured honor in 1959. This year’s LSU Legends series also paid tribute to Susan Jackson, the highly decorated LSU gymnast who captured the Honda Award in 2010. The Honda is the gymnastic equivalent of the Heisman. Football was further represented by Warren Capone, the only two-time All-America linebacker in LSU history, and three-time All-SEC running back Dalton Hilliard. Two recent major leaguers – outfielder Mikie Mahtook of the Tampa Bay Rays and pitcher Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies – came just in time to discuss the baseball playoffs.

Sue Hendry, Susan Jackson, and Steve Hendry.

James Carville and Lod Cook LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors Chair Dr. Gil Rew and Dalton Hilliard.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND Now in Hardback

THE LSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE SIXTH PRINTING of the

LOUISIANA TIGER BAIT

SELECTED RECIPES FROM L.S.U. ALUMS... AVAILABLE AT THE LSU ALUMNI GIFT SHOP LOCATED IN THE LOBBY OF THE COOK HOTEL 225.383.0241 shop.lsualumni.org

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Tiger

NATION

1960s

W. Arthur Abercrombie, Jr. (1966 BACH BUS, 1969 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants. Sarah Clayton (1967 BACH H&SS) was appointed to the University College Advisory Board in August. During her career, Clayton worked for Eastern Airlines, Scott Foresman Publishing Co., and Merrill Lynch in Atlanta. While in Atlanta, she held numerous leadership positions with the Greater Atlanta Chapter of the LSU Alumni Association. She championed fundraising campaigns and events that culminated in the endowment of four scholarships for LSU students from the Degrees BACH MAST PHD SPEC DVM JD MD DDS

Bachelor’s Degree Master’s Degree Doctorate Specialist Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Juris Doctorate (LSU Law School) Medical Doctor (LSU School of Medicine) Doctor of Dental Science (LSU School of Dentistry)

Colleges/Schools AGR Agriculture A&D Art & Design 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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Greater Atlanta area, created and implemented Sweet Send Off parties for incoming students, served on the Association’s National Board of Directors, and co-chaired the Forever LSU Campaign for Greater Atlanta. She received a Chapter Service Award in 1987. Clayton moved to Baton Rouge in 2014. She is a member of the Greater Baton Rouge Alumni Chapter, assists with the Tiger Tour event, and is a volunteer with Women’s Hospital fundraising committee. Eugene R. Groves (1967 BACH H&SS, 1970 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Commercial Litigation, LitigationConstruction, Litigation-Real Estate, and Trust & Estates. J. Clayton Johnson (1965 BACH SCI, 1969 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Oil & Gas Law. John Shallett (1969 MSW) was appointed by Gov. Bobby Jindal to the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners. He began his three-year term in September. Shallett, a licensed clinical social worker and licensed marriage and family therapist in Louisiana, recently retired as executive director of Trinity Counseling and Training Center at Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans. After receiving his master’s degree, he served as a social work officer in the U.S. Army, and he has held faculty positions at five universities. He is the author of numerous articles and co-edited Cross Cultural Practices with Couples & Families. He served as the founding president of the Louisiana

Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and served on the Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners.

1970s

Murville Alleman (1978 BACH AGR) was recently promoted to lead instructor of urban forestry at Pine Knot Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center at Pine Knot, Ky. He and his wife of thirtyeight years, Margaret, who holds a master’s degree in education from Pfeiffer University, reside in Somerset, Ky. Dinah Bradford (1971 BACH HS&E, 1973 MAST HS&E), a retired principal, was named to the Peabody Society Alumni & Friends Board, which is dedicated to assisting the College of Human Sciences & Education through fundraising, voluntarism, relationship building, and advocacy. David Cassidy (1972 BACH H&SS, 1975 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Litigation & Controversy –Tax. Robert L. Coco (1979 BACH ENGR), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Environmental Law & LitigationEnvironmental. Vicki M. Crochet (1977 BACH H&SS, 1980 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the areas

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Tiger Nation

of Employment Law-Individuals, Employment Law-Management, and Labor Law-Management. Nancy C. Dougherty (1974 BACH H&SS, 1979 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Education Law. Warren Drake (1976 MAST H&SE), superintendent of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, was named to the Peabody Society Alumni & Friends Board, which is dedicated to assisting the College of Human Sciences & Education through fundraising, voluntarism, relationship building, and advocacy. James L. Ellis (1971 BACH H&SS), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Energy Law. Gregory D. Frost (1977 BACH H&SS, 1981 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Government Relations Practice. Emily Black Grey (1979 BACH H&SS, 2000 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Health Care Law.

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Paul M. Hebert, Jr. (1970 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Family Law. Tom Hill (1974 BACH HS&E) writes, “Here is a drastic ‘change’ for me. I’ve come out of retirement to become the running backs coach for SAGU (Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas.” Michael Hubbell (1978 BACH BUS, 1980 MBA, 1987 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Real Estate Law. Van Mayhall, Jr. (1971 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Business Organizations-LLCs & Partnerships.

J. Michael Parker (1974 BACH BUS, 1978 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Mass Tort Litigation/Class ActionsDefendants Lawyer of the Year.

Harry J. “Skip” Philips, Jr. (1972 BACH H&SS, 1983 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and LitigationBanking and Finance. Richard W. Revels, Jr. (1972 BACH H&SS, 1980 JD), an attorney in the Lafayette, La., office of Liskow & Lewis, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America as a Lawyer of the Year in the area of Oil & Gas Law. Claude F. Reynaud, Jr. (1974 BACH BUS), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Commercial Litigation. Eve B. Masinter (1979 BACH H&SS, 1982 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s New Orleans office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Litigation-Labor & Employment. Fredrick R. Tulley (1970 BACH H&SS), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Litigation-Banking & Finance and Litigations-Bankruptcy.

Michael S. Walsh (1979 BACH H&SS, 1983 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Criminal Defense-Non-White-Collar Lawyer of the Year. Harold K. Watson (1971 BACH H&SS, 1974 JD), an attorney in Chaffe McCall’s Houston office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Admiralty and Maritime Law.

Ann Wise (1977 BACH H&SS, 1980 JD) was appointed by Governor Bobby Jindal and confirmed by the Louisiana Senate to serve a fourth six-year term as director of the Division of Administrative Law (DAL). The DAL is Louisiana’s centralized administrative hearings tribunal, which provides impartial administrative law judges who conduct hearings for executive branch agencies. The DAL docketed 15,874 cases during the just-ended fiscal year 2015. Wise, founding director of DAL, has served since 1996 and ranks as the second-longest serving director among national centralized state administrative law courts.

1980s

George Arceneaux III (1983 BACH H&SS, 1986 JD), an attorney in the Lafayette, La., office of Liskow & Lewis, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America as a Lawyer of the Year in the area of LitigationEnvironmental. He was also named a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America. Robert L. Atkinson (1980 BACH H&SS, 1983 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Banking & Finance Law.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Tiger Nation

Jude C. Bursavich (1983 BACH H&SS, 1988 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Commercial Litigation. David Charlton (1980 BACH BUS, 1983 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Construction Law Paul E. Comeaux (1988 BACH H&SS, 1991 JD), an attorney in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Real Estate Law. Anne J. Crochet (1980 BACH MCOM, 1983 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Environmental Law & Litigation-Environmental. Brett P. Furr (1983 BACH H&SS, 1986 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Litigation-Real Estate Lawyer of the Year and Real Estate Law. A. James “Jamie” Ensley (1987 BACH H&SS), senior business development officer at Evolve Bank & Trust in Atlanta, was elected chairman of the Log

64 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Cabin Republicans (LCR) National Board of Directors. A member of the LCR board since 2008, he has served as secretary, treasurer, and vice chairman and is the first chairman of the organization from the Deep South. He is also president of Log Cabin Republicans of Georgia. Active with several non-profit organizations, Ensley served for ten years on the boards of Georgia Equality and the Atlanta Dogwood Festival and chaired the seventy-sixth festival. Ensley recently established the Ensley Scholarship for Tigers from Afar in the College of Business. Kat Gallagher (1985 MCOM, 1988 JD), a partner in Beck Redden’s Houston office, was inducted as a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) in July. Standards for admission to the academy include outstanding skills and extensive experience as a trial lawyer, unimpeachable personal and professional character, and integrity and honesty, among others. Membership is limited to only 500 Fellows in the United States under the age of seventy. Alan Germany (1986 BACH BUS), a high school marketing coordinator with Caddo Parish Schools and Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport, La., was named Outstanding Louisiana High School DECA Advisor in 2015 by National DECA, an association of marketing students. John Grubb (1988 MCOM, 1990 MAST MCOM), vice president of hotel operations at the LSU Alumni Association, was elected as secretary of the Baton Rouge Lodging Association to fulfill a vacant position on the board. The position gives

The Cook Hotel and Conference Center a voice of representation in the city’s leading industry trade group for the hotel industry and tourism. Ann M. Halphen (1971 BACH H&SS, 1974 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Health Care Law. James R “Jim” Holland (1989 BACH BUS, 1992 JD), managing partner in the Kansas City, Mo., office of Fisher & Phillips, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Labor and Employment Law. Sarah Holliday (1984 BACH H&SS) received an Award of Excellence from Camelot College Scholarship Foundation for her exemplary leadership in the community; advocating for fairness, diversity, education, and lower taxes; and fighting racism, crime, and big government. Holliday, who serves as president of Capital City Republican Women and state director of the Urban Game Changers, was recently appointed sustainer adviser of the Breast Health Awareness Committee for the Junior League of Baton Rouge. Trenton J. Oubre (1987 BACH BUS, 1991 JD), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Workers Compensation Law-Employers.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Tiger Nation

Michael E. Schonberg (1989 BACH BUS ), an attorney in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Litigation-Intellectual Property and was selected for inclusion in Texas Super Lawyers. Michael Brendan Simoneaux (1988 BACH HS&E), a physics teacher at Dutchtown High School in Geismar, La., received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, a national honor announced by President Barack Obama. He is one of only two teachers in Louisiana to receive the award. Simoneaux, who has taught at Dutchtown since 2003, was recognized at an awards banquet in Washington, D.C., and received a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at his discretion. He earned a master’s degree in music education from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1993 and has performed in the Baton Rouge Concert Band for more than thirty years. Kenn W. Webb (1982 BACH H&SS), a corporate and securities partner in Thompson & Knight’s Dallas office, was elected president of the Council on Alcohol & Drug Abuse Board of Directors, a non-profit organization focused on improving health, safety, and productivity in Dallas-area communities by reducing the incidence and impact of alcohol and drug abuse.

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R. David Wheat (1985 BACH BUS, 1988 JD), an attorney in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Tax Law and was selected for inclusion in Texas Super Lawyers. Beverly Whitley (1986 BACH H&SS, 1990 JD), a partner with Bell Nunnally & Martin, Dallas, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Litigation & Controversy-Tax.

1990s

Robert W. Barton (1990 BACH H&SS), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Commercial Litigation. Johnny L. Domiano (1993 BACH H&SS, 1996 JD) was appointed partner in charge of Adams and Reese’s New Orleans office. A litigation partner with the firm since 1996, Domiano is a past chair of the American Bar Association’s Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee, and within the firm, he assisted in unifying the firm’s hiring practices and procedures across all of its offices as the former liaison partner in charge of recruiting. He is a member at large on the executive committee of the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, and during his tenure as chairman, the chamber was named the leading chamber in Louisiana. Domiano is a graduate of the Leadership Jefferson Class of 2008.

Gerald Drefahl (1995 BACH HS&E), president and chief executive officer of FITT, was named to the Peabody Society Alumni & Friends Board, which is dedicated to assisting the College of Human Sciences & Education through fundraising, voluntarism, relationship building, and advocacy. Edmund J. Giering, IV (1990 BACH HSS, 1994 JD, 2005 MBA), general counsel of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, was recently named a Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation. Since 1989, the Louisiana Bar Foundation has distributed more than $60 million throughout Louisiana to preserve, honor, and improve our system of justice by funding, developing, or otherwise promoting efforts which enhance the legal profession, increase public understanding of the legal system, and advance the reality of equal justice under the law. Scott N. Hensgens (1993 BACH H&SS), an attorney in Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson’s Baton Rouge office, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Trademark Law. Todd D. Keator (1999 BACH H&SS, 2002 JD), an attorney in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Tax Law. Amy C. Lambert (1992 BACH H&SS, 1996 JD), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Commercial Litigation.

Michele Lambert (1991 BACH H&SS) was named principal of St. Joseph’s Academy, an allgirls Catholic high school in Baton Rouge, replacing Linda Fryoux Harvison (1970 BACH HS&E, 1985 MAST HS&E), who retired in May. Lambert previously ran Spot2Succeed, an education firm specializing in identifying learning styles and creating effective tools to bridge learning gaps, in Tampa, Fla. She has taught at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels and served as middle school director at St. John’s Episcopal Parish Day School in Tampa for fourteen years. Amy Groves Lowe (1992 BACH H&SS), an attorney with Taylor Porter, Baton Rouge, was named to the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of Education Law. Shirley Porter (1997 MSW), a retired clinical social worker, author of You Are Sunshine, and founder of the Sunshine Foundation, Inc., was named to the Peabody Society Alumni & Friends Board, which is dedicated to assisting the College of Human Sciences & Education through fundraising, voluntarism, relationship building, and advocacy.

Roderick L. Smothers, Sr. (1995 BACH H&SS, 1997 MPA, 2004 PHD HS&E) was named president of Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark., in 2014 and began his tenure in January 2015. He was previously vice president for institutional advancement at Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas, and Langston University, Langston, Okla. While at Langston, he served as associate vice president of academic affairs, assistant dean of the school of education and behavioral sciences, and assistant professor of education. He was also on faculty at the University of LouisianaLafayette and served as dean of enrollment management at South Louisiana Community College, Lafayette, La. He began his career in higher education at LSU as an administrator in academic and student affairs. Casey C. Stansbury (1998 BACH H&SS) has joined Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder’s new office in Lexington, Ky., as a partner. A frequent speaker, Stansbury has received numerous awards, including the Defense Research Institute’s (DRI) 2014 Albert H. Parnell Outstanding Program Chair Award. He serves as vice chair of the DRI Government Liability Committee and president of the Kentucky Defense Counsel, and is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC). He was named a Kentucky Super Lawyer in 2015, received Rising Star honors in 2013 and 2014, and is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale Hubbell.

Marc Zametto (1993 BACH BUS, 1997 JD) was promoted to principal from senior manager and is a member of the Ernst & Young Transaction Advisory Services practice. Zametto provides tax diligence and structuring advice for buyside and sell-side transactions, as well as joint ventures and other restructurings. He serves both corporate and private equity clients, with a primary focus in the technology sector. Prior to joining the firm, Zametto worked as a tax attorney at two international law firms in New York. He hold a Master of Laws degree from New York University and is a member of the New York, Florida, and Louisiana state bar associations. Sergio Waldeck (1997 BACH BUS), executive director at J.P.Morgan Chase in New York, is responsible for the financial planning and analysis of a $3.5 billion technology budget within the firm’s Corporate & Investment Bank. Prior to joining J.P.Morgan Chase, Waldeck worked for more than fifteen years with some of the world’s largest financial institutions, including the Federal Reserve Bank, Citigroup, and UBS Investment Bank. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of South Florida in 1999 and a post-graduate controllership certificate from St. John’s University in 2007. He and his wife, Camila, have two children, Andre and Christina. The family resides in Greenwich, Conn.

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS, VISIT

www.lsualumni.org/events/eventscalendar2.asp LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Tiger Nation

2000s

Gina Black Bennette (2002 BACH H&SS) of Leander, Texas, has opened an Abrakadoodle franchise and will be providing a wide range of art programs to schools, community centers, and other sites that serve children. She also has a partnership with the Round Rock Independent School District to provide art education programs for students at district elementary schools. Most recently, Bennette was vice president with the Princeton Review, where she held increasingly responsible positions during her twelve-year tenure and gained valuable experience working with schools and school districts. Prior to that, she was a senior management trainer for Kinko’s. Mario Garner (2002 BACH SCI) was named senior vice president and chief executive officer for Memorial Hermann Pearland Hospital. Most recently he was inaugural president and chief executive officer of New Orleans East Hospital in New Orleans, which he joined in 2013 while the campus was still under construction. During his tenure, he recruited hospital leadership, staff, and physicians to reestablish a full-service inpatient hospital to an area severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Previously he served as chief operating officer at HCA Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin, Ga., and held the same position for the Regional Medical Center of Acadiana in Lafayette, La. Jason Hanks (2000 BACH HS&E) was named dean of academics at St. Joseph’s Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Baton Rouge. He was previously at

68 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, where he served in various capacities since 2002, including assistant principal for instruction, assistant principal for formation, assistant principal for discipline, and as a member of the English faculty. He was an adjunct professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of San Francisco during the summers of 2013 and 2014 and served as an educational consultant for St. Stanislaus College and Brother Martin High School. Fairleigh Cook Jackson (2001 BACH H&SS) was named executive director of the Foundation for Historical Louisiana. Jackson, who assumed her new duties on Sept. 15, has a ten-year record of service to area non-profit organizations and is currently serving as director of member services for the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations. She was director of advancement for the LSU Museum of Art, campaign director for the Community Fund for the Arts, and director of Development for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Baton Rouge. Her current volunteer activities include serving on the board of the Mid City Redevelopment Alliance and the Louisiana Citizens for the Arts. She was deputy coach for the Lieutenant Governor’s Creative Placemaking initiative, is a graduate of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s 2010 Leadership Program, and was chosen as one of Baton Rouge Business Report’s Top Forty Under 40 in 2012. Joan Landry (2003 PHD HS&E) was named to the Peabody Society Alumni & Friends Board, which is dedicated to assisting the College of Human Sciences & Education through fundraising, voluntarism, relationship building, and advocacy.

David Lassetter (2001 BACH M&DA), assistant professor of music at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, performed in concert with guest artists in October at the Noble Recital Hall in Jenson-Noble Hall of Music on campus. The performance featured music by Carlisle Floyd, Franz Liszt, Modest Mussorgsky, and Giuseppe Verdi. During the summer, Lassetter made his Wagner debut in the role of Wolfram in Tannhäuser with Apotheosis Opera in New York City. Earlier in the year, he returned to the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble to debut as baritone soloist in Bach’s “Mass in B Minor.” He holds a master’s degree in music from the University of North Texas and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music. Ryann Denham Sanchez (2008 BACH H&SS, 2010 MAST HS&E) was named executive director and vice president of City Year Baton Rouge. She was most recently development director for the organization and previously served as the chief of staff. Before joining City Year Baton Rouge, she was site operations manager of City Year New York.

2010s

Michael H. Ishee (2011 BACH BUS, 2015 MBA, 2015 JD) has joined the Lafayette, La., firm of Liskow & Lewis as an associate in the firm’s energy litigation and maritime, oilfield, and insurance practices. Ishee was an extern for the Hon. Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden of the Southern District of Mississippi during law school and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Caleb J. Madere (2012 BACH SCI, 2015 JD)has joined the Lafayette, La., firm of Liskow & Lewis as an associate in the firm’s energy and natural resources law and energy litigation practices. He was senior editor of Louisiana Law Review and graduated and was elected to Order of the Coif. Rai Masuda (2013 MAST MCOM) is director of integrated marketing at Forte Interactive, Inc., in West Palm Beach, Fla. In his new role, Masuda provides research, software, and campaign services for the company, which was recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing private companies. Collin R. Melancon (2011 BACH H&SS) has joined the New Orleans office of Liskow & Lewis in the firm’s energy litigation practice. Melancon received his Juris Doctor summa cum laude from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and was a candidate development and symposium editor on Loyola Law Review. He received the Louisiana State Bar Association Civil Code Award for graduating first in the civil law division. Catherine Sens Napolitano (2011 BACH H&SS, 2014 JD) has joined the New Orleans firm of Liskow & Lewis as an associate in the firm’s energy litigation practice. While in law school, she served as the senior online articles editor on

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources. Prior to joining Liskow & Lewis, Napolitano served as a law clerk to the Hon. James J. Brady, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. Alvin Roswell (2014 BACH H&SS), night audit manager at The Cook Hotel, placed second in the Raw Men’s Open 120+kg weight class at the USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Bench Press Nationals in Scranton, Pa., in August. Roswell competed in the 120+kg (264+lb), lifting 501.5 pounds. At a fundraising bench press meet during the 2015 Louisiana Cattle Fest in September, he won “best lifter” by bench pressing 500 pounds. Roswell is in his second year as a coach of the LSU powerlifting team, and he runs the team’s website, lsupowerlifting.com. At collegiate nationals in April, the LSU men’s team placed fourth and the women’s sixth. Megan Gibbs Talley (2014 BACH MCOM) joined NRG, a Fortune 200 energy company, as a communications specialist in June, and she supports communication efforts for multiple retail businesses, including Reliant and Green Mountain Energy. She was previously with Edelman Public Relations in Baton Rouge. She and her husband live in Houston.

BABY

BENGALS

Conrad Cooper Fielding was born on Jan. 28, 2015, to parents Russell (2010 PHD H&SS) and Diane Cooper Fielding (2007 BACH BUS) of Sewanee, Tenn. His maternal grandparents, Robert Cooper (1972 BACH ENGR) and Debra Cooper, reside in Baton Rouge. Carl Neels (1991 BACH AGR) and his wife, Betty, proudly announce the birth of triplets Aspen Faith, Magnolia Grace, and Hawthorn Carl, on Oct. 8, 2014. The family resides in Pensacola, Fla. Kate Spikes (2001 BACH BUS) and husband Jeremy proudly announce the birth of their daughter, Lucy Karen, on Aug. 20, 2015. Lucy was welcomed home by big brothers Jack and John, who assure her they are all future Tigers! Kate is controller for the LSU Foundation.

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 | Winter 2015

Tiger Nation

Tigers in Print Elise Blackwell (1986 BACH H&SS) The Lower Quarter (Unbridled Books) The man murdered during Katrina in a hotel room two blocks from her art studio was closely tied to Johanna’s being kidnapped into sexual slavery in Belgium ten years before. Missing from the crime scene is a valuable artwork painted in 1926 by a renowned Belgian artist, which had been owned by the man who paid for her virginity. And Clay Fontenot, who enabled all that and many more forms of violation, is the scion of a powerful New Orleans family. Johanna wants revenge. The question is whether she will take vengeance herself, as she powerfully wants, or one of the men who are drawn to her will serve as her surrogate. Marion, an artist who has returned after Katrina to rebuild her life, no longer wants to make her way as a masseuse and dominatrix, but she falls in thrall to her own desires and the force of Fontenot’s violent demons. When convicted art thief Eli is sent to find the missing painting, their stories weave together in the slightly deranged halls of the Quarter. Lenora Champagne (1972 BACH H&SS) New World Plays (No Passport Press) New World Plays includes Lenora Champagne’s plays Isabella Dreams the New World (which received the 1993 Native Voices/Native Visions

70 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Playwriting Prize from LSU); My Nebraska, inspired by Willa Cather and testimony by contemporary farmers; and Coaticook, set in the Quebec countryside. New World Plays is in No Passport Press’s “Dreaming the Americas” series, and includes a foreword by playwright/screenwriter Julie Hebert (also a Louisiana native), an Introduction by British playwright and poet Fiona Templeton, and an Interview with the author by Jim O’Quinn, editor-in-chief of American Theatre magazine. Polk Culpepper (1970 BACH H&SS, 1973 JD) Dysfunction in the American Church (Sable Press) The American church is in trouble. The last fifty years have witnessed an unprecedented decline in membership, financial resources, respect, cultural influence, and ministry. Scholars warn that the church most of us grew up with is dying. A major cause of that decline has, for the most part, remained hidden. The Rev. Polk Culpepper offers a unique interdisciplinary explanation, one that converges at the intersection of Christianity and psychology. Based on extensive research and more than twenty-five years of parish and diocesan ministry, the author contends that the American church has, for most

Americans, become irrelevant due to the toxic influences of co-dependent patterns of behavior that corrupt relationships and block attempts at authentic ministry. As such, the book is meant to be read with a bible in one hand and a psychology text in the other. Kevin Harris (1977 BACH A&D) The Forever Home: How to work with an architect to design the home of your dream (Advantage Media Group) Baton Rouge architect Kevin Harris pulls back the curtain and shares his secrets for creating timeless homes in his first solo book project, The Forever Home, providing readers with the foundation to confidently explore their wants, plan their dream home, and find the right professionals to make it a reality. The book details Harris’s step-by-step process to design and build a house that fits so well it becomes a forever home. The Forever Home will help readers determine when it makes sense to hire an architect, evaluate and assemble the design team and construction team, understand the residential construction process, use the Hierarchy of Design to make the most important decisions first, and recognize the pitfalls and avoid many common, but ill-advised, cost-saving measures.

David Kirby (1966 BACH H&SS) Crossroad: Artist, Audience, and the Making of American Music (New American Press) There is in the exchange between artist and audience another meaning of the phrase “shock of recognition,” because the audience looks at the artist and sees what it can be, just as the artist looks out at the throng of ecstatic faces and thinks, “As you are, so I was – who am I now?” And in the exchange both agree not to answer these questions but to ask them. Crossroad takes a look at the intersection described in the subtitle. There are artists, and there are audiences, and the two come together thanks to a lot of behind-the-scenes activity of songwriters, producers, and other unsung heroes of the music industry. The book takes a broader view of how the music world works, how the moving parts link up (or not), how carefully worked-out systems collide with unforeseen accidents, and how geniuses and stumblebums somehow manage to make the music that rewires our brains, electrifies our souls, and keeps us young forever. Stacia Roberts Pangburn (1966 BACH H&SS, 1967 MSW) Mason-Dixon Memories (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform) When two southern brothers

married two northern sisters, our “Mason-Dixon memories” began. The foundation of our fragile family was a promise made by our young and impetuous parents who eloped nine days after they met. Since Mama was from New England and Daddy was raised in New Roads, La., one of the only things they had in common was the word “new” in their places of origin. They would spend the next thirteen years trying to make their marriage last, until finally our family fractured and Mama took us back to her roots. When we left Daddy and our little shotgun cabin under the beautiful old trees on Live Oak, the “before and after” days of our youth began. We spent years crossing the invisible lines of our lives going back and forth over the Mason-Dixon line as we searched for the truth, new beginnings, redemption, and the best way to live our lives. Through everything, we grew to see the blessings that were before us all along. A.R.P. Rau (Robert B. Stobaugh Alumni Professor of Physics) The Beauty of Physics: Patterns, Principles, and Perspectives (Oxford University Press) This book is about ideas and themes in physics. A small set of them apply over broad areas of physics, and in that wide reach lies some of the power, beauty, and attraction of the subject.

Many metaphors from ordinary language or other disciplines have been adopted by physics, albeit with its own specific and distinct flavor. The selection of topics reflects the author’s own four-decade career in research physics and his resultant perspective on the subject. While mathematics is its natural language, physics is mostly about patterns, connections, and relations between objects and phenomena, and it is this aspect that is emphasized. Kelso Walker (1966 BACH H&SS) Jewels in the Landscape: A Celebration of Louisiana’s Wildflowers (Kelso Walker) Kelso Walker travelled to every corner of Louisiana to photograph 194 wildflowers in their natural habitats, almost always using natural lighting. The photographs are arranged according to the colors of the rainbow, one color blending into the next. The text gives useful, interesting, and botanically accurate information about each flower, including its common and scientific names, blooming period, and habitat. Also noted are many wildflowers that were considered to have medicinal and magical properties, as well as those known to be poisonous.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Tiger Nation

In Memoriam Lucien P. Laborde of Hamburg, La., died on Aug. 28, 2015. He graduated from LSU in 1937 with a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and animal husbandry. While at LSU, he served as president of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, the College of Agriculture, and ODK leadership honorary, was business manager of the Gumbo, and commander of the Corps of Cadets. He served in the U.S. Army infantry during World War II as an officer in the 115th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, saw action in major battles, and was awarded many military honors. He returned to Avoyelles Parish to establish Hamburg Mills Farm, and he was a member of numerous professional, civic, and religious organizations. A generous supporter of the University, he served as president of the College of Agriculture Alumni Association and the LSU Alumni Association, a director of the LSU Foundation, first president of the LSU-Alexandria Foundation, a member of Cadets of the Ole War Skule, and co-chair of the LSU War Memorial Commission. He and his wife, Peggy, funded scholarships at LSU and professorships at LSU and LSU-Alexandria. He was inducted into the LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction, the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction, the LSU Hall of Honor for Distinguished Military Alumni, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from LSU.

1940s Arthur R. Choppin, Jr., 1948 BACH ENGR, July 30, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Robert Worden Dougherty, 1940 BACH AGR, July 18, 2015, Jackson, La. J. Robert Fortenberry, 1949 BACH BUS, Sept. 13, 2015, Amite, La. James N. “Buddy” Lieux, 1945 BACH BUS, Sept. 4, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Betty Ellender Lindsey, 1947 BACH HS&E, Sept. 25, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Woodrow A. “Woody” Mansur, Sr., 1944 BACH ENGR, Sept. 5, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Virgil Oliver “Mitch” “Sonny” Mitchell, 1949 BACH ENGR, 1966 MAST ENGR, Aug. 3, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Lois Graves Clement Paxton, 1947 BACH HS&E, 1947 MSW, Aug. 9, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Margaret Thomas Oliver,1947 BACH BUS, May 13, 2015, Greenville, S.C. John P. Shoptaugh, Jr., 1948 BACH SCI, July 21, 2015, San Diego, Calif.

1950s George Cire Calongne, Jr., 1953 BACH ENGR, July 7, 2015, Hemphill, Texas Edward Brent Dufreche, 1950 BACH SCI, 1950 JD, Sept. 1, 2015, Springfield, La. David Irvin Couvillion, 1956 BACH BUS, 1959 JD, Oct. 17, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Frank “Mr. Tony” Ekker, 1958 MAST SCI, OCT. 17, 2015, Ponchatoula, La Kathryn Gwin Ellison, 1955 BACH HS&E, Aug. 15, 2015, Sunshine, La. Katherine Ann Doherty Beck Garnett, 1959 BACH HS&E, Sept. 6, 2015, Huntsville, Ala. Jack Russell Kemp, 1951 BACH AGR, Aug. 3, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Jack Van Lopik, 1955 PHD SCI, former executive director of Louisiana Sea Grant, July 31, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Kenneth May, 1952 BACH AGR, 1955 MAST AGR, Sept. 14, 2015, North Wilkesboro, N.C. Francis William “Bill” Miller, 1957 BACH BUS, Aug. 29, 2015, New Roads, La. Leonce John “L.J.” Sevin, Jr., 1957 BACH ENGR, 1960 MAST ENGR, Sept. 12, 2015, Dallas, Texas Theodore Edward “Ed” Spillman, 1950 BACH AGR, Sept. 7, 2015, Baton Rouge, La.

1960s Curtis Joseph Auzenne, 1967 MAST HS&E, Oct. 8, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Patricia Ann DeArmond Bateman, 1963 BACH HS&E, 1967 MAST HS&E, Aug. 1, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Nenie Ruth Farr Thompson Carville, 1961 BACH HS&E, 1970 MAST H&SS, Sept. 10, 2015, Baton Rouge, La.

Ray Oliver Dreher, Sr., 1961 BACH AGR, Aug. 25, 2015, Starhill, La. Dexter Allen Gary, 1963 BACH H&SS, 1966 JD, Aug. 5, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Duncan Stuart Kemp III, 1966 BACH H&SS, Sept. 13, 2015, Hammond, La. Norwood Marcy Lyons, 1961 JD, Aug. 24, 2015, Crowley, La. James Ray McClelland, 1969 BACH ENGR, 1971 MBA, 1975 JD, March 15, 2015, Franklin, La. Joan Margaret McCrory, 1969 BACH AGR, 1977 MAST AGR, Oct. 1, 2015, Iota, La. Charles Joseph Mittendorf, 1964 BACH H&SS, Aug. 8, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Patricia Marionneaux Nelson, 1960 BACH HS&E, Aug. 14, 2015, Plaquemine, La. Jude Royce Normand, 1966 BACH H&SS, July 28, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Kenneth Edward Norwood, 1962 BACH AGR, July 18, 2015, Whispering Pines, N.C. Alvin J. Ourso, Jr., 1960 BACH BUS, Aug. 2, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Carl Otis “Copper” Penny, 1964 BACH H&SS, 1966 MAST H&SS, Sept. 22, 2015, Plaquemine, La. Marion D. Romano, 1966 BACH BUS, July 18, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Francis Joseph “Sonny” Vicknair, Jr., 1968 BACH H&SS, Sept. 23, 2015, Baton Rouge, La.

1970s Ralph Lowell Cunningham, Jr., 1973 BACH H&SS, 1976 JD, Aug. 4, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Alexander Fred Jabour, 1975 BACH H&SS, July 27, 2015, New Roads, La. Thomas Arthur “Art” Manning III, 1979 BACH ENGR, Oct. 8, 2015, Gloucester, Va. James R. “Jim” Mitchell, 1970 JD, July 24, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Maurice J. Picheloup, IV, 1973 MBA, July 16, 2015, Houston, Texas Larry Lloyd Ward, 1972 BACH H&SS, Ruston, La.

1980s Ann Butler Knox, 1989 MSW, Sept. 25, 2015, Baton Rouge, La. Bradley Paul Nolan, 1987 BACH ENGR, Aug. 9, 2015, Geismar, La.

1990s Michelle L. “Shelly” Cancienne, 1994 BACH H&SS, September 2015, Murphy, N.C. Timothy Paul Waguespack, 1991 BACH A&D, Oct. 14, 2015, Broussard, La.

Robert E. Godke, Jr. Boyd Professor of Animal Sciences Oct. 8, 2015 Baton Rouge, La.

J.C. Johnson Alumnus-By-Choice Former Member, LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors Sept. 19, 2015 Minden, La.

Lillian Newton Landrum Alumna-By-Choice Sept. 2, 2015 Baton Rouge, La.

Samuel Alfred Montague The last of the Reveille Seven, who defied censorship efforts in 1934 May 13, 2015 Kansas City, Kan.

Douglas A. Rossman Professor Emeritus of Zoology July 23, 2015 Decorah, Iowa

Jean Bode Siess Alumna-By-Choice Sept. 16, 2015 Boerne, Texas

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 | Winter 2015

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Profile

Tiger Nation

Find Your Second Floor

By Ed Cullen

Broadway publicist Chris Boneau.

“I had no idea what press relations was, but I had a typewriter, a rotary dial phone with a headset, and my own office.”

74 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

A painful meeting with teachers he respected confirmed something Chris Boneau knew in his heart of hearts. He probably wasn’t going to make it as an actor. Today, Boneau (1979 BACH H&SE), 58, is a founding partner in Boneau/BryanBrown, one of New York’s most respected and successful theatrical press agents. Clients include 207 Tony Award winners and nine Pulitzer recipients. Born in Port Arthur, Texas, Boneau grew up in Gretna, La., and graduated from West Jefferson High School. As far as he knows, no one in his family had gone to college, but Boneau had been to Boys State at LSU and felt at home on the campus. He walked into “the LSU recruiter room” at a college-day event back home and began to think seriously about life after high school. After talking it over with his dad, Boneau took out a loan in 1975 to pay his LSU tuition. In Baton Rouge, he waited tables at Smuggler’s Inn on Acadian Thruway, worked student jobs on campus, and sold men’s clothing at Maison Blanche. After he got his undergraduate degree, Boneau taught speech and theatre and directed plays at Tara High School. When he returned to LSU in 1980 to work on a master’s degree in acting, there were no teaching assistantships. There was a job handling props in the theater department, but, “I said, ‘God, no, I can’t do that.’ I went to Gresdna Doty and said, ‘Isn’t there something else I can do?’” “Everything went through public relations,” said Doty, then director of theater at LSU. “We needed our own publicist.” As a student actor, Boneau had seen the need for theatrical publicity when he looked out from the stage one night to see a half full theater. “I had no idea what press relations was,” Boneau said. “But I had a typewriter, a rotary dial phone with a headset and my own office.” It wasn’t the first time Boneau had pushed the envelope at LSU. “I did something bold in my first or second day as an undergraduate,” Boneau told Playbill. “You weren’t allowed to enroll in an acting class until you’d been through at least the second year of prerequisites. I said, ‘No, I want to be an actor. I’m going to take acting classes.’ I went up to the second floor and signed up for an audition.” “Find your second floor,” Boneau tells his students in Columbia University’s School of the Arts theater management classes. “I didn’t think he’d make a living as an actor or director,” Doty said, “but he was an outstanding publicist. He was energetic and talented. He was also a nice person who could be trusted.” In 1982, Boneau did an internship at Actors Theatre of Louisville on the advice of LSU professor Bill Harbin. “Bill took me on a trip to Louisville to a theater festival. I saw twenty plays in a weekend.” The internship led to a staff position at Actors Theatre of Louisville. After a few years in Louisville, Boneau took a shot at New York in 1985. Early clients included a man who ran a record company in a Manhattan lumberyard and a woman who was a professional singing birthday clown. From there he went to the Joshua Ellis Office, a Broadway publicity firm. When Ellis closed the office, Boneau and another Ellis press agent, Adrian Bryan-Brown, formed their partnership in 1991. In the early 1990s, the agency represented Tony Kushner whose Angels in America won a Pulitzer and a Tony. Kushner, who is from Lake Charles, La., and Boneau didn’t know one another. “Some moments change your life,” Boneau said. “That was one.”

2015-16 BASKETBALL SCHEDULE DATE The job of theatrical publicist isn’t that different from the work of press agents in the 1930s. “Fewer newspapers mean we have to be more creative in getting publicity,” Boneau said. “Theater tickets are ridiculously expensive. Theater isn’t dying but newspaper journalism is.” Newspapers are still important, but press agents use social media, websites, and podcasts, too. “We’re looking for the new journalists,” Boneau said. Columbia University graduate students in theater management and producing are required to take Boneau’s class, which meets in his Broadway office. “They need to know how publicity works,” Boneau said. “They’ll be working with publicists. They’ll read scripts and work on budgets and contracts. We talk about the strategy of selling a show. We’re hired by the producer, who is part of the conversation.” What if a junior Boneau employee tried the “second floor” move on the boss? “I hope it showed I had ambition and initiative,” Boneau said. “The second floor story has to be applicable to the situation. You don’t show up or embarrass the boss.” 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.”

OPPONENT

LOCATION

TIME (CT)

Fri, Nov 6

Southwest Baptist

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

7:00 p.m.

Fri, Nov 13

McNeese St.

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

8:00 p.m.

Kennesaw St.

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

8:00 p.m.

LEGENDS CLASSIC Mon, Nov 16 Thu, Nov 19

South Alabama

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

8:00 p.m.

Mon, Nov 23

Marquette

at Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barclays Center)

6:00 p.m.

Tue, Nov 24

Arizona St. or NC State

at Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barclays Center)

TBA

Mon, Nov 30

Charleston

at Charleston, S.C. (TD Arena)

6:00 p.m.

Wed, Dec 2

North Florida

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

7:00 p.m.

Sun, Dec 13

Houston

at Houston, Texas (Hofheinz Pavilion)

7:00 p.m.

Wed, Dec 16

Gardner-Webb

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

6:00 p.m.

Sat, Dec 19

Oral Roberts

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

7:00 p.m.

Tue, Dec 22

American

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m.

Tue, Dec 29

Wake Forest

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

Sat, Jan 2

Vanderbilt *

at Nashville, Tenn. (Memorial Gymnasium) 8:00 p.m.

Tue, Jan 5

Kentucky *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

8:00 p.m.

Sat, Jan 9

Florida *

at Gainesville, Fla. (O’Connell Center)

TBA

Wed, Jan 13

Ole Miss *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

8:00 p.m.

Sat, Jan 16

Arkansas *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

7:30 p.m.

Tue, Jan 19

Texas A&M *

at College Station, Texas (Reed Arena)

8:00 p.m.

Sat, Jan 23

Alabama *

at Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Coleman Coliseum)

1:00 p.m.

Tue, Jan 26

Georgia *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

8:00 p.m.

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

TBA

SEC/BIG 12 CHALLENGE Sat, Jan 30

Oklahoma

Tue, Feb 2

Auburn *

at Auburn, Ala. (Auburn Arena)

6:00 p.m.

Sat, Feb 06

Mississippi St. *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

5:00 p.m.

Wed, Feb 10

South Carolina *

at Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena)

6:00 p.m.

Sat, Feb 13

Texas A&M *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

12:00 p.m.

Wed, Feb 17

Alabama *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

8:00 p.m.

Sat, Feb 20

Tennessee *

at Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena)

4:30 p.m.

Tue, Feb 23

Arkansas *

at Fayetteville, Ark. (Bud Walton Arena)

6:00 p.m.

Sat, Feb 27

Florida *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

TBA

Tue, Mar 1

Missouri *

Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)

8:00 p.m.

Sat, Mar 5

Kentucky *

at Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)

1:00 p.m.

TBD *

at Nashville, Tenn. (Bridgestone Arena)

TBA

NCAA First Four *

at Dayton, Ohio (UD Arena)

TBA

Second/Third Rounds *

at Site TBD

TBA

at Site TBD

TBA

at Houston, Texas (NRG Stadium)

TBA

SEC TOURNAMENT Wed, Mar 9Sun, Mar 13

NCAA TOURNAMENT Tue, Mar 15Wed, Mar 16

(if nec.)

Thu, Mar 17-NCAA Wed, Mar 30

(if nec.)

Thu, Mar 24Sun, Mar 27

(if nec.)

Sat, Apr 2Mon, Apr 4

NCAA Regionals * TBD *

* Conference Games

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Profile

Tiger Nation

Angela Becnel earned a degree in journalism in 1986.

Dickie Becnel earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture. Photo from 1939 Gumbo

Summer Grad Boasts Long LSU Legacy

Chris Cruz, a football Tiger letterman, graduated in 1987.

Patricia Burns Becnel earned a degree in agriculture in 1936 Photo from 1936 Gumbo

Christopher Cruz and Shelby Nicole Deville with their son, Christopher Cooper Cruz, at August 2015 commencement.

76 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Tom Becnel earned a Debbie Duhe Pearce was a member of the 1963 bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1965. Darling Court. Photo from 1965 Gumbo Photo from 1963 Gumbo

Diploma in hand, Christopher Philip Cruz left the Maravich Assembly Center following summer commencement on Aug. 7 as a fourth-generation, double-legacy LSU graduate. His parents are LSU alumni, as are his maternal grandfather, grandmother, greatgrandfather, and great-grandmother.

Christopher (2015 BACH H&SS) attended LSU on both TOPS and Charles McClendon Scholarship Foundation scholarships, the latter which provides funds for children of former LSU football letterman. His father, Christopher Dion “Chris” Cruz (1987 BACH H&SS), was recognized as the first LSU Special Teams Player of the Year in 1986 and was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. A corporate executive in the communications industry, he resides in Cumming, Ga. Christopher’s mother, Angela Jean Becnel (1986 BACH MCOM), of Lafayette, La., was a member of Phi Mu sorority and a junior varsity cheerleader. A journalist with experience in advertising, marketing, and newspaper journalism, she has been a fitness instructor for thirty-one years and in 2009 earned the title Yoga Sirmonai (teacher of yoga). Maternal grandfather Thomas Richard “Tom” Becnel (1965 BACH BUS), of Miramar Beach, Fla., was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity while at LSU. He is president of the Becnel Company and chairman of Sandestin Investments of Sandestin Real Estate of Northwest Florida. Deborah “Debbie” Duhe Pearce, of Lafayette, Christopher’s maternal grandmother, attended LSU in the early sixties. She was chosen for the Darling Court presented at the Gumbo Ball in 1963 and was the sweetheart of the School of Engineering. Christopher’s great-grandfather, the late Joseph Richard “Dickie” Becnel (1939 BACH AGR, 1953 MAST AGR), retired from the U.S. Air Force at the rank of colonel. His wife, the late Patricia Burns Becnel (1936 BACH AGR), graduated from LSU at eighteen years of age and began her teaching career instructing students her own age. Christopher and Shelby Nicole Deville live in Baton Rouge with their two-year-old son, Christopher Cooper Cruz – who is surely born to be a Tiger!

Profile

Freshman Carries on Jewell Family Legacy When freshman Jack Haile Donham, a graduate of St. Paul’s High School in Covington, La., made the decision to attend LSU, he was given a treasured family heirloom and the privilege of carrying on a family tradition begun by his great-great-grandfather in the early twentieth century. “My son began his LSU career this fall, and his enrollment continues a Current LSU freshmen Jack Donham and his grandfather, fantastic family tradition,” said Marcy Ronald Jewell, a 1967 LSU graduate. Jewell Donham (1991 BACH HS&E) of Mandeville, La. “Jack is the fifth generation of our family to attend LSU. His great-great grandfather, his great grandfather, his grandfather, and I graduated from the University. So when Jack made his decision to attend LSU, he was given his great-great grandfather’s 1910 graduation ring.” After Ellet Benjamin Jewell (1910 BACH ARTS & 1911 MAST ARTS) earned his master’s degree from LSU in 1911, he accepted a teaching position in Spring Hill, La. He then joined the Ellet Benjamin Jewell’s 1910 LSU graduation ring. faculty of Poydras High School in New Roads, La., where he served thirty-three years as the school’s first principal, teaching French and mathematics in addition to his administrative duties. “He was one of the first people in Pointe Coupee Parish, dating back to 1699, to receive a master’s degree,” Donham said. Ellet’s son, Elliott E. Jewell (1939 BACH H&SS) of New Roads, served for thirty-four years as director of the Pointe Coupee Agricultural Stabilization Conservation Office, a public organization that continues to provide and fund diverse nature conservation efforts today. Ronald Craig Jewell (1967 BACH SCI), also of New Roads, did his part to carry forth the Jewell tradition. Upon receiving his a degree in microbiology, he embarked on a career with the Louisiana State Police, eventually serving as supervisor of the physical evidence unit and later becoming assistant director of the State Police Crime Lab. He continued to be active in public service even in retirement through his service on the New Roads City Council. Jack’s mother, Marcy Donham, was not going to let the tradition end with her, as she followed in her great-grandfather’s footsteps – earning a degree in education – and this year celebrates her twentieth year in the teaching profession. She currently teaches third grade at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School in Mandeville. As a fifth-generation Tiger, Jack Donham plans to pursue a degree in engineering and one day- more than a century after Ellet Jewell proudly slipped on the ring marking him as a 1910 college graduate - Jack will know five generations of tradition and pride as he wears his very own LSU ring bearing the date the fifth Jewell descendant graduates from LSU.

Statement of Ownership Management and Circulation

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Tiger Nation

Tigers Around the World Bucket List Trip – Don W. Staples (1980 BACH BUS) made a “bucket list” trip to Alaska in July and August, driving more than 12,500 miles in thirtyplus days. He fished the Kenai with JimmieJackFishing.com and traversed several glaciers, including Ruth Glacier on Denali, from the Talkeetna airport with K2 Aviation. Staples, of Sugar Land, Texas, is retired from the petrochemical industry and stays active as a swing trader and investor. Happy Anniversary – Edgar “Ted” Cox (1947 BACH AGR) and his wife, Mary Louise, of St. Charles, Mo., celebrated seventy-two years of marriage at an anniversary dinner on Aug. 15. They were married at Camp Reynolds, Pa., in 1943 while Ted was serving in the U.S. Army. Both Ted and Mary Louise turned ninety-five in 2015. Celebrating in Mexico – Billy J. Collins (1984 BACH BUS) and Judy Collins, an administrative program specialist in the Department of Economics and a twentynine-year LSU employee, celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary in Jacotopec, Mexico. Joining them was her mother, Betty Sensat, a thirty-year LSU Student Health Center retiree. They visited the local orphanage and spent time with locals in the market and plaza and also visited Manzanillo, where they snorkeled. Judy writes: “We loved our trip and immersed ourselves in their culture. We were in the mountains on a lake, the scenery was beautiful, and the weather was in the seventies – in August! Since we were away from the big cities, we never felt uncomfortable or threatened. The people were so friendly and wanted to practice their English on us while we wanted to practice our Spanish on them. It was an anniversary I’ll always remember.” Tigers in Zambia – Jay Harbison

The Harbison family with ambassadors and evangelists in Zambia.

(1988 BACH BUS), wife Denise, and children, Maddie, Connor, and Kenzie took a family mission trip to Zambia in July to minister to orphans and spread the gospel of Christ through their church, Second Baptist Church in Houston. Daughter Maddie, a high school junior, made an official visit to LSU in September. “We are hoping she commits,” writes her dad.

Kenzie, left, and Maddie Harbison visit with students at an orphanage in Zambia.

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.

78 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

LSU Spirit in Kentucky – Karin Sonnier (1985 BACH AGR) and her husband, Dr. George Sonnier (1985 BACH SCI) of Louisville, Ky., share photos of their horses, Terran and Beauregard, showing their LSU spirit. “I made Terran’s LSU saddle pad a while back and decided to put it on him for game day to give us luck for the opening game. I only use it on game days,” Karin writes.

Karin Sonnier and Terran ready for game day. Beauregard shows his LSU spirit.

What a Wedding! – Peggy Wright Lane (1955 BACH H&SS), of Mission Hills, Kan., writes: “This past weekend, my granddaughter was married and her brother and his wife had my first greatgrandchild, Lael Mae Turner – born on Sept. 9. The baby was three days old when she was carried down the aisle in her mother’s arms – the youngest flower girl ever!”

Peggy Wright Lane holds her first great-grandchild, Lael Mae Turner.

LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Tiger Nation

Tigers Around the World Tigers in Punta Cana – To celebrate their relocation to Baton Rouge after twentyseven years in Fort Worth, Texas, Linda Colquitt Taylor (1974 BACH HS&E, 1978 MAST HS&E) and husband Gary (1975 BACH BUS) invited their son, Charles Travis “CT” Taylor (2006 BACH BUS) and wife Jamie Edwards Taylor (2001 BACH BUS, 2009 MBA) to join them for a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. “Swimming, snorkeling, boating, dune buggying, and beaching were relaxing yet exhilarating activities in Punta Cana,” Linda writes. “Farewell, fabulous Fort Worth. Now it’s back to God’s Country in Baton Rouge and Tiger Nation!”

I’m Gonna Be a Tiger, Too! –

Gary and Linda Taylor with CT and Jamie Taylor in the Dominican Republic.

Mike the Tiger seems much taken with future Tiger Elizabeth West.

80 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2015

Almost-two-year-old Elizabeth Elliott West visited Mike the Tiger’s habitat in September with parents Michael F. West (2008 BACH BUS, 2011 JD) and Dr. Kortney R. West (2008 BACH SCI, 2012 MD) and her grandparents, Paul S. West (1977 BACH H&SS, 1980 JD, 2005 MBA) and Kathy West (1977 BACH H&SS). “Lots of LSU here!” writes grandad Paul, who shares the photo with readers.

Periodicals POSTAGE PAID Postal Permit USPS 14120 Louisiana State University and A&M College 3838 West Lakeshore Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Winter 2015, Volume 91, Number 4

Published on Dec 9, 2015

Veteran journalist Ed Cullen and December 2015 mass communication graduate Rebecca Doctor team up to take a look at the state of Religion on...

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