Bill Bradley speaks to a full room at University Hall

The first couple of days of the quarter were packed with meetings with administrators, faculty, and students. Late Thursday, I attended a “Meet the Big Shots” event organized by Dr. Sumeet Dua, Professor and Director of Computer Science.  This was an event designed to inform students and faculty about an exciting new Information Technology (IT) certificate program just being released by Tech.  The program is a series of 5 courses that can be taken by industry or students in any major to prepare them for working in data, software, and IT related fields. This sector is rapidly growing nationally and locally, and the IT Certificate is one of our efforts to rapidly increase the pipeline of talent that is essential for growth of this sector in the region.  One of our speakers was Bill Bradley, CenturyLink CIO, who explained the importance of this program to companies like Centurylink.  More information is available at http://ic3.latech.edu/IT.

On Saturday morning, we had meetings of the Alumni Association and the University Foundation Board of Directors. These groups play vital roles in advancing Louisiana Tech. There are many people involved who have contributed significantly to Louisiana Tech in many different ways over the years.  I was honored to have my first opportunity to speak to both groups for the first time as President.  As they do with so many events throughout the year, our University Advancement staff did an outstanding job of organizing and running both meetings.

From there, most of us headed over to Tailgate Alley near the Joe to relax and mingle with friends as we all got ready for the ball game.  There were people tailgating all day long, and a couple of hours before game time, the area was full of fans.  This game day experience gets better and better each year.

I was pleased to have Col. Andrew Gebara, BAFB 2nd Bomb Wing Commander, and his wife Nikki join me as special guests for my first home football game as President. Both of the Gebaras have earned their doctorates, and Nikki teaches for our Tech Barksdale program.  They are a terrific couple and we are fortunate to have them providing leadership in our North LA community. I was also pleased to have recent University Senate Chair award winner, David Szymanski, and Virgil Orr Award winner, Rhonda Boyd, and their families join me in my box as we all celebrated the win of the Bulldogs over Lamar.