No.19 | winter 2008

In 1957, Tech’s Air Force ROTC Class graduated with soaring dreams of military service. It was the year that Bulldogs shook their hips and sang “Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock” at the film debut of Jailhouse Rock. Also that year, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat became a bedtime tale, Sputnik silicon bayou orbited the Earth, and a new house cost $12,000. The Louisiana Tech Enterprise Front Row: Col. Walter Stagg, Col. Mary Virginia Stovall, Maj. Howard Carlton, Maj. Leroy Erskine, Maj. Billy Kline Second Row: Lt. Col. Don Stacy, Maj. Wilford Buckelew, Maj. Fred Westergaard, Maj. Victor Gouax, Maj. James Roach Center means business Third Row: Maj. Ralph McMickle, M/Sgt. Bill McRaney, Cadet Second Class Ernest McNeil, M/Sgt. Ernest Schuler, M/Sgt. Richard Hearne alumnus of the year Louisiana Tech University Russell Nolan banks on his university Division of University Advancement nonprofit org. P.O. Box 3183 u.s. postage small wonder Ruston, LA 71272-0001 paid permit no. 533 Josh Brown makes nanotechnology history peoria, il man in the middle Joe D. Waggonner Center for Bipartisan Politics and Public Policy crosses the proverbial aisle

Louisiana Tech University www.latech.edu Alumni Association Officers contents John Allen Lomax Napper – President – Vice President Cliff Merritt Kenny Guillot – Treasurer – Past President Daniel D. Reneau – Ex-Officio

Board of directors Bobby Aillet, Dr. John Areno, Darryl Asken, Lyn Bankston, Chris Bentley, A Word from the Ayres Bradford, Ayres Bradford, Jr., Alumni Director Gabe Bratton, Allison Bushnell, Mark Colwick, Lee Denny, Teena Doxey, Brennan Easley, Wayne Fleming, The last few months have been an exciting time to be a part of the Tech Family! The Jeff Hawley, Justin Hinckley, numerous accomplishments of your University should make you proud to be a part of Marsha Jabour, Chris Jordan, Tim King, Louisiana Tech. This issue of the Louisiana Tech Magazine will highlight a sampling of Dawn McDaniel, James Moore, the accomplishments of the past few months. Jeff Parker, Bob Prestridge, With the Tech administration committed to keeping up the positive momentum, I Richard Simmons, Stephanie Sisemore, believe 2008 will have some exciting memories to record. Some of these will include Markus Snowden, Michael Stephens, advancements in the academic and research arenas, construction projects throughout the Barry Stevens, Trey Williams campus and an ever-present commitment to reaching the Tech 2020 goals. 4 The Alumni Association will also be moving forward to continue to keep alumni Alumni association staff and friends connected to your University. The calendar of events is filling up fast and I Corre Stegall hope you will make plans to participate in many of the exciting events this year. Football – Vice President for University Advancement season will definitely be exciting as the Alumni Association will begin hosting pre-game 8 10 17 Ryan Richard tailgates in the new Argent Pavilion on August 30, when the Bulldog football team kicks – Director of Alumni Relations off the season against Mississippi State. However, don’t wait until then to get involved; Jackie Stevens events are currently being planned including crawfish boils, student send-offs and Tech – Coordinator of Advancement Programs nights at various professional athletic venues. Many activities will coincide with the Barbara Swart Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, which will be held at Louisiana Tech – Administrative Coordinator May 22-25. A complete list of events can be viewed on our Web site, www.latechalumni.org. 2 | From the 16th Floor 17 | Star Studded Speaking of the Web site, in the coming weeks the Division of University Job Well Done Jack Ramsaur Joins Elite Rank Editorial and Advancement (the Alumni Association, the University Foundation and CHAMPS) will Design Team launch a new interactive Web site. The look will remain the same, but the features will be greatly improved. You will have the ability to network with other Tech alumni, search 4 | An Enterprising Attitude 18 | Joe D. Waggonner Dave Guerin the database for classmates or look for jobs posted by Tech alumni. These are just a few Silicon Valley Meets The Piney Hills A True Bulldog – Director, Marketing and Public Relations of the features the Web site will offer. I am sure you will find them useful tools to keep Magin LaSov Gregg connected to your University. Watch your mail for more information on the new Web – Senior Writer/Editor site and your log-in information. 8 | Alumnus of the Year: Russell Nolan 19 | Josh Brown Mark Coleman Your continued loyalty to Louisiana Tech is more important now than ever before. I Indebted To Tech First Finish – Designer, Louisiana Tech Department of Marketing and encourage you to support your University by being a member of the Alumni Association, Public Relations making a contribution through the University Foundation, joining CHAMPS and Donny Crowe sharing your experience at Tech with prospective college students – encouraging them 10 | Young Alumnus of the Year: Alice Fakier 24 | News Around Campus – Photographer, Louisiana Tech Department of Marketing to explore what Tech has to offer students. The staff of the Division of University No Place Like Home and Public Relations Advancement is here to serve you. Please contact us if we can assist you in any of these areas. Malcolm Butler, Amber Miles, Judith Roberts 26 | Foundation Spotlight – Contributing Writers Sincerely, 11 | Arlis Scogin Distinguished Service Award: Leonard Green 28 | News About You Louisiana Tech Magazine is published Their Biggest Fan semiannually by the Louisiana Tech Alumni Association. We welcome your letters: Louisiana Tech Magazine 12 | Distinguished College Alumni P.O. Box 3183 | Ruston LA 71272 Ryan W. Richard Larry James, George Hayes, Debbie Silver, www.latechalumni.org Harvey Cragon, Louis Waller P.S. Stay connected between issues of the Louisiana Tech Magazine by visiting the Alumni Association Web site www.latechalumni.org. You can read the latest campus stories, update your alumni information and even plan your next vacation. the colleges of education and business welcome new deans

College of Education: dr. David GullatT Cardboard boxes line the walls of Dr. David Gullatt’s office, his home at Louisiana Tech for from the 16th floor nearly 10 years. While Gullatt made a major move when he replaced Dr. Jo Ann Dauzat as the college’s dean this month, he likes to tell visitors that the boxes aren’t for packing. They remind him of his humble beginnings at Simsboro High School, where Gullatt began his career after Each fall, the campus is alive with activity, and Homecoming is an eagerly graduating with his degree in education from Tech. anticipated time. It’s always gratifying to welcome alumni and friends back to Louisiana At Simsboro High School, Gullatt lacked a classroom, a typical occupational hazard for first- Tech. I have the honor of recognizing and commending Tech’s distinguished alumni year teachers. So he compartmentalized his course-load into boxes and the lesson stuck. Today who have made significant contributions in their fields. Equally important, these boxes still keep Gullatt organized, and organization remains a fitting component of the new alumni have touched their communities with acts of kindness and compassion, values dean’s leadership philosophy. that Tech holds dear and seeks to instill in all of our students. I know you’ll be inspired “If I’m going to do something, I follow through,” he says. as you read their stories in this magazine. As always, there’s much good news to share! For Gullatt, serving on the faculty and administration at Tech has been a lifelong dream that I’ll start with one of our most visible areas of excitement: this magazine’s cover story he worked diligently to materialize. His roots are planted firmly in Ruston, where Gullatt was about our growing business incubator, the Louisiana Tech Enterprise Center. You born and reared. He realized his goal of becoming a teacher during his first semester at Tech, after may remember an article entitled “In Support of Inc.” that appeared in the Spring/ he had received strong mentoring from family, high school teachers and Tech professors. Summer 2005 edition. That story heralded a new level of commitment to research and “I had Ruth Johnson for math at Ruston High School, and she’s a big reason why I’m here,” development that has yielded the next phase of technological innovation at Louisiana says Gullatt. “It has been my lifelong dream to serve and to pay back Tech for getting me started.” Tech. The work in which these dynamic businesses are engaged has the potential Gullatt became the college’s new dean on Jan. 1, when Dauzat retired. As a student, Gullatt to breathe new life into the economy of Louisiana and beyond; Tech is strongly gravitated toward Tech’s education program because his uncles, who were educators, encouraged supporting these endeavors. him to pursue the field. He chose math, he says with a chuckle, because he didn’t “want to cut up Start-up companies that have emerged from Tech-related research have made frogs.” And then, there was that college dean who assured him that he would always have a job if themselves right at home in the incubator. In fact, we’re also at full operational he pursued math. Gullatt joined Louisiana Tech’s curriculum and instruction department as chair capacity at the new Humana Enterprise Center, which is located in the new biomedical in 1998, after leaving a teaching post at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. One of engineering building. These incubators have paved the way for Louisiana Tech’s first his most noteworthy achievements came in 2006 when the Louisiana Association of Computer research park campus, approved this year. We’re working hard on the location and Using Educators named Gullatt as a “Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year” for the state of master plan for the research park campus, and a groundbreaking for the first building Louisiana. At the time of the announcement, Gullatt praised Tech first, saying “The award shows will be very soon. This $25 million research park campus will secure the University’s that Tech is on the cutting edge of education.” future as a powerful research university that competes globally. It will bring a vital, specialized workforce to Ruston and keep our talented graduates close to their roots when they graduate from the classroom to the lab or office. college of business: dr. james lumpkin How gratifying it is to see our alumni making great strides in their chosen As new dean of the College of Business, Dr. James Lumpkin sees a big job in creating the professions, and it’s a great pleasure to share their achievements. Some of you may strategic vision for the college. That vision, he says, will evolve over time, but Lumpkin is have seen the headlines this summer announcing Tech’s Jack Ramsaur’s appointment to concentrating on building distinction. The college is launching a new building project and this the elite rank of two-star U.S. Air Force General. He’s the 25th person in the United year surpassed its fund-raising goal by $1 million. States to achieve the rank. Jack’s Air Force career began close to home, at Barksdale “We are going to create a stronger reputation for the College of Business,” says Lumpkin. “We Air Force Base, and we’ve enjoyed watching his career advance. Jack’s late father was are going to increase our profile, starting with our faculty. One of the aspects that impressed me a Tech professor of psychology who passionately trained students for an emerging about the College of Business was its focus on higher level publications and top journals.” field—guidance counseling. Today we all know how important guidance counselors are Lumpkin’s focus on journals also caught the eye of Tech. He is a co-author of three books, 87 to student success and to assisting students in choosing their universities. journal articles and 43 refereed papers. One of his papers received the Best Paper Award in the This magazine also includes articles about people like Leonard Green, whose love marketing management track of the 1987 Academy of Marketing Science Conference. Lumpkin for the Lady Techster basketball team has made him a local celebrity. Our Tech Family came to Tech from Oklahoma State University, where he worked as a professor of marketing. is enriched by Leonard and June, and I can’t imagine a game without Leonard holding He was the dean of the College of Business Administration from June 2000 to August 2004. that handmade banner that encourages our Techsters to victory. And you’ll enjoy the The college moved from not being listed in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of graduate stories about other outstanding individuals like Alice Fakier. Her interior design talents programs to being in the top ten percent while he was dean. have launched her into the national spotlight via cable television’s Home and Garden Not a stranger to Louisiana, Lumpkin has worked as an associate dean of the College of Network; she’s Tech’s Young Alumnus of the Year. Our Alumnus of the Year, Russell Business Administration at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He plans on expanding Tech’s Nolan, has an impressive and inspirational commitment to his university and a great College of Business’ graduate programs, and this year will re-evaluate the current master’s of story of business success. business administration degree. One plan includes offering an executive MBA. As the president of Louisiana Tech, I take immense pride in watching the transformative power of a Louisiana Tech education at work in the world through the lives of our graduates and friends. Thank you for continuing to make me and the entire Tech family proud. Linda and I send to each of you every good wish for an exceptionally happy and successful 2008.

2 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 3 Michael Chin used to spend his commute at 30,000 2006 there were nearly 700 new products that hit the market, feet. For four years, a commercial plane flew him from Seattle compared with 527 in 2005, according to the survey that to his office at Apple Inc., in San Francisco, where Chin worked studied 189 institutions. At Tech, one of the most touted pieces as director of worldwide sales for business process re-engineering of intellectual property to meet the market is NFT’s Internet systems. These days, he’s traded his bird’s eye view of the Pacific streaming technology, patented by O’Neal, the company’s chief Northwest for the pine tree-lined landscape of Interstate 20, scientist. The new technology takes two ubiquitous aspects of and his office at Apple for an office in the Louisiana Tech American life – Internet and television – and combines them. Humana Enterprise Center. Ruston’s Network Foundation NFT facilitates long-play, live broadcast streaming channels Technologies (NFT), founded by Marcus Morton, a Louisiana over the Internet to millions of viewers at minimal cost. In a Tech alumnus, and Dr. Mike O’Neal, a former Tech computer culture dominated by broadband Internet, the combination science department chair, drew Chin out of a brief retirement last has powerful commercial appeal, says Chin. Customers agree. year with an offer that the Long Beach, Calif., native just couldn’t Initial ones included Clear Channel Entertainment, the World refuse: vice president of operations for NFT, a Tech startup. For Handball Championships and The Wake Up Show, a syndicated Chin, the choice to set up shop in Tech’s burgeoning business hip-hop radio show. Last year the company netted more major incubator was an easy one. clients, the Central Hockey League and the International “I believe that northern Louisiana and Ruston are poised Baseball Federation’s 37th World Cup, as well as new board to become the next big technology center,” he said, with members. (NFT’s board includes industry professionals, such as characteristic enthusiasm. “I believe that we are where Austin, Clarence Avant, former chairman of Motown Records, and Bill Texas was 10 years ago.” MacDonald, creator and producer of the HBO series “Rome.”) Silicon Valley, meet the piney hills. Others have likened the Chin, who made a 35-year career in growing startups before I-20 corridor’s proliferation of technology-driven business to joining NFT, believes the company’s low-cost broadcast-sharing a silicon bayou. Regardless of the phenomenon’s name, Chin’s technology has created a market paradigm, and the company prediction affirms the whirlwind success of NFT and the is pro-actively expanding its workforce for when the paradigm

“I believe that northern Louisiana and Ruston are poised to become the next big technology

center. I believe that we are where Austin, Texas was 10 years ago.” - Michael Chin

increased commitment of Louisiana Tech University to grow becomes the norm. small businesses, spearhead development in local economies “There is a window of opportunity for startups,” said Chin. and ferry innovations in technology from lab to market. “The two keys to success are knowing when your window of Tech’s Enterprise Center that began in 2005 as the University’s opportunity is here, and then being prepared for it when it inaugural business incubator has blossomed into two campus- arrives.” based hubs for innovative businesses. Since its inception, the incubator has tripled in size and laid the groundwork for the Setting Tech up to succeed University’s first $25 million research park campus, approved in Dr. David Norris, director of Tech’s Enterprise Center, has 2007. Home to nine startups, this network of Tech-supported made his career in learning how to spot – and prepare for – an businesses has the potential to change the economic landscape of those windows. An economist with Ruston roots and a Tech northern Louisiana by funneling the gains of high technology, or alumnus, Norris moved back to Ruston from a professorship at technology that propels industries to new levels of innovation, Northeastern University in Boston in order to help Tech develop into regional communities, while elevating Tech’s status as a major its first business incubator. At the time, Norris envisioned enterprising player in 21st century technology and its economies. Professors energizing partnerships between talented businesses and the are partnering with business to move their ideas from theory to University; the former would capitalize on world-class research practice, and Tech graduates are committing to jobs in Ruston facilities, such as the Institute for Micromanufacturing, and attitude and Louisiana post-graduation. Tech, said Chin, “is showing how faculty members who wanted to commercialize their research in

intellectual property gets translated into real-life applications.” addition to publishing it in academic journals. The latter would

r Trend lines show that Tech is on par with a national benefit from the opportunities successful startups could bring to e

t movement. Universities are commercializing their research and students and faculty. The University saw itself in the supporting

n bringing products to market annually at a faster rate than ever role behind business success. e

C before. A recent U.S Licensing Survey by the Association of “Tech’s approach is targeted and effective in attracting good Partnering technology with business savvy e University Technology Managers revealed that universities are business groups and helping them to be successful,” Norris says. s i yields valuable “light bulb” moment results. L r not only dedicating more money on research overall (about “What’s happening here is extraordinary, and it has the potential o p u r $45 billion combined), but that they are seeing big results. to reshape the economy of northern Louisiana.” e is t Aside from the tens of thousands of patent applications filed The attraction of name recognition and eminent scholars ia n n E y annually by American universities, the number of new university- was just one dream held by the Enterprise Center, when it a it Te rs invented products released yearly is increasing. For instance, in opened in a renovated building that formerly housed the ch Unive

4 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 5 such as Avoyelles Reneweable Fuels, have tapped into the brain “There are things we did not know,” said Grozdits, who taught Professors’ gains can be students’ rewards, as Lyle Pratt knows power of Tech students like Josh Brown, who earned the world’s at the University of California and Berkeley before his post well. Before he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from first bachelor’s degree in nanotechnology when he graduated from at Tech. “It is difficult to combine knowledge of science with Tech in 2005, Pratt had started his own successful business, Tech this past May. accounting and business plans. Fortunately, we had great help.” Axle Networks, one of the first companies to move into Tech’s Brown and his partner, Josh Raley, met in a class that paired That help is crucial for researchers like Dr. Ville Kaajakari, Enterprise Center. Pratt spent two years developing the social business and engineering students; the course challenged who was skeptical of becoming a professor until he visited networking Web site for gamers, then he joined a new Tech students to author original business plans for Tech’s Top Dawg Tech after earning his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin startup, Sensacoil. Working with Dr. Frank Ji, Pratt is using Business Competition. The young men – affectionately known at Madison. After working in microsystems for cell-phone his business experience to help commercialize tiny sensors that as “Josh and Josh” – teamed up with classmates, then snagged manufacturer Nokia in Norway, Kaajakari wanted to see his have big applications. Sensacoil hopes to hit the market with a the contest’s first place award. Today they’re consulting for academic research applied to real world needs. At Tech, he’s hand-held sensor that can detect moisture in natural gas. The Avoyelles, and through the use of Tech office space and research living his dream job. Hired by Los Angeles-based startup Beat National Institutes of Health last year awarded a SBIR grant to facilities, working to bring a catalyst that produces synthetic, less Semiconductor, Kaajakari focuses his research on finding a silicon the company to further its research on microscopic sensors, which environmentally taxing fuel to the market. alternative to quartz have other applications “The company approached us in the spring before we crystal resonators used “I thought about people I had worked with in the past, from personal health graduated,” said Raley, who earned a bachelor’s degree in in an abundance of and safety, to homeland people who had gone on to do bigger and better management and entrepreneurship from Tech in 2007, and is a household products from security. For Pratt, student in the University’s master’s program in technology and cell phones to computers things, people who were highly successful. Those who recently married engineering management. “The University has helped us with – all while maintaining were people who had graduated from Louisiana Tech. his college sweetheart, open arms. That feels really good.” his academic duties. Ruston was the perfect Tech goes above and beyond. Our relationship is Tech alumna Karen Gordon certainly agrees. She knows “It’s an out-of- place to start a family firsthand the value of a University’s commitment to a business. sight, $6 billion invaluable to my organization.” - Karen Gordon and a career. Like NFT’s One of the incubator’s first tenants, Gordon is also one of industry, but all of our Chin, who believed that the Center’s best noted success stories. She launched her own communications are Tech’s commitment to technical writing firm, GTCI, in 1996. The company tapped into based on it,” he said. “It makes quite a bit of sense for this startup commercialization would revolutionize the region’s economic a market of well-educated women who had left prominent jobs in to work with the University because it is less expensive to do landscape, Pratt saw a beacon in his alma mater. That belief was Dr. Michael O’Neal (right) tours Dr. David Norris through NFT’s new lab in the Humana Wing. the telecommunications industry to become stay-at-home moms. research here.” affirmed this summer when Small Times Magazine ranked the In 2004 and 2005, GTCI made Inc. Magazine’s list of 500-fastest That research is paying off in other ways for the assistant University tenth in the nation for commercialization. growing, privately held companies. It shouldn’t come as a surprise professor of electrical engineering. Last April, the Defense “Tech is becoming a recognizable name,” Pratt said, smiling. that when Gordon needed new employees, she looked no further Advanced Research Products Agency (DARPA) awarded Kaajakari “There are so many great minds here that are committed to Lincoln Parish Library, a little more than two years ago. The than her alma mater. a $50,000 research grant to design a shoe that inexpensively commercializing technology. We’re not developing technology to center’s grand opening heralded a new level of commitment to “I thought about people I had worked with in the past, charges batteries. Kaajakari is using polymers, molecules grouped put on a shelf. We’re going to benefit Louisiana and the United University research and development. Under the expertise of people who had gone on to do bigger and better things, people as crystals that produce an electric voltage, to create cheaper, States.” Dr. Les Guice, vice president for research and development, the who were highly successful,” she said, from her home outside of more powerful technology. Prior to the April grant, he received incubator converged expertise between researchers and business Dallas. “Those were people who had graduated from Louisiana DARPA’s $150,000 Young Investigator Award. professionals. With offices occupied by business experts and Tech. Tech goes above and beyond. Our relationship is invaluable startup staff located side by side, incoming businesses received to my organization.” important nurturing from Tech’s Small Business Development Center, headed by Kathy Wyatt. Not surprisingly, a mentor- business meets science mentee relationship between the University and its tenant The relationships formed in the incubator’s early days gave dr. yuri lvov: innovator of the year companies developed. Even before Tech’s biomedical engineering Tech researchers impetus to invent new products, such as industry When Dr. Yuri Lvov received a national award for his groundbreaking research in building was erected, the University had planned a wing to house hailed-fiber coated paper that’s produced by Enterprise Center pharmaceuticals last year, his thoughts turned first to Tech. companies that worked in biotechnology or nanotechnology. This tenant Nano Pulp and Paper. The company’s president, Dr. Yuri “It is not only my award,” said Lvov, from Berlin, Germany, where he was on sabbatical past May, on the heels of the dedication of the new biomedical Lvov, pioneered Tech’s nanotechnology program and has authored leave at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces. “It belongs to the group of my engineering building, the Enterprise Center opened a wing to seven U.S. and Japanese patents relating to nanotechnology. Dr. friends and collaborators.” house these businesses, some of which are headquartered outside George Grozdits, advisor of industry relations, is a Tech forestry In November, Small Times Magazine awarded the Tech professor of physics a Best of Small of Louisiana; others, like NFT, began right here at Tech. Much professor with more than 35 years of experience in working Tech award for Innovator of the Year. The national nanotechnology magazine hailed Lvov’s pioneering research in drug reformulation that aims to improve cancer drugs. to the delight of Tech President Daniel D. Reneau, the Humana with pulp and paper. Applying Lvov’s research on silicon to A drug that allows more specific cancer treatment and reduces typical side effects, such as Enterprise Center reached its full operational capacity shortly paper, the company aims to improve paper production while after its opening. hair loss, is one potential outcome of the team’s research. reducing environmental hazards. Nano Pulp and Paper’s process “Each year it gets more and more difficult to judge the best and brightest as the micro and The list of tenants reads like a Silicon Valley Yellow Pages. of producing paper incorporates recycling and drastically reduces nanotechnology market continues to mature and more products come to the market,” said In addition to NFT, it includes Nano Pulp and Paper, a Tech the need for raw resources. Not only does the paper’s production Christine Shaw, senior vice president and group publisher of Small Times. “It is an honor startup; Radiance Corporation, an Alabama-based military require fewer resources, but the end product is more durable. to recognize the leading companies and business and research executives who are driving intelligence contractor; Beat Semiconductor, a Los Angeles-based Citing the numerous paper mills in Louisiana, as well as an integration of nanotechnology into the commercial pipeline.” company that, as its name suggests, develops semiconductors; industry shift toward container manufacturing, Grozdits sees Lvov, who holds the Tolbert Pipes Eminent Endowed Chair on micro and nanosystems, has had his work Sensacoil, a sensor producer; and Avoyelles Reneweable fuels. this technology rejuvenating a flailing market. He expects Nano protected by four U.S. patents. In addition to his work with cancer drugs, Lvov has applied his nanoassembly Avoyelles is developing a nano-engineered catalyst for the Pulp and Paper to move to large-scale manufacturing within the research to recycled paper production and to the creation of anti-corrosive paint. production of bio fuels. Aside from their physical ties to campus, next two years, and he credits Norris and Wyatt with giving two Lvov’s recognition increases national visibility for Tech and affirms the University’s commitment to recruiting eminent faculty, said Dr. Les Guice, vice president for research and development. the companies have other connections to the University. Most are renowned scientists the tools they needed to unleash their ideas in “Great people like him could go anywhere in the country,” Guice said. “He has made a difference for us.” owned, operated or managed by Tech alumni or faculty. Some, the real world.

6 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 7 indebted to tech russell nolan (‘78): Alumnus of the Year

If Russell Nolan has learned one thing in life, it is this: Customer service cuts to the heart of banking. In his early days “If you work hard and stay committed, you will succeed,” he at Central Bank, Nolan learned how to keep customers at the says, from his office at Chase Bank in Ruston. forefront of a corporation’s consciousness. He believes little things For a man who started his career as a cashier and worked – such as holding doors open for elderly customers – still count. his way to the upper echelons of bank management, that’s sage That attentiveness to clients has helped keep him employed advice. Nolan credits Louisiana Tech. within an industry that has experienced its fair share of bumps in “The work ethic that I learned at Tech served me well,” he the past decades. Nolan says he learned early that if he kept his says, matter-of-factly. “What I learned was how to think logically, customers happy, he’d enjoy success. and how to take a set of facts and circumstances, put them That success came to fruition when Nolan received the together and make good decisions.” keys to the president’s office of Central Bank/First Commerce Tech has no shortage of praise to lavish on Nolan, either. Corporation of Ruston in 1992. For six years, he managed retail, As 2007 Alumnus of the Year, he has more than made his small business and commercial operations at the bank. His duties alma mater proud. Nolan is a symbol of the Tech ethos: a included supervision of 35 offices and associates, as well as major loyal, compassionate and hard-working alumnus who, like the operations. Today he holds the title of senior vice president of university he so loves, is rooted deeply in the community of government and not-for-profit and healthcare groups at Chase. Ruston. Yet, Nolan sees himself foremost as a salesperson with the good “I was thrilled and excited to be included in this prestigious fortune to have surrounded himself with a talented, hard-working group,” says Nolan, who let the letter bearing news of his award staff. sit untouched on his desk for a few days because, as a former “I believe in finding good people and giving them the room treasurer of the Alumni Association, he assumed it to be a generic they need to do the best job they can,” he says. “I have a lot of mailer. “I said, ‘Gosh, I’m glad I didn’t throw the unopened trust in people and their abilities.” envelope in the trash!’” On the weekends, Nolan squeezes in golf games with his

“They instilled within me the desire to work hard and to take the knowledge that they provided

and do something good to be successful.” - Russell Nolan

It’s not likely Nolan would throw any alumni mailings in sons, Blake, 23, and Ryan, 21. When he’s not on the golf course, the trash, given his love for all things related to Tech. He likes Nolan is at home, assisting his wife, Janet, with a plethora of to attribute his enrollment at the University in 1974 to divine do-it-yourself home improvement projects. His attitude toward ordination. His siblings had all attended Tech. And as a boy improvement extends beyond his home. Nolan this year became growing up in Monroe, Nolan envisioned himself as a Bulldog. a member of the Council for a Better Louisiana. His past As an alumnus, his best memories are of his professors, whose community service involvements include a stint as treasurer for desire for his personal success matched Nolan’s own desire for the Rural Economic Alliance of Parishes and a chairmanship of excellence. the Lincoln Parish United Way Campaign. “They instilled within me the desire to work hard and to take “I’ve had some measure of success, and I feel like I owe it to the knowledge that they provided and do something good to be others to share my talents,” he says. “I’ve had a great job for 26 successful,” he says. years, I have a great family and I attended a great university. I Nolan set off toward the path to something good when he want to give something back.” graduated in 1978 with magna cum laude honors. He thought When it comes to giving back to that great university, Nolan he was headed to law school. But life had other plans. Those believes in giving his all. He served as treasurer of the Alumni plans led him in 1981 to his first job in banking. Nolan started Association from 1993 to 2007, and he became a board member his banking career as a management trainee at Central Bank in of the Louisiana Tech University Foundation in 2006. Monroe. The job mandated that he work in all areas of the bank. “It’s given me a sense of repayment for what Tech has done for This placement strategy, says Nolan, ensured his future success as me,” he says. “The quality of education that I received at Tech is a banker. what has helped me succeed.” “It was fun and exciting work,” he says. “I had great interaction with customers and fellow employees.”

8 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 9 “i was excited, pleased and honored to be selected from a huge pool of very qualified their biggest fan graduates.” - Alice Fakier Leonard Green’s love for the Lady Techsters nets him the Arlis Scogin Distinguished Service Award.

with typical graciousness. It still surprises Leonard Green that he might walk “I was excited, pleased and honored to be selected from a huge down the street in any Southern city and hear a stranger call pool of very qualified graduates,” she says. out, “Louisiana Tech!” as though that were his name. Among Fakier’s “Design Star” status made her a household name dedicated women’s college basketball followers, Green has a in the world of do-it-yourself décor devotees, but she stays following all his own. Hence, the photos picturing a grinning grounded by putting her clients first. Her passion for meeting Green flanked by Tech fans that he keeps in scrapbooks at his design challenges earned her another contract with the cable Shreveport home. A handmade sign bearing the words “Love network. HGTV last year contracted Fakier to host 12 online Those Lady Techsters” that Green holds as an emblem at each segments at its Web site, www.HGTV.com. In the series (aptly home game has netted him celebrity status among the Bulldog titled “Ask Alice”) Fakier streamlines typical design quandaries Nation. For more than a decade, Green, 90, and his wife, June, into brief “How-To’s.” And she offers her tried-and-true methods say they’ve been having the time of their lives supporting their of bringing personal flair into a home. (One tip of turning linen favorite team. That fun paid off when Tech awarded Leonard tablecloths into homemade draperies is one that Alice tried at Green its highest honor for service to the University, the Arlis home.) On camera, Fakier adopts an easy-going demeanor. Credit Scogin Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes Tech’s her mom, Dr. Linda Martin, a former Tech professor of speech strongest allies who are not graduates of the University. communication, with teaching her daughter the importance of “I’m amazed,” said Green. “I plan on following the team for as good communication skills. long as I’m able.” “She told me to keep things short and concise. Hosting For Green, being a loyal fan means hitting the road, too. Until segments was a lot less stressful because I had time to prepare, medical maladies stopped them, the Greens went the extra mile and I had a lot more sleep,” says Fakier, who re-lived her Tech for their favorite basketball time – literally. They’ve followed the days when she pulled all-nighters during the filming of the reality Lady Techsters to 38 cities in the nation and 21 states. On one television show. “I feel relaxed when I talk about design. It’s my trip, they drove 1,000 miles one way for, as they say, “the girls.” area of expertise.” Today they see the Lady Techsters as an extended family. Despite the buzz that “Design Star” generated, Fakier hasn’t Road trips have never daunted Leonard Green. As a Tech raised the rates of her freelance design firm, Gallimaufry. Her student, he biked 30 miles each day from Jonesboro to Ruston firm’s name is a French word that is synonymous with Fakier’s until the commute wore him down. He left Tech without design philosophy, a philosophy that advocates eclectic tastes finishing his engineering degree to work in a factory assembling That love touched the Lady Techsters. Shortly before her and downplays “matchy-matchy” interiors. “Design Star,” didn’t motorbike wheels in New Orleans. The job led Green eventually retirement, June Green took a trip to Atlanta to visit her sister. no place change her style, either. She still advocates mixing periods and to Shreveport, where he worked for 25 years in aircraft structural The two stopped off to eat lunch in a cafeteria where Lady pieces because “it’s easier to personalize your home by using what repair as a foreman at Barksdale Air Force Base. He retired in Techsters had also stopped to eat. June engaged the players in you love, rather than defining a style by one aesthetic,” Fakier says. 1967 as a scheduler of maintenance repair. conversation. Eventually, they offered her two tickets to that like home You could say she’s been honing that style all of her life. The Greens’ love affair with the Lady Techsters went into evening’s game. Growing up, Fakier knew she was different from her friends overdrive after they retired (June from her long career as a social “When she came home, she talked about how good the game alice fakier (‘02): because they thought nothing of tacking boy-band posters to worker, Leonard from a second career in the Caddo Parish School was and how well the girls played,” says Leonard Green, fondly. Young Alumnus of the Year their bedroom walls. Fakier preferred gold-framed and linen System.) They decided to place a local women’s basketball team at It wasn’t long before June Green’s enthusiasm wound its way matted Monet prints for her Laura Ashley-inspired bedroom. the forefront of their golden years. Indeed, June Green jokes that into her husband’s heart. For the next three years, he and June The room was a step up from her childhood digs, where Barbie Leonard Green never liked basketball until he attended a Lady drove 60 miles from Shreveport to Ruston to cheer on the Lady Alice Fakier prefers work to play, home to hobnobbing dolls littered the floor and a gigantic rainbow adorned a wall (the Techsters game and found himself enthralled with the players’ Techsters during their home games. At one game, Leonard Green and Louisiana to all other states in the nation – which is why rainbow matched Fakier’s comforter). When she entered middle passion. June Green, however, just may have been born with the noticed that a Stanford University-fan unfurled a flag each time she moved from Texas this year to her husband’s hometown school, Fakier started receiving unusual Christmas presents that urge to dribble. his team scored. June Green noticed the same sign, turned to her of Thibodaux. While other TV stars may snatch headlines for revolutionized her tastes. That urge would not be suppressed by Winnfield High School, husband and said: “We need one of those flags.” uproarious behavior, Fakier has her own ideas about downtime. “My parents,” she says, “started buying me artwork instead of which in 1937 boasted a basketball team. One detail kept June To which her husband replied: “We sure do.” They don’t involve kicking back on the couch with her adoring buying me sweaters.” Green sitting on the sidelines: her high school had a men’s-only The next day, Leonard Green phoned an old friend with tomcat, Gaston, and watching reruns of HGTV’s “Design Star.” And Fakier never looked back. After moving to Thibodaux team. But, at 87, June describes herself as the sort of woman who whom he had worked in the Caddo Parish School system. She “The best day,” she says, “would be scouting accessories for earlier this year, she has another design project on her hands. has no problem backing a cause that she believes in. Simply put, made his first banner by hand. Threadbare and stained with clients, finding all the right ones and going home happy.” Fakier is managing the full-time job of her new French Acadian- when a cause has won her heart, she will throw her soul behind spilled Coca-Cola, that early banner hangs across the back of Fakier knows all about going home happy. Her trademark style home’s construction, yet she still squeezes in the occasional it. Her powers of persuasion, combined with good fortune, paved a sofa in the Greens’ home. At the time of its making, Green smile flashed across millions of television screens nationwide at road-trip to meet clients in Bossier City. Fakier doesn’t see herself the way for the high school’s first women’s basketball team. In her envisioned the sign as a small token of support for a team that the conclusion of the 2006 hit cable television season of “Design as a celebrity. Yet, she craves anonymity. (She sometimes runs black-and-white yearbook photo, a uniformed June Green smiles needed a little encouragement. He never imagined that his Star,” when Fakier took first runner-up in a competition that errands in a hat and sunglasses.) When she hits design doldrums, triumphantly at the camera. homemade sign would make him one of the Tech Family’s most vaulted her to the national spotlight. Her good natured goodbye Fakier remembers her Tech days, and the professors and students “I liked basketball, and I helped put it on the map in my beloved members. impressed fans and judges, and it left a marked impression on who approached their work with contagious enthusiasm. hometown,” she says. “I thought that girls should have the same “It’s been fun, fun, fun the whole time,” says Green, Louisiana Tech. The University named Fakier as its 2007 Young “Tech was very supportive,” says Fakier. “My teachers were chance to play as boys.” incredulously. “Louisiana Tech is one of the greatest schools that Alumnus of the Year in September. Fakier accepted the award excited about what they did, and they were excited to be there.” you will find anywhere.”

10 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 11 2007 distinguished alumni of the colleges 2007 distinguished alumni of the colleges

College of Business College of applied and natural sciences larry james (‘70) George “Roy” Hayes (‘42) Hometown: Many Hometown: Shreveport Now resides in: San Antonio Now resides in: Shreveport

What led you to Tech? What led you to Tech? My brother, Bill James, went there and was in the U.S. Air Force I had an aunt who was childless, and she and her husband ROTC program. I went to Tech because he did. I was going to be owned a business in Illinois. She offered nieces and nephews the a pilot in ROTC. opportunity to live with them, work for them and attend the University of Illinois. I took her up on it, and I didn’t get home Words to describe your reaction to being named a for a year! I wanted something smaller and closer to home. In my Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Business? mind, Tech was the best school in the state. I am honored and excited. Best memories of Tech? How would you describe, in layman’s terms, the mission of the Gosh, there are so many! I loved it. To those Techsters, I was company you manage today, NetNearU? Larry James (center) receives his award from President Reneau and a city boy. My best memories are the practice dances at 5 p.m. Geroge “Roy” Hayes (center) receives his award from President We provide backlink management systems and software to Dean James Lumpkin. each Wednesday before the evening meal. It cost a nickel and Reneau and Dean James Liberatos. large companies that are deploying WiFi, such as airports and it was hilarious. I also became front-man for the Collegians as municipalities. We supply many of the airports that use Sprint. they toured Monroe and various north Louisiana venues. I loved We have helped larger companies deploy WiFi. You go to hotels and politics within the workplace, and to share the same goal music. In those days, I was in the choir. gravitate in that direction. Malaria and crooked politicians were and airports now and you will find WiFi almost everywhere. of making the company successful. There should be respect for two of the greatest problems facing the South. all employees. I have as much respect for someone cleaning the Words to describe your reaction to being named Alumnus of Throughout your career, you’ve watched cell phones floors as I do for the chief financial officer. the Year for the College of Applied and Natural Sciences? Pestilence eradication took you to the British West Indies, replace telephones and the Internet become a ubiquitous I am honored. It’s my second fifteen minutes of fame. My first the lower Rio Grande and the Far East. Describe a powerful communications tool. What role has flexibility played in your When you’re not hard at work, how do you spend your free was when the University had a luncheon for me at the Ropp memory. success? time? Center. Also, my name is on the wall of the new Biomedical Before Castro, I spent a month in Cuba, working out of Havana Accepting change is critical. Change comes about every day in an I’m becoming less involved in day-to-day at NetNearU and Engineering Building. with doctors from most of the South American and Caribbean organization and if people resist change, it is not a good thing. probably will go from CEO to chairman, which is what I’ve nations on a month-long training mission for the World Health Even our dress code has changed. In the 1980s, people only wore wanted to do for awhile. I spend a lot time with my family. My What does Tech mean to you? Organization. We were eradicating yellow fever. That was one suits and ties. Landlines were all we had. I remember in 1992 son is going into the doctor of business administration program Tech did inordinate things to help me achieve in my career. My very interesting month. and 1993 that the main communication – other than face-to- at Tech this year. professor, Willis Worth, loaned me his car the night of Dec. 6, Did working with insects teach you any lessons about human face or telephone – was fax. In today’s world, the Internet is too 1941. I went to Monroe to pick up my girlfriend. I turned on Your wife, Dr. Sandra L. James, is a former university nature? predominant. the radio and Pearl Harbor was breaking. I have never forgotten professor and a business college dean, and a CPA. What has that moment. The school managed to give me my final exams six I learned how ephemeral our life spans are. There is a Is the Internet being used too much? marriage taught you about management? weeks early; I was in the service for six weeks when I was allowed corollary between an insect’s complete metamorphosis and the Young people today need to be aware that the Internet is a She wins all arguments. Our marriage is my most important to go back and stand with my class to receive my diploma. development of humans. They are small, but they are not simple wonderful communications tool, but it should not replace verbal partnership. organisms. communication with employees and customers or community. If Tech allowed you to graduate early so that you could help your You have been named as one of the most influential people After you retired from the U.S. Public Health Service at the you need to tell someone your feelings and really communicate, entomology professor, Willis Worth, fight mosquitoes that in the telecommunications industry by the Competitive rank of naval captain, you went on to work for the Louisiana that needs to be done via telephone or face-to-face. were causing malaria and widespread battlefield casualties Telecommunications Association Board of Directors. How have during World War II. Worth became a worldwide authority State Health Department until 1983. What were the major You graduated from Tech in 1970, when as you say, landlines you used this influence for good? on mosquito identification with the Smithsonian Institution. highlights of your second career? were all you had. Throughout your career, you’ve mastered new I use influence through example and through what I do with the What is the greatest lesson that he taught you? My job was administrator of insect and rodent control and technology as it’s been developed. What has helped you keep money that I make. He set an excellent example. He worked at furthering his solid and hazardous waste management. I was selected to go to current? capacity as a medical entomologist tirelessly – and he taught Colorado to work with a dozen people to develop the nationwide And finally, how did Louisiana Tech University prepare you What has helped me stay current with technology is to be me generosity. Nobody else ever lent me an automobile to go test for all people who would use restricted-use pesticides. I wrote for a career as a CEO of a multi-million dollar company? involved in technology companies and to be involved with people courting. the training manual that is still in use to train people who are who are very technologically brilliant. I don’t know how I came out of Tech with such confidence. I going to be tested and certified in municipal insect control. We didn’t quite realize at the time that, being a graduate from Tech, You went on to work for the U.S. government to eradicate edited and co-authored that original book. As the leader of two markedly successful companies, you must I would not necessarily have the influence of a Harvard, Stanford malaria from the United States. What circumstances called you have a few words of wisdom to impart to our readership on or Northwestern graduate. The first company that I worked for into this incredible career path? And finally, how did Tech prepare you for a successful career as managing a productive workforce? was Haggar in Dallas. I interviewed against seven or eight Notre Willis Worth got me interested in medical entomology; malaria an entomologist? My strategy is to empower people to absolutely reject bureaucracy Dame guys, and that didn’t matter to me. My degree from Tech is was a major economic and sociologic problem in the United I believed that going in – and more firmly now – that Tech is a the only degree that I’ve ever earned. States and its possessions. It seemed like a good thing to do. no-nonsense school that gives you more education for your dollar Willis Worth, whom I recognized as a brilliant man, caused me to and your hour’s effort than any other school I know.

12 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 13 2007 distinguished alumni of the colleges 2007 distinguished alumni of the colleges

College of education College of engineering and science debbie silver (‘99) harvey cragon (‘50) Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas Hometown: Ruston Now resides in: Melissa, Texas Now resides in: Dallas

What led you to Tech? What led you to Tech? I went to Tech as a graduate student. It was happenstance. I had My parents were supportive of the University and its faculty. It been teaching for 21 years in Logansport and Shreveport, mainly was natural that Tech was where I was going to go. There wasn’t as a middle school teacher. Louisiana Tech started a joint program any discussion. It had a good engineering school. between education and biology called ‘Project Life.’ It was a catalyst program that I helped get going. I decided to pursue a Best memories of Tech? doctorate in curriculum and instruction. I was in the first class of My wife is from Alexandria and we went to high school together. that program. Then my husband started working on his doctorate We started courting seriously when I went to Tech. in marketing and management at Tech. So Tech has had a huge impact on our lives. Words to describe your reaction to being named a Debbie Silver (center) receives her award from President Reneau and Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Engineering and Harvey Cragon (center) receives his award from President Reneau Best memories of Tech? former Dean Jo Ann Dauzat. Science? and Dean Stan Napper. I loved the camaraderie of all the professors that I knew, both in I never expected that I would be so named. It’s a great pleasure to science and in education. I would walk through fire with Dr. Jo be recognized at Tech. Ann Dauzat and Dr. David Gullatt. They made my life so easy. The State of Louisiana named you as a teacher of the year. of, and they wrote papers about these ideas. I tried to read the When I was an assistant professor for three years, I had become a How did you measure personal success as a teacher? After graduating from Tech, you led an exciting career at Texas field literature to keep up, and I found that I cast a wider net by very popular speaker and people were calling me from all over the In the short term, I measured my success by what I saw going Instruments. You were the principal architect on the Texas having better graduate students working with me. world. They made it work that I could do that, but not take time on in my classroom. Test scores are one rubric and they’re just a Instruments Advanced Scientific Computer (ASC), developed You were made a member of the National Academy of away from my students. small part. This sounds silly, but I looked at my Valentines, and between 1966 and 1971. Today the ASC is referenced as a I watched my students’ eyes as they walked into the room. In the landmark in high-speed computer design. What were your Engineering in 1978 because of your contributions to the Words to describe your reaction to being named Alumna of the long term, I measured my success by what my kids did with their expectations in 1966 of the future of high-speed computing? development of large-scale digital computers, and you have Year for the College of Education? lives. I have been very fortunate in getting into computers in the received numerous honors for your pioneering work in this I was terribly humbled and terribly honored. I have such high early 1950s, and to be part of the development of computers field. Of what are you most proud? regard for the College of Education, which I think is one of the You offer workshops on stress management for teachers. What in the 50s, 60s and 70s. It was a great adventure. I was learning I think I did contribute to architectural techniques for high-speed most outstanding schools in the South. is the number one stressor for teachers in the classroom? something new each day. I always felt there was another great step computers. We see a lot of those techniques employed today. The There’s not enough time and there’s no closure. We need ahead. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew we would make it. work on the ASC was a highlight, but I also did early work in Today you travel all over the world as a speaker to educators. unencumbered time with students and we don’t have it. I’m still amazed by the progress being made in computers today. defining what digital microprocessor chips should be in the late What do teachers need to hear? 70s. They need to hear that they’re appreciated, and that they do One question that you say teachers should ask is ‘How are In 1961, you designed and constructed the first integrated make a difference in people’s lives. My most popular keynote is they smart?’ rather than ‘How smart are they?’ when assessing circuit computer at a time when computers were viewed with How many computers do you own, how often do you log on titled ‘Be a Teacher, Be a Hero.’ As teachers, we plant seeds that students. How are you smart? great skepticism. Why did you believe in them? and for what reasons? flourish throughout a child’s life. You can’t measure that at the I’m people smart. I’m intuitive, empathetic and nurturing. At Texas Instruments we built an experimental integrated circuit I have a personal computer on my desk and it’s turned on each end of a school year. computer. The computer was viewed as a laboratory curiosity. morning for me to do my writing; it’s an authoring tool. My wife What is the best advice that a teacher ever gave you that you Integrated circuit computers have changed the world. Texas has a computer because she does genealogical research. We have a Your book, ‘Drumming to the Beat of Different Marchers: remember today? Instruments was paying me a salary to have a lot of fun. I was laptop we haul around when we travel. Finding the Rhythm for Teaching Differentiated Learning’ It just sounds so trite and I didn’t listen to it at the time, but I working with interesting technology and interesting ideas with (2005) has an interesting title. Can you elaborate on what that wish I did. It was, ‘Be yourself.’ I wanted to be the Marcia Brady interesting people and I got paid to do it! Did you anticipate the computer’s prominence in American life title means to you? cheerleader, but that’s not who I was. when you worked for Texas Instruments? As a student I was always told I marched to the beat of a different You left Texas Instruments in 1984 to take the Ernest Cocknell I didn’t have a vision. I was marveling at each step. Describe the most important lesson that your students have drummer, like that was a bad thing. Most kids are ‘outside of the Jr. Centennial Engineering Chair at the University of Texas taught you? How are you spending retirement? lines’ and I would tell teachers, ‘You need to go outside of the at Austin. How did the classroom compare to your work with Don’t give up. I’m working on a book about computers that ran submarines lines to get where the kids are.’ I wondered why we were trying Texas Instruments? during World War II, and I have my old Tech trigonometry book to get students to fit into teachers and schools, when maybe it The classroom environment was similar to Texas Instruments Of what are you most proud? out. They’re different from computers we have today, they’re quite should be the other way around. because there was a schedule. People were eager to learn, and it My sons, my stepsons and my grandchildren. was fun to be able to contribute to that sort of environment. I clever and quite interesting. They were all mechanical. got a year older each year, but the students stayed the same age. What has been your life’s greatest lesson? What did your students teach you about technology? I don’t have any great wisdom to pass on, other than to keep Certainly my graduate students, who were doing research, taught plugging away (no pun intended). me a great deal. They came up with ideas that I had not thought

14 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 15 2007 distinguished alumni of the colleges

College of liberal arts louis waller (‘87) Star Studded Tech’s own Jack Ramsaur earns a top military honor. Hometown: Waynesboro, Miss. Now resides in: Lighthouse Point, Fla. Gen. Jack Ramsaur will never forget the night he spent in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, refueling C-130 What led you to Tech? helicopters destined for a failed hostage- I decided my sophomore year at a community college that I rescue mission. wanted to transition into aviation from engineering. Up until “When I was refueling the planes I this point, I had been on an engineering track. Tech offered the thought, ‘I’m in the middle of nowhere, aviation courses but also a traditional university setting. no one knows that I’m here because it’s top secret, and I’m doing altitude and Words to describe your reaction to being named a refueling that we’ve never done before,” he Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Liberal Arts? said. “That was an amazing experience.” It is a great honor and privilege to represent the College of Fortunately for Ramsaur, life had more Liberal Arts. I am very appreciative of the opportunity Tech gave amazing experiences in store. The summer me to get my degree and to put it to good use. Louis Waller (center) receives his award from President Reneau and announcement of his appointment to Dean Ed Jacobs. the highly elite rank of two-star U.S. Air You started your career as a flight instructor in Laurel, Miss. Force General grabbed national headlines. At the time, you flew single engine air planes. How did your He took the news in wide-eyed stride. education at Tech prepare you to teach aviation? simple. What if you could own your own Internet Travel Agency, “This honor recognizes a job well We treated our program in Laurel as if the students were going book your next vacation on your own Web site and get paid this done,” said Ramsaur, who discovered through the same process at Tech. That’s why we had the success commission? So, really all we are doing is combining the concept his passion for the U.S. Air Force as a we had. of owning your own business, the power of the Internet and the ROTC candidate at Louisiana Tech. “The largest industry on the planet – the travel industry. best thing about the ceremony was that In 1991, you began working as a military pilot for the it allowed my family to be a part of my At UPS, you’ve worked hard to help Tech alumni be hired as Mississippi Air Guard and your duties included delivery of career.” U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, daughters Allison Savage and Angela Kerr and pilots. How do Tech alumni compare to the general applicant cargo, patients and passengers. During your 11-year career That’s usually not the case for airmen wife Sylvia pinned Jack Ramsaur’s new gold stars onto his uniform. pool? with the Air Guard you were promoted to chief pilot and to the whose careers unfold away from home. Our goal as aviation alumni is to help fellow alumni achieve a rank of major. What motivated your military service? Ramsaur’s wife, Sylvia, and their two position at any major carrier, including UPS. I would say that I wanted the opportunity to serve and to be one of the first daughters assisted him in pinning the “Garcia didn’t fall back,” Cartwright Ramsaur chose to enlist in the Air UPS hires only the best of the best. However, it is a great feeling people in my family who was involved with the military. We stars onto his uniform jacket during a said. “He was given a mission and he Force shortly after he entered Louisiana to learn that a fellow alumnus has been hired at UPS, especially participated in several relief efforts during the fall of the former formal pinning ceremony held in July completed it, just as he said he would, Tech in 1970 to study business when you know the training background, level of experience and Soviet Union, and we also supported missions after natural at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier without faltering. That’s Jack to a tee.” administration. It wasn’t long before the hard work that has been accomplished by that individual. disasters. City for Ramsaur’s friends, relatives Ramsaur now serves as the Air Force transformed his small-town and colleagues. For a man who says his You are the founder of the Louis Waller Endowed Scholarship mobilization assistant to the commander, world into an easily-navigable globe. Since 1994, you’ve flown for the United Parcel Service and greatest life lesson was learning how to for the Department of Professional Aviation. Why did you United States Strategic Command at After earning a master’s of business today you hold the title of captain. What has been your believe in himself, the ceremony more want to give back? Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. He has administration from Tech in 1975, he toughest professional challenge? than affirmed a job well done; it validated more than 5,300 hours in the Boeing 707 pursued ROTC pilot school at Laughlin I went through Tech on work study and loans. My career path I don’t have the lives of 300 people in my hands, but I might more than three decades of service to his and 727 and McDonell Douglas DC-10 Air Force Base, about four hours west of turned into a success story. When I made captain with the have 800 pounds of packages and there are hundreds of people country. civilian jetliners and in the military’s E-3, San Antonio. His career took him to bases airline, my wife, Ronda, and I decided we had achieved a lifelong who are relying on us. We’ve expanded into an international With more than 75,000 reservists C-18, KC-135 A/R, T-37, T-38 and T-1 in New Jersey and Oklahoma. Eventually, goal and we wanted to give something back. UPS had a match arena in a huge way, and I see it as my job to maintain high levels serving the Air Force today, Ramsaur’s aircraft. He began his career in 1974 at Ramsaur worked command staff slots at program. The interest on our endowment is helping students who of safety standards. feat is enjoyed by few. He was the 25th Barksdale, where he served as a KC-135 Air Force headquarters at the Pentagon. go to college the same way I did, on a shoestring budget. person nationwide to receive such an pilot simulator instructor for the 71st Air Today he flies for FedEx, a job that has In 2006, you partnered with a company that operates as a honor. U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Refueling Squadron. taken him all over the world, from Dubai franchisor of Internet travel agencies and you launched your What do you think your Tech education gave you? Cartwright, Ramsaur’s commander and Before he ever imagined a military to Paris. own personal travel agency (WallerTravel.com), which you It set the standard. I walked in with no money. In 24 months I vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, career, Ramsaur enrolled in Tech because “The Air Force gave me the are expanding through the same franchise concept. Why does went from having zero flight hours to becoming a multi-engine pinned the golden stars on Ramsaur’s of the University’s proximity to his home opportunity to excel, to serve my country, Internet travel interest you? pilot ready to take on the world. My professors showed me that if shoulders. Comparing Ramsaur to Garcia, in Ruston. His father, who had earned to travel and to develop strong leadership Right now, there is a significant market shift occurring in the you want something, you can get it. They changed who I thought I could become. the hero in “A Message to Garcia” by a doctorate in psychology at Florida skills,” he said. “The Air Force has travel industry. Everyone is now comfortable booking travel on Elbert Hubbard, an essay about a soldier State University, was one of Tech’s first changed since I enlisted. It’s downsized. the Internet. Did you know that when customers book travel on who accepts his military mission without professors in the then-emerging discipline The threat is no longer the cold war. The the Internet, they are paying a commission? Our system is very complaint, Cartwright said Ramsaur’s of guidance counseling. (The family has threat is the global war on terrorism.” work ethic has always set him apart from strong Ruston roots and today Ramsaur’s other reservists. brother, John, manages Lincoln Parish Park.)

16 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 17 ‘A True Bulldog’ The new Joe D. Waggonner Center for Bipartisan Politics First and Public Policy honors a political powerhouse. Finish For many, Joe. D. Waggonner was an enigma. • Blue – $250-$999 and After receiving the world’s first A Southern Democrat, he forged friendships with two • Friends of the undergraduate nanosystems presidents, both Republicans, and propelled bipartisan Waggonner Center – relationships in a Capitol known for its party-line leanings. $1-$249 degree, Josh Brown has a lot For Tech President Daniel D. Reneau, the Bossier-born “Alumni are encouraged to smile about. congressman was a personal friend, a dedicated supporter of to make personal donations, Louisiana Tech and a model alumnus. to receive matching funds “He loved this institution. He represented it with class and from the companies for which Josh Brown escaped death by style,” Reneau said, smiling. “Joe was a true Bulldog.” they work, and to influence electrocution at age four, when his Although he died on October 7, 2007, Waggonner’s support wherever they can for this most worthwhile and parents handed him a box containing presence will remain strong at his beloved alma mater. Tech important center,” said Corre Stegall, vice president of disconnected wires and light sockets, then announced its plans to create the Joe D. Waggonner Center university advancement. “Mr. Joe told me many times that said, “Go play.” They didn’t know that for Bipartisan Politics and Public Policy in the days following his education had made him what he became. He was forever their toddler would produce an electric the former congressman’s death. grateful to Tech for the opportunities that were provided to current capable of crashing the Luna The initiative has begun with a major donor campaign him to get a first-class education.” home’s grid. Brown was grateful to get his to fund a $2,500,000 endowment necessary to sustain the Elected to public office in 1954 as a Bossier Parish School hands on “toys” that weren’t plastic. He center, which will be based in the College of Liberal Arts. Board member, Waggonner moved from his native Bossier thought he was playing a new game when Dr. Ed Jacobs, dean; Bill Willoughby, associate dean; and Dr. City to the nation’s capital in 1961, where he served as a U.S. he wrapped two wires together, and then Kenneth Rea, vice president for academic affairs, are working Representative for nine terms. plugged them into a light socket. The to create a center that engages the University community in In office, Waggonner befriended Richard Nixon and next moment of said “game” could best be public affairs issues of broad local, state and national importance. Gerald Ford, who admired the congressman’s talents at described in one word: BOOM! “It will be the first time that the College of Liberal Arts persuasion and his effectiveness in galvanizing bipartisan Brown’s passion for engineering began. has had a center of this magnitude,” said Jacobs. “We have support for their ideas and programs. “That’s when my parents said I was great hopes.” Those friendships were not lost to nostalgia. When Ford going to be something special,” he says, Goals for the Waggonner Center include: died last year, reporters representing eminent newspapers his chin poking prominently above a • An annual distinguished speaker or forum in phoned Waggonner for a quote. Louisiana Tech T-shirt. conjunction with a new elective course in political “Joe’s great ability was to work with both sides of the Something special, indeed. In science or public policy; aisle,” said Tech’s Rea. “We haven’t again seen this type of May, Brown became the world’s first • The Joe D. Waggonner Biennial Conference and bipartisan leadership that Joe Waggonner personified.” person to receive a bachelor’s degree Workshops on Bipartisan Politics, hosted by Louisiana Many credit Waggonner’s political influence with keeping in nanotechnology. The news of his Tech, with keynote speakers, campus-wide student Barksdale Air Force Base open in a time of crisis and with graduation from Louisiana Tech garnered workshops, symposia, published proceedings and a tie- bringing a General Motors plant to Shreveport. Before he media attention, accolades from the state “My favorite saying is that the greatest risk is to take no risk at in to the American Association of State Colleges and left office in 1979, the congressman secured funding for legislature and an impromptu speech Universities American Democracy Project for Civic Interstate 49 and the inner and outer loop, as well as funding by Tech President Daniel D. Reneau on all. I take that to mean that if you don’t take a chance, you’ll Engagement; for the Red River Waterway. graduation day. Brown, who counts his • Quarter-long Washington D.C. political science At Tech, Waggonner had significant influence. Today family among his greatest heroes, remains never reach your full potential.”- Josh Brown student internships with competitive selection and two endowed professorships bear his name. The Joe D. down-to-earth – he still wears jeans and mentoring; Waggonner Professorship in Political Science is held by worn sneakers to the lab. Indeed, if he • A refurbished congressional meeting room in the Dr. Jason Pigg in the College of Liberal Arts. The Joe. D. had to boil his personality into three Prescott Memorial Library that permanently displays Waggonner Professorship in Engineering is held by Dr. L. words, Brown would pick “happy-go- Micromanufacturing. He spends most Brown applied when he graduated in memorabilia from the Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. Archive Dale Snow in the College of Engineering and Science. lucky.” He omits “ambitious,” but his afternoons burrowing into the workload 2002 from West Ouachita High School. collection; and For Reneau, who often consulted with the former drive for personal success leaves a lasting of his doctoral thesis. Before he earned his The decision proved fortunate. • The Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. Endowed Chair in Political congressman, now is a fitting time to establish a University impression. bachelor’s degree, Brown began working “My nanosystems engineering degree Science through the Board of Regents Support Fund center that honors Waggonner’s work – and moves it “My favorite saying is that the greatest with his advisor, Dr. Chester Wilson, gave me an opportunity to tie my Endowed Chair Program for Louisiana Tech University. forward. risk is to take no risk at all,” Brown says. to develop patented technology for a knowledge of chemistry and electricity The fundraising campaign proposes several levels of giving: “It’s very important that his legacy not be lost,” said “I take that to mean that if you don’t catalytic system that produces synthetic into a relatively new field,” he says. “I was • Eagle – $250,000+ Reneau. “This center will not only recognize a giant of take a chance, you’ll never reach your full fuel. A bachelor’s degree in nanosystems definitely excited to pursue the degree • Gold Star Circle – $100,000-$249,999 congress, but it will preserve his work. It will bring his legacy potential.” helped Brown merge his passions for when I found out about the program. • Star Circle – $50,000-$99,999 to those who come after him.” These days, Brown is taking chances chemistry and electricity into a field that “And, by golly,” Brown adds, with • Red – $5,000-$49,999 on synthetic fuels and has made a second works in the smallest of scales. characteristic humor. “I’m glad I did.” • White – $1,000-$4,999 Donations to the Waggonner Center may be made to the Tech Foundation, P.O. Box 3183, Ruston, LA 71272 home for himself in Tech’s Institute for Tech was the only university to which 18 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 19 Tech Athletics Has “2020” Vision The end of 2007 began a new chapter in Louisiana Tech athletics when President Daniel D. Reneau and Athletic Director Jim Oakes released a five-year strategic plan for the University’s Athletic Department. The plan, titled “Tech 2020 Athletics,” is part of the University’s comprehensive strategic plan, Tech 2020. The Tech 2020 plan, released in 2007, is a roadmap for Tech’s transition from a “good institution to a great one.” The University hired American Management Strategy Group (AMSG) to help facilitate the development of Tech’s vision for its athletic future. The plan addresses issues ranging from increasing the University’s athletic budget by more than 50 percent in the next five years, boosting fundraising efforts – both on an individual and corporate level – to improving facilities and increasing support and coaching staff. “Louisiana Tech is on track to be a top research university,” Reneau said. “And every top Tech Lands a research university in the United States has a highly competitive athletics program. We believe Blue-Chipper in new attitude shows improvement that a competitive athletic program will make our entire university stronger and will continue Buskirk to help attract exceptional students: young people who excel in both athletic and academic The recent hire of Eric In his nineteenth century novel A Ta l e o f Tw o Cities, to earn victories over New Mexico State, Utah State, Idaho and competition.” Buskirk, Tech’s associate Charles Dickens begins with the proclamation: “It was the best of San Jose State. Tech would finish the season at 5-7 with a WAC Over the past year, members of AMSG made five visits to Tech’s campus and met with director for external times, it was the worst of times.” record of 4-4. various groups including the Tech 2020 Athletics steering committee, University Athletics relations, is an example of Fast forward nearly 150 years and that statement still rings Despite an increase in wins this season and the transformation Department staff and coaches and other internal and external constituents. the Tech 2020 Athletic plan in action. true, in this case for the 2007 Louisiana Tech Bulldog football of a group of young athletes into a football team that focuses on The steering committee also created a new Tech mission statement that embodies the “I am really excited about season and the highs and lows experienced by fans in the Bulldog commitment and understands what it takes to win, things did philosophy of the University’s Athletic Department. “We have developed a vision and mission to guide our work, along with 10 key goals as our what the future will bring for Nation. not always go as planned for Dooley and the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech Athletics,” The highs began long before the first snap of the ball when Inconsistency in the passing game forced Dooley to bench focus,” Reneau said. “Our student athletes continue to make us proud as they are consistently recognized for both their athletic and academic success.” said Buskirk, a Columbus, Derek Dooley was named as the thirty-first head coach in the starting quarterback Zac Champion for the game against New Ohio native. Oakes said alumni support and local sponsors will drive Tech 2020 Athletics’ success. history of the Bulldog football program. By the time the T-Day Mexico State in favor of sophomore Michael Mosley. Prior to the Buskirk comes to Louisiana Spring Game rolled around, it was clear that a new attitude and a homecoming game, Dooley explained that “you can’t manage a Purchasing season tickets, joining CHAMPS and becoming corporate sponsors are important Tech after working the past new commitment to winning had arrived in Ruston. ball game against good teams by just running the ball. You’ve got ways to help. two years at the University of Dooley explained his philosophy at the onset of spring practice. to be able to throw it, and right now we’re not doing that.” “The Tech Nation needs to embrace this blueprint for the future in order for our athletic Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) as “We think it’s important that our guys understand that when Champion ultimately got Dooley’s message. During the second program to reach its maximum potential,” Oakes said. “This is an outstanding strategic plan the assistant athletic director teams play with great effort and toughness and don’t make quarter, Champion entered the game, rallied the Bulldogs for a that will pave the way for future success for our student athletes on and off the playing fields.” of external operations. At Tech, Buskirk’s mistakes, that the fans, students and administration will respect homecoming victory, and regained his starting job in the process. Tech fans wishing to see a copy of the Tech 2020 Athletics report can do so by logging onto www.latechsports.com. responsibilities encompass what we do regardless of the outcome,” he said. Unfortunately, the season ended on a disappointing note as all external activities, The 2007 campaign began with a 28-7 win over Central the Bulldogs had a chance to become bowl-eligible with a win including corporate Arkansas. It didn’t take long to see the fruits of the team’s labors. over Nevada in Reno in the season finale. Fans were excited at the sponsorships, ticket sales, The defense, which had been ranked near the bottom of Division postseason prospects, and the team was confident coming off of a Be a champion for Tech athletics... marketing and promotions. I just one season ago, forced the Bears into six turnovers while the 27-23 win over San Jose State in Ruston the week before. Join Champs Today! Additionally, he will offense rushed for nearly 200 yards on 36 attempts. Three hours later, however, the Bulldogs’ season came to an serve on the executive Nothing helps instill a winning attitude like winning. abrupt end with a 49-10 loss to the Wolf Pack. The following Investing in the future of the Louisiana Tech management team as a sport Perhaps the most anticipated game of the season, however, day, it would be Nevada receiving an invitation to the New Athletics program and its student-athletes administrator for selected came the following week as Hawaii brought its top 20-ranked Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque. symbolizes your commitment that Tech sports. team into Ruston, along with eventual Heisman Trophy finalist Improved team play this season contributed to improved continues to be a premier academic and Juggling these tasks should not prove daunting Colt Brennan. Despite being a heavy underdog, Tech set out to individual play as seven Bulldogs received All-WAC football athletic university. CHAMPS support directly for Buskirk – he was prove it could compete with one of the nation’s best teams and honors. Punter Chris Keagle and safety Antonio Baker were and positively impacts Tech’s teams, on and off the field. recognized as one of most explosive offenses. named to the first team with offensive lineman Tyler Miller; The San Antonio Business The Bulldogs did much more than just compete. running back Patrick Jackson, linebacker Quin Harris and Journal’s “Top 40 Under Tech went toe-to-toe all night with the Warriors, eventually defensive linemen Josh Muse and Chris Pugh were named to the Call Adam McGuirt at the Marbury Alumni 40 Rising Stars” in January losing on a failed two-point conversion in overtime. Hawaii second team. Center to become a Champs member: 2007. escaped Ruston with a 45-44 win, its smallest margin of victory “It seems like the one constant every year is the more success 318.255.7950 of the season, and a newfound respect for Bulldog football. you have as a team, the more individual recognition your players or visit www.latechchamps.com And just how big a game was this? Hawaii would finish the receive,” said Dooley. 2007 season as the nation’s only undefeated team in Division I Despite this season’s roller coaster ride (although you must and earn a berth in the BCS Sugar Bowl. admit that it was fun), Bulldog fans can now say, “Just wait until The Bulldogs would rebound from this tough loss and go on next year!” – and mean it.

20 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 21 athletic Hall of Fame Louisiana Tech University Class of 2007 ALUMNI MENTORING NETWORK

Former record-setting Louisiana Tech quarterback Tim Rattay was one Click. of six individuals inducted into the Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in Commit. ceremonies held at the Thomas Assembly Center in October. Connect. Joining Rattay in the Class of 2007 were All-American women’s basketball Louisiana Tech’s Alumni Mentoring Network player Vickie Johnson, record-setting helps students and alumni get connected. Volunteer alumni volleyball player Katie (Dow) Kahmann, mentors offer their insight to Tech students or other alumni All-American wide receiver Roger Carr, for the purpose of career exploration and professional former football player and coach A.L. development. Williams and long-time benefactor Milton Williams. “The Hall of Fame induction is always a very special time at Louisiana Tech,” said Athletic Director Jim Oakes. “This is an outstanding class of some of Tech’s finest alumni, and we are very proud to Become a mentor today. add them to an already impressive group of some of our greatest athletes, coaches 318.257.2488 or 4336 | [email protected] and benefactors. Rattay shattered the Louisiana Tech Hall of Fame Class of 2007 leaves a lasting impression. Pictured left to right: Roger Carr, Katie (Dow) Kahmann, Vickie Johnson, A.L. Williams and Milton Williams. record books during his three years in a Bulldog uniform, breaking every passing record while leading the program to a 9-2 Making the First-Year The First-Year Experience focuses mark in 1997 and an 8-3 record and top “This is an outstanding class of some of Tech’s finest alumni, on providing new Tech students with 25 ranking in 1999. The seven-year NFL Experience Last a Lifetime the resources and support needed to quarterback earned All-American honors and we are very proud to add them to an already impressive “What is past is prologue” – William Shakespeare successfully transition to college. It’s while ending his career ranked in the group of some of our greatest athletes, coaches and also where they begin to learn what top 5 in NCAA history in passing yards, it means to be part of the Louisiana touchdowns and total offense. benefactors.” - Jim Oakes, athletic director Tech Family. Johnson was one of the most decorated student-athletes in Tech history, earning Connect YOUR past to the future by Kodak All-American honors as a junior investing in the First-Year Experience. and senior while leading the Lady Carr earned All-American honors 1984 Division I-AA national title game. For each $100 investment, you’ll Techsters to the 1994 national title game. during his playing days in a Bulldog Milton Williams served as a member receive a commemorative medallion The Coushatta native, who ranks among uniform and was instrumental in leading of the Louisiana Tech Athletic Council Tech’s all-time leaders in numerous Tech to a pair of small school national for 30 years while also serving as one inscribed with the Tenets of Tech as statistical categories, is one of only a championship titles in 1972 and 1973. of the University’s top benefactors. The a symbol of your commitment to the handful of players to have played in all 11 Carr, a 10-year veteran of the NFL, 1944 Louisiana Tech graduate has been a future of Louisiana Tech. still ranks among the all-time leaders in dynamic leader of alumni organizations. seasons of the WNBA’s existence. Contact the Louisiana Tech receiving yards and touchdown receptions. He was a founding member of the Kahmann is considered one of the Foundation: most dominating players in Lady Techster A. L. Williams lettered for the Bulldogs Louisiana Tech University Foundation PO Box 3183 volleyball history. The four-year letter from 1953 through 1956, leading the and the Engineering Foundation. He is Ruston, LA 71272 winner earned All-American South and team in scoring three years and the Gulf a past president of the Louisiana Tech All-Sun Belt Conference honors during State Conference in scoring as a senior. Alumni Association. He has received (318) 255-7950 her playing days while leading the Williams was also a member of the Tech the Tower Medallion and Alumnus of www.latechalumni.org/foundation program to four straight winning seasons, track and field team, running relays and the Year awards given by the Alumni Tell them you’d like to invest in the competing in the long and triple jumps. Association. including a school record 29 wins as a First-Year Experience. senior. She still holds the Louisiana Tech He served as Louisiana Tech’s head coach single season and career record for kills as from 1983 through 1986, leading the Nothing less will do. well as the school record for kills per game. Bulldogs to three winning seasons and the

22 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 23 news around campus news around campus taking the lead in securing cyberspace ACT scores surpass digging deeper in Trenchless technology A new cyberspace technology center has been established in Ruston through the combined efforts of Louisiana Tech and Louisiana average levels The recent State universities. At 23.2, Louisiana Tech’s freshman dedication of The Center for Secure Cyberspace was created to assist Tech faculty members in their research and to support the U.S. Air Force, said ACT scores are higher than ever Louisiana Tech’s new Dr. Les Guice, vice president for research and development. before. national trenchless “The Center for Secure Cyberspace capitalizes upon world-class resources of the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, Louisiana And 63 percent of the 2007 technology research Tech’s Institute for Micromanufacturing and LSU’s Center for Computation and Technology,” he said. freshman class has an ACT score of facility drew industry The location of the CSC – 60 miles east of Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier – is no 22 or better, with 18.8 percent of representatives coincidence, either; Barksdale is an interim Cyber Command Center for the Air Force. those students having a score of 27 or from throughout “The CSC capitalizes upon many of the tremendous investments that Louisiana has made above. Last year, the Board of Regents the United States, to support information technology research, including the Louisiana Optical Network calculated the average freshman ACT all eager to visit Initiative, the most powerful and robust optical network and grid computing infrastructure score at 22.4 a research center in the country,” Guice said. “At a recent Science and Technology Symposium, we began to “I am delighted about the ACT specializing in the explore with Air Force researchers the possibility of using LONI as a real-time test bed.” scores. They are really climbing,” installation and repair Funding for the CSC was around $8 million, with the monies coming from the Tech President Daniel D. Reneau of underground Louisiana Board of Regents and the two participating universities. Faculty involved with said. “That’s the largest increase we’ve utilities. Tech President Daniel D. Reneau proudly dedicates the National the center include Tech’s Vir Phoha, Kody Varahramyan, Rastko Selmic and Christian seen in a long time. We have a superb The new facility Trenchless Technology Research Facility. Duncan. Peter Chen, S.S. Iyengar, Gabrielle Allen and Tevfik Kosar represent LSU. student body.” will provide the Phoha said defense against cyberspace attacks is more necessary now and will become Reneau added that 21 percent Trenchless Technology Center with high-bay research space with an overhead crane more crucial as time progresses: “New types of attacks are coming. It used to be that of the student body is composed of where large scale experiments can be monitored. terrorists were not technologically savvy. Now, even a 16-year-old can create attacks,” graduate students. The center was initiated in 1989 as the Trenchless Excavation Center and was Phoha said. “Our goal is to have graduate formally changed into the Trenchless Technology Center in December 1991. It has students make up 20 to 25 developed into a nationally and internationally recognized research center specializing in percent of our student avoiding the need to dig underground for work relating to utilities. body,” he said. “We’re With approximately 11 million miles of underground utilities in the United States Students take learning abroad pleased at where we and many of those more than 50 years old, the repair and upgrading of underground For Toria Miles, a summer trip to London meant more than touring the Globe Theatre and are. We have a good, utilities has become a major technical, financial and political concern in cities across the viewing Shakespeare’s old stomping grounds. The junior English education and marketing solid enrollment.” country. double major at Louisiana Tech said her travels proved life-altering. Tech’s new facility has received strong support from the trenchless industry. In “The experience was amazing because of all of the culture that we were around. No matter conjunction with the new facility, the National Science Foundation has funded a deep where we went, we could learn something,” said Miles, a Cincinnati, Ohio, native. soil test chamber where installation and repair methods can be tested under controlled Miles was one of 15 students who spent three weeks touring significant literary and cultural conditions. The building itself cost approximately $950,000, and the soil test facilities landmarks in London. cost an additional $350,000. Other stops included visits to Oxford, Dover and Canterbury. While Miles explored the streets of an unfamiliar London, other Tech students also left bulldogs finish first their comfort zones; they immersed themselves in a Spanish-speaking culture. Louisiana Tech received some good news this fall when the NCAA released its 2007 Federal Graduation Rate Report. Led by Anne Reynolds-Case, an assistant The report, which is based on student-athletes who entered school in fall of 2000 and who graduated by summer of 2006, showed professor in the Department of Literature and Louisiana Tech ranked No. 1 in the state of Louisiana among schools that play football. Language, 12 students spent their time taking “These high graduation rate numbers certainly reflect the importance upper-level language classes at an institute in San of academic success to our overall athletic program,” said Tech Athletic José, Costa Rica. Director Jim Oakes. “We are very pleased by the strong commitment to Reynolds-Case said she organized the trip academic excellence that our student-athletes, coaches, and staff have all because she knows the benefits of foreign made.” language immersion first hand, and she wanted Travel proved a great teacher this Tech’s graduation rate of 71 percent ranked ahead of Tulane (67), her students to receive the same opportunities of summer for Bulldogs in London and Southeastern Louisiana (60), UL-Lafayette (60), New Orleans (58), Paris. learning a language in its native environment. Grambling State (56), Northwestern State (55), McNeese State (54), The London and Costa Rica programs were Centenary (53), LSU (48), Southern (47), UL-Monroe (41) and preceded by the college’s French quarter for Nicholls State (38). students enrolled in the School of Art. During the “This is an outstanding accomplishment by Louisiana Tech student- spring quarter, students traveled to Paris, where they visited museums, such as the Louvre athletes,” said Tech Associate Athletic Director Mary Kay Hungate. and the George Pompidou Centre. “Credit goes to Jim Oakes for placing such importance on performance “We saw everything that we studied first hand and dove into the culture of Parisian in the classroom and to all coaches for following his example and encouraging their student-athletes to succeed.” life,” said Aubri Young, a senior communication design major from Little Rock. Athletes like Quin Harris show smarts in the classroom – and on the field.

24 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 25 foundation spotlight foundation spotlight

Recently, Dale Dimos (Education 1965) wanted to honor Rick Harrelson (Engineering 1969) of Houston established Honor the life and career of her father Glen Guilkey, who worked in the Harrelson Family Endowed Professorship in the College various positions in the newspaper industry, including a position of Engineering and Science. Rick funded the professorship Special as director of advertising for The Morning World and The News- over a two-year period by using corporate matching funds Star. The Glen Guilkey Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to from his employer, ExxonMobil. Because of his commitment Individuals marketing majors in the College of Business. Recipients will have to Tech and through the generosity of ExxonMobil, Rick had a career interest in advertising, journalism, communication or a previously established the James R. Harrelson Memorial Endowed and Benefit related field. Engineering Scholarship in memory of his father. He is currently working to fund another professorship. Tech Forever: Supporting General Purposes with Corporate matching funds from ExxonMobil were also used to Endowments establish the Dr. Patricia I. Garland Professorship in the College Create a Lasting Legacy Endowments can also be created for purposes other than of Business. Don Garland (Engineering 1976), his wife Nancy with Endowments scholarships. Mary Terrill Wood (Business 1934) created Garland (Education 1978), and his brother Gregory Ellis Garland an endowment, the Marshall E. Terrill Fund for Faculty established the professorship in memory of Don and Gregory’s Development and Student Enrichment, to honor her father and mother, Patricia Garland, who was a 1957 Tech business graduate to provide a permanent source of funds that could be used each and a retired professor of economics at Northeast Louisiana year at the discretion of the College of Business. Wood funded University. the endowment with assets in an individual retirement account The Adelaide Murdoch Hunt Endowed Professorship was that she no longer needed. Her father, Marshall Terrill, was one established to benefit the School of Human Ecology in the of Tech’s original students in September of 1895. He left Tech College of Applied and Natural Sciences. Hunt was a former to support his family after his father’s death from typhus, but professor of human ecology. The professorship is funded by remained a staunch supporter of Tech for the rest of his life. Hunt’s husband Tommy, her friends and the School of Human Ecology. Adelaide Hunt also served as director of the Anna Taking Advantage of Corporate Matching Idtse house. She was a faculty advisor for numerous student Funds to Establish Endowments organizations. Several endowed scholarships established recently have taken advantage of corporate matching funds. When Katherine A. Scharer (Accounting 1968) and her husband David established the Arbuthnot-Scharer Endowed Scholarship, awarded to a Tech student from Catahoula Parish, Katherine Scharer took advantage of matching funds from her husband’s company, Shell Oil. Likewise, Breck Barker (Mechanical Engineering 1987) and his wife Cheri recently created a scholarship with partially matching gift money from his employer IBM. The Travis & Tyler Barker Eagle Scout Endowed Scholarship is named in honor of their sons and is designated to an Eagle Scout from central Louisiana.

Sue Melton (left) and Ann Melton’s legacy inspires careers in education.

Establishing Scholarship Endowments at the Tech Foundation Creating an endowed scholarship at the Louisiana Tech Foundation is a great way to leave a legacy at Tech. Scholarships also help Tech pursue an important objective: recruiting bright and talented students to our great university. An endowment can be created with a gift of at least $20,000 and this amount can be reached over a period of up to three years. Corporate Attracting Quality Students to Tech with Through the creation of this endowment, the sisters’ life work matching money can also be used, if available. Donors have the ability to name the scholarship and to specify many of the Scholarship Endowments of educating and counseling children will be remembered on the criteria for the awarding of the scholarship. Ann Melton and Sue Melton, twin daughters of a high school Louisiana Tech campus. The scholarship will provide assistance principal, grew up in Marion and entered Louisiana Tech in to dedicated students who love teaching as much as the Melton Establishing Endowed Professorships and Endowed Chairs sisters did. 1951. Both sisters received education degrees in 1955 and taught Many Tech alumni and friends who want to establish endowments to benefit the University choose to establish endowed When Elizabeth Odom, a 1941 Tech graduate and retired in Dallas schools until their retirements in 2004. professorships and endowed chairs. Through this program, the state matches a private gift of $60,000 with $40,000 to Ann Melton died of breast cancer shortly after her retirement. teacher in Morehouse Parish, died in 2007, her daughter, Susan create a $100,000 endowed professorship; likewise, a gift of $600,000 is matched with $400,000 to create a $1,000,000 To honor her sister’s memory, Sue established an endowed Pincus, wanted to honor her. Pincus chose to establish an endowed eminent chair. The earnings from professorships support faculty salaries, as well as equipment and supplies for scholarship in her sister’s name with the Louisiana Tech endowed scholarship in the College of Education because her research. The earnings from endowed chairs assist the University in hiring renowned faculty to direct centers of excellence and Foundation. The scholarship benefits the College of Education. mother was a passionate Tech fan who encouraged her students other important academic areas. Friends and family later persuaded Sue Melton to rename the to attend the University. The Elizabeth Morris Odom Endowed endowment as the Ann Marilyn Melton and Sue Carolyn Melton Scholarship will be awarded annually to an education major from Endowed Education Scholarship. Morehouse Parish.

26 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 27 news about you

What’s new with you? the 2008 President of the Louisiana Home Do you have news to share in the News About You section? We want to share the stories of your accomplishments and Builders Association. He is owner/president joshua adams milestones. Photos are always welcome, too. You can submit your information for News About You online at of Moore-Built Construction and Restoration, Environmental Protector Inc. in Elm Grove. www.latechalumni.org where you can click on, “What’s New with You?” Hometown: Ruston 1977...... Now resides in: Starkville, Miss. 1962...... Mickie DeMoss, Degree: 2003, B.S., Forestry health and physical Laura Fountain Flakes Jim David, Further education: 2005, M.S. forestry and quantitative genetics geology, has joined the Pantera education, has Engineering Success Mississippi State University, third-year doctoral student, forestry Petroleum, Inc. Board of Advisors. He is joined the University and molecular genetics, Mississippi State University Hometown: Moss Point, Miss. currently vice president of development and of Texas women’s exploration/director for Bridge Energy. How I got to Tech: Now resides in: Houston basketball program It was a natural fit. I grew up around Ruston. Fred R. Kellogg, science education, has been as an assistant coach. My dad is the chair of the forestry department. I had him for four Degree: 1997, B.S., Biomedical Engineering named chair of the Department of Languages classes. That was fun! How I got to Tech: One of my high school teachers was a at Emory & Henry College. He and his What I do now: We hear a lot about genetically modified crops in the news. We’re taking that Tech alumnus. He was my instructor for a class in diversified wife, Jeannette Boykin Kellogg (elementary concept and applying it to trees. We’re manipulating genes in trees to help the environment. technology. It was a class where we were introduced to different education 1963) live in Emory, Va. After graduating: After Tech, I looked around for a graduate school. I went and did my master’s aspects of technological applications. He told me to look into 1978...... Tech. What I liked about Tech was that the student to faculty ...... at Mississippi State for two years. I went into quantitative genetics, which is more math oriented. 1967 W. Randall “Randy” Fowler, accounting ratio was small. That meant I could get more one-on-one time When I was working on that, the university started a new lab in molecular genetics, so I’ve been James L. Horton, industrial management, (master’s finance 1989), has been elected as with my professors. here ever since. has been named as vice president of business chief financial officer and also promoted to What I did when I found out I’d won the EPA’s STAR Fellowship: What I do now: Now I am a structural engineer for Jacobs Technology at NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson development for ENGlobal Engineering, Inc. executive vice president for Enterprise Products I threw a party! I invited the whole lab. Space Center. Primarily, I’m involved in assessing structural elements that are attached to space Partners. In lab life, you’re only as strong as the people around you, so we all celebrated. It’s a success more for the lab than for any individual. shuttles for their safety and for their structural integrity. I’ve been involved with the Hubble 1968...... Robert A. “Bob” Turner, civil engineering, telescope and the different servicing missions that maintain the telescope. Also, I have been a What the EPA fellowship means to me: For me, it’s a good way to break through some barriers. There Marilyn Segura Joiner, English, received the has been appointed director of The Southeast part of assessment teams for higher visibility scientific experiments – such as, the Alpha Magnetic aren’t many foresters who receive this fellowship, and not many people from land grant universities Golden Pelican Award for “Marketer of the Louisiana Flood Protection Authority. He will Spectrometer (AMS) and many of the experiment carriers. or from this region. The fellowship will continue to fund my research. Year” from the Louisiana Society for Hospital oversee levees and other flood-control projects After graduating: NASA was always a dream. I wanted to be affiliated with the space industry and Public Relations and Marketing. She is in the New Orleans area east of the Mississippi What I’m working on now: There are species in the world that for some reason have evolved the with NASA. I was hired by GHG Corporation shortly after graduation. The company was looking director of marketing and public relations for River. ability to live and flourish in toxic environments. We’re trying to figure out why. We’re trying to for engineers from different disciplines to support reliability of hardware built for life sciences. I fit Willis-Knighton Health System. take the factors that allow for this thriving and place them into a high biomass species, such as a that profile, since I had a biomedical engineering degree. 1979...... tree. If we can do that, it allows us to accumulate lots of metals. Right now I’m working with zinc, 1973...... a common pollutant. My reaction to being named the 2007 Society of Women Engineers’ (SWE) Distinguished New Engineer: Michael N. Beard, geography, retired I never thought I’d even qualify to be considered for that award. When I found out I’d won, James T. “Jim” from the United States Air Force after 27 The Tech professor who inspired me: My dad, John Adams. I was completely floored. But I was ecstatic. For me, the award means that people recognize Montgomery, years of distinguished service as an Aircraft Memories of Tech: My best memory was the forestry summer camp. Usually forestry students go the contributions that I make as a professional. It means that the hard work I put in to learn, zoology, has been Maintenance Officer, F-15C, A-10, T-38 between their junior and senior years. You spend all summer with your class. You spend all day volunteer and give back has made a difference. named chief and F-16 pilot. He is now working for working the field and all night working on reports to hand in the next day. executive officer Memories of Tech: Going to the Lady Techsters’ games, shooting pool in the bowling alley and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth for Corpus Christi having pizza in between studying for those engineering exams. Those were some of the best times. as a business development senior analyst Medical Center. He supporting the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Triumphs in my career: When there is a multi-million dollar project that’s being developed, they call will oversee four program. player development. He has been involved William E. Lacy, marketing, was promoted to on me to be a part of that team. Also, being recognized by my colleagues in my region (Arkansas, hospitals in the in coaching basketball on the collegiate and sales manager with Highland Loan Source, a Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) as being a leader, and someone who would represent well the Corpus Christi area. W. J. “Jody” Richardson, Jr., electrical professional levels since 1978. joint venture between Highland Homes and face of women engineers. engineering, is currently on a six month Countrywide Home Loans for the Houston area. 1974...... deployment to Baghdad, Iraq, working on the 1983...... Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I) staff and ...... Suzanne Showalter Nelson, Timothy J. Cutt, petroleum engineering, has 1985 ...... interior design, serving as the liaison officer from U.S. Naval 1946 1960 been named president of production for BHP Ameder White had one of her paintings raise $7,800 during Central Command to MNF-I. Lela Jane Schueler Tinstman, biology Larry Larance, speech, has written a new book the Bid for Brotherhood Auction at the Kappa Billiton Petroleum’s global petroleum business. Danzy, mechanical and chemistry, is an outdoor and nature of short stories, titled A Better Looking Corpse. Alpha Convention in San Antonio. engineering, was 1980...... photographer with photos publicized in books, He and his wife live in Savannah, Ga. 1984...... named one of Jack Shirley, zoology, was honored by the John I. Parish, geography, retired from the Mississippi’s 50 magazines, travel brochures and newspapers. Brian Hirsch, zoology, is the new director of ...... board of directors of The L.D. Pankey U.S. Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel and is Leading Business She lives in Volente, Texas. 1961 career services for Trinity University in San Dental Foundation, Inc., a governing body now an Air Force JROTC instructor at Flower Women for 2007. Jerry W. Box, geology (master’s geology 1968) Antonio. Kenneth Murchison, history, has written The of The Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Mound High School, Flower Mound, Texas. She is vice president has been elected as non-executive chairman of Snail Darter Case: TVA Versus the Endangered Education, as outgoing foundation president. William K. Johnson, Jr., of manufacturing the board of directors for Newpark Resources, electrical engineering, Species Act. He is James B. & Betty M. Phillips ...... and logistics Inc. 1982 director of business development for Professor at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1975...... operations for William J. “Bill” Peterson, industrial/ Midstream Resources LLC, the wholesale Baton Rouge. Integrated Management Services. George Perry Moore, Jr., construction organizational psychology, has joined the energy business of Cleco Corp., has been engineering technology, was installed as Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant coach for promoted to general manager for Midstream commercial operations. 28 | Louisiana Tech Magazine www.latech.edu | 29 news about you

aspects of healthcare. She is health information Kathy Conville Sims, elementary education Dennis McGuffie director at Lallie Kemp Medical Center in (master’s curriculum instruction 1997) has vu myers From Paperboy to Vice President Hammond. authored and illustrated a bilingual (French/ licensed for success English) book, Louisiana Potpourri From A Hometown: Shreveport Hometown: Fort Polk 1987...... to Z, showcasing many of Louisiana’s state Now resides in: symbols, traditions and places. Now resides in: Plano, Texas Jimmy Faircloth, Fairfield, Calif. Degree: 1980, B.S. Accounting pre-law, has been ...... Degree: 1994, B.A., English selected by Governor 1990 How I got to Tech: In high school, my group of friends and Further education: 1996, M.A. History Bobby Jindal as his Susan Johnson Guy, elementary education, I considered Northwestern, Northeast (now the University chief legal advisor. received the 2007 National Leavey Award for How I got to Tech: In my teens, I had a job at the Fort Polk of Louisiana at Monroe) and Tech. I wasn’t interested in He will serve as Teaching given by The Freedoms Foundation Commissary. Often, college kids worked there during their Northwestern or Northeast. A group of us decided on Tech. the governor’s of Philadelphia. She is an entrepreneur teacher summer breaks to earn extra money for school. Two of my I knew I wanted to work with numbers. Tech has a good top legal advisor, at Aldine (Texas) Independent School District. co-workers attended Tech and talked about it a lot. I became accounting program, and it has the best business school in the reviewing legislation curious about Tech, so a group of girls from my high school area. Marcus L. Morton, and performing business management decided to do a campus survey. There was something about a smaller campus with high After graduating: I moved to Houston to work for a public accounting firm. I got married other duties at the and entrepreneurship (master’s business academic standards that appealed to me. while I was in college and we were expecting our first child. I graduated on a Saturday, drove to governor’s discretion. management and entrepreneurship 1992), What I do now: I am the licensing manager for Jelly Belly Candy Company. Jelly Belly’s core Houston and started work on a Monday. has been named the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Louisiana Business Incubation products are jelly beans and other confectionaries, so anything that carries the Jelly Belly name 1988...... What I do now: I’m the vice president of audit services for Tenet Healthcare. I report to the board Association. He is president and co-founder and is not manufactured on site (lip balms, cologne, pillows, puzzles, clothing, teddy bears, bath of directors and I am responsible for ensuring that we have blueprints for corporations. Ben Haley, electrical engineering and of the Louisiana Tech-headquartered Network products, etc.) is typically a licensed product. My job is to manage the entire program and to computer science, has been named research make sure that all products that carry the Jelly Belly brand are as top notch as our core products. Advice to someone who wants to enter my field: Get your certification (CPA) as soon as possible Foundation Technologies. director at NetQoS. He and his family live in after graduation. Second, work on your people skills. Accountants tend to be dry, boring, After graduating: I was visiting one of my best friends (a fellow Tech student) while she was Austin, Texas. number-focused people. If you develop a sense of humor and good interaction skills, you’ll stand 1992...... working for the Thomas Kinkade Gallery in Monterey, Calif. My intention was to stay the out and you’ll be successful. Greg Rodgers, electrical engineering Anthony W. Galli, electrical engineering summer and then return home. Well, that summer turned into 11 years. While living in Monterey, I worked for the artist, Thomas Kinkade, for 10 years before moving to Fairfield to My toughest professional challenge: Realizing that I’m not in control of circumstances, only how I technology, has accepted a staff position at the (master’s electrical engineering 1994), recently work for Jelly Belly Candy Company. react to them. You have to be prepared to deal with that. 2,000-member Genoa Church in Westerville, accepted a position as director of development Ohio as executive pastor. for FPL Energy. He and his wife, Amy An average day in my life at Jelly Belly: It’s mostly administrative work consisting of e-mails and The best thing about my job: The people. That was one of the reasons I came. People make a Hancock Galli (child life and family studies phone calls to clients and our licensing agents. The fun part of my job is testing new products company great. Our old CEO used to say, ‘If you can’t get along with the people in your Prentiss E. Searles, electrical engineering 1994) live in Katy, Texas. and seeing the finished product before it appears on retail shelves. workplace, you shouldn’t be there.’ I enjoy being with a great group of like-minded people. technology, was promoted to the position of marketing issues manager for the American Jerry R. Johnson, graphic design, received My toughest professional challenge: As in life, severing relationships with longtime business When I’m not working: I like to spend time with my wife and our four kids. Petroleum Institute. He and his family live in the Wallace D. Malone, Jr. Distinguished partners is one of the hardest things I’ve experienced. Memories of Tech: I got married when I was a junior and moved into a duplex across from the Gaithersburg, Md. Faculty Award for 2007. He is professor and Memories of Tech: I was a DJ for KLPI for four years and loved doing my radio show. I was also Sigma Nu house. All I had to do was walk to the business building every day. We had no money department chairman of art and design at Troy Kathy Marsh Shaffer, one of the lucky people who experienced the Tech Rome program, which was one of the best and we each had two jobs. One of mine was as a teaching assistant and the other was throwing architecture, has written University. summers of my life. And most of all, I love the lifelong friendships I developed while living in papers for the Ruston Daily Leader. We were on our own for the first time. That hard work a coffee table book, Houseboats, Aquatic Brian K. Richardson, Ruston. The friendships are the most important part of my experiences and memories at Tech. made us appreciate what it took to make it when we graduated. Architecture of Sausalito. The book focuses on industrial/organizational the correlation between architecture and the psychology, founded the communication Triumphs in my life: I do not measure the triumphs in my life with money, possessions, If I’ve learned one thing in life, it is: Don’t expect too much. Keep your head down and work hard culture of a community. She lives in Sausalito, training firm, New Script Communication. He recognition or power. I ask myself, ‘Am I happy?’ I made this my life’s goal. So far, I have done and good things will happen to you. Calif. is a professor at the University of North Texas. quite well. Randy Alan Smith, social sciences (master’s Robin C. Thomas, chemical engineering, Matt Dunigan, Michael Tooley (history 1984), live in College counseling 1991), has recently returned from has been promoted to product manager- branch operations, talent management, client ...... business Station. his third tour in Iraq and is currently attending petroleum additives/urethanes with Chemtura 1998 service and sales. administration, has Command and General Staff College at Ft. Corporation. She lives in West Lafayette, Ind. Martie J. Cordaro, marketing, was promoted a new book, Going ...... Leavenworth, Kan. from assistant general manager to general 1986 ...... Deep, about his 1995 1997 manager of the Omaha Royals – Triple A team Gary G. Coleman, general studies, is retiring ...... football career, in 1989 Paige Mooney Besson, Brent D. Barnett, sociology, has received the of the Kansas City Royals. after 30 years of service as command chief technical writing, bookstores. He also Melissa Spring Benjamin, graphic design, was has been named vice president for corporate 1st Sgt. Jerry R. Galloway Award from the master sergeant. He was credited with Kyle A. Ferachi, pre- has a new show on named November Artist of the Month for the communications for Site Controls, an Austin, Louisiana Army National Guard’s 1022nd spearheading an annual $9 million quality- law, has joined the The Food Network Southeast Oklahoma Fine Arts Association. Texas based energy management business Engineer Company in West Monroe. He of-life program for the command’s 48,000 firm of McGlinchey starting in spring She and her family live in McAlester, Okla. intelligence and grid efficiency solutions is employed by the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s members, as well as developing training Stafford, PLLC as an 2008 called “Road company. She and her family live in Marietta, Ga. Department as a K-9 officer and senior patrol programs for enlisted airmen of European and associate practicing Grill.” Dwayne S. Hamilton, civil engineering, has supervisor. African allies. been promoted to vice president and director in the labor and 1996...... Melissa Summerlin Tooley, civil engineering, Paul L. Bordelon, accounting, took office as employment section. Lisa Pope Hagans, health information of Halff Associates in Houston. He and his was appointed as director to oversee a grant Gloria Flores Hamilton Shawn Patterson, finance, has joined MDI- a the 2007-08 president of the central Louisiana He and his wife, administration, was recognized by the wife, (accounting for a new University Transportation Center high-growth project services and professional chapter of the Society of Louisiana CPAs. He Kara King Ferachi Metropolitan Who’s Who Registry of 1988) live in Katy, Texas. for Mobility at Texas Transportation Institute- staffing firm – to lead its expanding Dallas is manager of corporate controls for Cleco (animal biology 1998) Executives and Professionals for showing Texas A&M University. She and her husband, branch. He will be responsible for overall Corp., in Pineville. live in Baton Rouge. dedication, leadership and excellence in all

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1999...... Jonathan W. Lee, computer information writing features, quizzes, blogs, and will be Andrew D. Armond, English and music, systems, has been promoted to supervisor of responsible for contests and sweepstakes. She “Joining The alumni association is one of the best ways alumni can has joined the faculty at Oklahoma Baptist network administrators for Willis-Knighton lives in New York City. Health System in Shreveport. He is responsible invest in tech. our network keeps you connected to important University as assistant professor of English. Arden Lot Moore, mechanical engineering, He received his master’s degree in English for all four hospitals’ network/server information you won’t want to miss, from campus happenings and infrastructure as well as all data security. received his master’s degree in mechanical language and literature and a Ph.D. in English engineering from the University of Texas at milestones in the lives of your friends, to the latest news about at Baylor University. Rebekah Cobb McClain, biology, graduated Austin. from Belmont University with a doctorate in advancement. call now!” (318-255-7950) John Baine, accounting, has been named 2008 Vickie S. Orr, physical therapy. history, received her Georgia - John Allen (‘73), Alumni Association President president of the Arkansas Jaycees. He is an Workers’ Compensation Certification in June accountant with Murphy Oil Corporation in of 2007. She is a case manager associate with 2004...... El Dorado, Ark. the Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Ga. Kelvin J. Cochran, industrial/organizational Marty W. French, accounting (master’s psychology, has been named fire chief of William Russell “Rusty” White, electrical accounting 2001), was selected to serve on Atlanta’s (Ga.) Fire Department. He has had engineering, has accepted a position as an the Society of Louisiana CPA’s first-ever a 26-year career in Shreveport, serving as electrical engineer with a new electrical Young CPA Board representing the non-profit training officer and assistant chief training engineering firm, Brown Engineers, LLC in association’s 800 plus members aged 35 and officer before being named fire chief in 1999. Little Rock, Ark. under. He is a tax manager with Booth Giger & Company in Monroe. Randall Jay Langham, architecture, has joined 2006...... Alliance Inc. as an intern architect. He and 2000...... his wife, Sarah Crawford Langham (graphic Chris David Cicirello, chemical engineering, design 2003) live in Shreveport. has been promoted from ATP to technical Kenneth A. Klemme, business, has completed professional with Halliburton Energy Services his master of divinity degree and has enrolled Kedrick Jermaine Mahoney, computer in Vernal, Utah. in the doctorate of ministry degree program at information systems, has started his own Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. record label – Southern Bay Records and has Thomas M. Nealeigh, theatre, is founder and released a compact disc titled “Truth and executive director of FreakShow Deluxe, LLC, Love.” His stage/artist name is Jurmane. whose highlights include classic carnival-style sideshow stunts as well as variety acts. 2005...... Julie E. Miller, 2001...... journalism, has Tia Johnson Crowley, sociology, is a 2007 been promoted graduate from Southern University at New to associate Web Please cut along dotted line and send to the following address or join online at www.latechalumni.org/association. Orleans with a master’s in Urban Education. editor at Seventeen She is a special education teacher at Einstein Magazine. She will Charter School in New Orleans. be working on the Alumni Information Update – mail to: Alumni Association | P.O. Box 3183 | Ruston LA 71272 company’s Web site, ______Name: Last First Middle/Maiden Class Degree ______Spouse’s Name: Last First Middle/Maiden Coll./Univ. & Class Degree ______Home Address: Street City State ZIP Home Phone # ______thank you for your support. Employer Bus. Address Bus. Phone # Position The Louisiana Tech Alumni Association salutes these Lifetime Members: ______Spouse’s Employer Bus. Address Bus. 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