We have so much to be thankful for at Louisiana Tech, particularly for our outstanding people. This week, I had the opportunity to acknowledge a few of those who deserve kudos for their successes, activities and accomplishments. I am proud of our Nursing program, let by Donna Hood, that was recognized for the second year in a row by the Louisiana Nurses Foundation for the undergraduate Nursing School of the Year! Professor Nancy Darland received the Outstanding Community Service Award, and alumnae Deb Spann won Registered Nurse of the Year. What an impact our Nursing faculty have across our state! On Monday afternoon, I attended the activation ceremony for the Nuclear Command, Control and Communications Center (NC3) at Barksdale’s USAF Global Strike Command. It was great to see this major new national capability become a reality and we recognize the new opportunities this will provide to our community and nation. Kudos to AFGSC Commander General Robin Rand and NC3 Commander Col. Mark Jablow for their leadership. On Tuesday, I joined VP Jim King and Bobby Dowling in signing an agreement with Kevin and Jenny Crume that enables Tech students to be members of the Ruston Country Club and to use the golf course for fun and exercise. Thanks, Jenny and Kevin! I also had the opportunity to visit with a colleague and recent alumnus Dena Selmer who made a mid-career shift to pursue her passion – nursing. Dena has been one of those quiet loyal staff members who worked behind the scenes to make our campus the special place it is. I am so proud of her! And I closed Tuesday out by welcoming attendees of the National Field Experiences Conference that was organized by Dean Don Schillinger, Dr. Amy Vessel, and others in our College of Education. Educators from across 20 states and Canada came to Tech to learn the best of practice in education field experiences. Certainly, Amy and others in our College of Education deserve kudos for their leadership in clinical residencies and for hosting this national conference at Tech. On Wednesday, VP Stan Napper and I visited with the Cyber Innovation Center Board to discuss future programs and developments. We have worked closely with the CIC over the past decade in developing cyber education, workforce, research and economic development programs. Our ability to partner with such a committed organization has been a key to achieving the national-scale impacts we are seeing now. Later Wednesday, we returned to Ruston to celebrate one of those impacts as our industry partner CSRA dedicated the TechX Lab at Tech Pointe. TechX represents a significant investment by CSRA and other companies in developing an Internet of Things “sand box” for our students and faculty to use. Thanks to CSRA for your vision and commitment and thanks to Stan and our faculty for helping to set up this state-of-the-art lab! On Thursday, I traveled to Northwestern State University to attend the Conference of Louisiana Colleges and Universities. After a long day of meetings about the future of higher education in Louisiana, UL System President Jim Henderson presented President Emeritus Dan Reneau with CLCU’s PaceSetter Award for Dan’s long-time excellent leadership and service as President of Louisiana Tech. On Friday, I welcomed the Computer Information Systems Advisory Board to campus and gave them an update of our activities. Many of the Board members represent our key partner companies and I was able to thank them for their contributions to Tech. Later Friday, while walking around campus to see our construction projects, I ran across Dr. Heath Tims, Dean Hisham Hegab and about 60 engineering and science students who were working around Bogard Hall to clean it up and make it more presentable for the campus community and visitors. What a tremendous student body!   Here are a few of my favorite pics for the week: