We are just coming off of a long Christmas/New Year holiday break and have had a short (but cold) week back on campus. Kathy and I got an early start to the break on December 18 as we headed to Frisco, Texas to watch the Bulldogs defeat the SMU Mustangs in the DXL Frisco Bowl. We stopped along the way to Frisco to meet with new members of our Tech team in our new Bossier Center facility. And it was great to meet with some of our alumni and corporate partners in Longview and Frisco prior to the game.   After the game, I was glad to spend some time with family here in Ruston and at my brother’s house in Bastrop. We had a special Christmas with my family here and then Kathy and I drove over to Jacksonville, Florida to spend some time with my youngest son and his family. Bret invited me to come to the TaxSlayer Bowl where the other bulldogs from Mississippi were playing the cardinals from Louisville. Bret is responsible for ticket operations for the Bowl, so he invited me to keep an eye on grandson Christopher during the game. That was far more fun than watching the bowl game…. It was great to return to work on Wednesday and to see the campus come back to life with students, faculty and staff.  I have spent much of my time this week in meetings and in preparing for a number of events coming up over the next couple of months. On Thursday, I was most thrilled to see construction fences begin to come up around the site for the new Integrated Engineering and Science Building and I am looking forward to seeing the site prep work begin next week. This new facility along with new residential facilities, a new business building wing, campus lighting and landscaping, parking and athletics facilities, and other campus improvements are preparing Tech to have even greater impacts in our community, state and nation for the future. A great start to 2018! As we begin 2018, I want to thank all of my family for their tremendous support and love. And I thank the Tech Family for your outstanding support of our institution. Here are a few of my favorite recent pics (mostly family):