Over the past few months, I have been overwhelmed with encouragement and support provided by friends and family. As the season of giving thanks approaches, I want to express my deepest appreciation to all of those in the Tech Family and my personal family who have supported me during this transition. I often talk about the loyalty and dedication of our faculty and staff, and their efforts to provide the highest quality education and strongest support to our students. We are truly blessed to have an environment in the Tech Family where students matter most. I feel most fortunate to have a great leadership team. Vice Presidents Terry McConathy, Stan Napper, Jim King and Corre Stegall provide tremendous leadership and clearly place the success of the institution at the top of their priorities.  Vice President Joe Thomas recently announced his plans to retire in January after 40 years of service.  Throughout his distinguished career, Joe has served Louisiana Tech with the utmost professionalism and integrity, and has helped to build a strong campus infrastructure that has become a cornerstone of Louisiana Tech’s growth and success.  Through his leadership and tireless efforts, he has also helped Louisiana Tech navigate through some of the most challenging and yet most successful times in its history.  I am most grateful to Joe and my other Vice Presidents for all that they do. I am very blessed to have a great family. Kathy has been enormously supportive of me for the 38 years of our marriage and I greatly appreciate her tireless commitment to the entire family. My three sons (Chad, Kyle and Bret) and daughters-in-law (Shannon, Ginger and Christy) are the love of our life, and we are very grateful that they all enjoy being together and are able to be with us regularly. Bret and Christy presented our family with a wonderful addition this year. Our grandson, Christopher, is healthy and being raised in a home of love, for which Kathy and I are most grateful. Kathy and I are also very thankful that we have our mothers living nearby and are able to share our lives with them. Because of travel schedules, we all adjusted and celebrated our thanksgiving with our mothers early this year. For my mother, this was her first time to see Christopher in almost 6 months. Thanks again to all of our friends and family for making this a special season. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!