Distinguished Alumni Award
The Circle of Excellence Award is designed to express annual appreciation to outstanding LSUS alumni who are leaders in our community, region, or nation – those who are using their LSUS degrees in a significant manner, either professionally or through volunteerism, to bring recognition to the University. Click the link below to nominate an LSUS alum for this honor.
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Circle of Excellence Award
The Circle of Excellence Award is designed to express annual appreciation to outstanding LSUS alumni who are leaders in our community, region, or nation – those who are using their LSUS degrees in a significant manner, either professionally or through volunteerism, to bring recognition to the University. Click the link below to nominate an LSUS alum for this honor.
2007

Jim received a Bachelor of General Studies in 1995.


He earned a Bachelor of General Studies in 1975 and is a member of our first graduating class.


They received their Master of Liberal Arts degrees together in 1987.

He received a BS in Business Administration in 1987.

Ronnie received a BS in Business Management Administration in 1989.

Johnette received her Master of Liberal Arts degree in 1996.
2008


Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology & Neuroscience at LSU Health Sciences Center – Shreveport
He is considered one of the world’s leaders on the role of stress in drug addiction. He recently formed Embera Neuro Therpeutics, Inc. to conduct clinical trials on the treatment of addiction based on the results from his research on stress and addiction. Embera is testing a novel combinational drug treatment in cocaine addicts and cigarette smokers, and this pharmacotherapy may also prove to be effective in the treatment of drug and other addictions, including gambling.

Chief Judge of the Juvenile Court for Caddo Parish since 1999.
Court related initiatives during his tenure include the Model Court Program to provide speedy and effective handling of child abuse and neglect cases; mental health screening for detained children; Juvenile Drug Court, a first-in-the-state; Dependency Drug Court, the only Drug Court program in LA for parents of abused and neglected children; the M.O.M.S. drug treatment program for adult women; Mental Health Court which offers a specialized court docket and services for children with significant mental health needs; Teen Court, a high school peer jury diversion program for less serious offenses administered by Volunteers for Youth Justice - and a long list of other innovative programs.

He is presently an Argonne Distinguished Fellow and Head of the Condensed Matter Theory Group at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois. He is also an Adjunct Professor, Department of Physics at Northwestern University in Chicago. From 1998-2008 he served as Senior Physicist at Argonne. He received the University of Chicago Distinguished Performance Award in 1999 and was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1995. His list of publications and speaking engagements is lengthy indeed. Accepting the award for Mike are his parents, Wanda & Ray Norman.

Craig has twenty years of business experience in the Information Technology field working in international, commercial and federal government markets. Currently, he is the Executive Director of the Cyber Innovation Center. The Cyber Innovation Center is a 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is to support cyber initiatives by promoting research, educational and technological innovation and fostering collaborative and strategic alliances between governmental agencies, private industry and academic institutions.

Mike served for 4 years in the U.S. Navy and later founded an X-ray supply business with his father. He entered the financial services business in 1986 with New York Life Insurance and continues as a representative. Mike also owns and operates Benefit Consultants of North Louisiana. BCNL offers professional financial consultation to companies needing employer protection and retention at the local and regional levels. Mike’s volunteer leadership includes Board President for the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse of Northwest Louisiana, Pierremont Oaks Tennis Club and the Shreveport/Bossier Rescue Mission. He is a former board member of Hilman House and a member of the LSUS Foundation.

Dr. White has been the System School Psychologist for Caddo Parish School Board and an Instructor, Curriculum Writer & Grant Writer for the Counsel for the Advancement of Social Services and Education since 1999. She has also been a Continuing Education Instructor and Curriculum Writer for LSUS Continuing Education and a member of the Education Instructor/Adjunct Faculty since 1997. She received one of two individual state Heroes in the Fight Awards presented for the 2007-08 year by the Louisiana State Mental Health Assn.

He has been a Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport since 2003. Brian also holds the rank of Commander, Medical Corp, US Navy Reserves and served in Al Anbar Province Iraq from June of 2004 to April of 2005 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. He has been a Diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgeons since 1994. He has been Investigator or Co-Investigator in 10 clinical trials and has a long list of publications and presentations to his credit.
2009

Managing Partner, Heard, McElroy & Vestal

Team Chief, U.S. Air Force Audit Agency

Director – Career/Adult/Alternative Program Caddo Parish Schools

Head Men’s Basketball Coach, LSUS

Associate Director for Sales & Marketing, U.S. Mint

Former G-3 Operations Officer, John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School
Detachment Commander, US Army Special Forces, Ft. Bragg, NC
Currently a student at U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA

Director, Radiation Oncology, Willis Knighton Cancer Center since 1998

Associate Professor of Computer Science, LSUS
Adjunct Professor, Dept. Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, LSUHSC-S
Co-Director, Laboratory for Advance Biomedical Informatics (LABi)
2010

Randy has been the Advertising Manager for The Bossier Press-Tribune for 10 years. As Advertising Manager, he wears many hats including those of writer, photographer, graphic designer and salesman. Previously, he and his father owned and managed a business together. He is the Immediate Past President of the LSUS Alumni Board (2006-2008). From 2003-2006, he served as Treasurer and Vice-President. He has been an active participant in the Pilots Golf Classic since 2003 and the RiverBend Revue Silent Auction since 2008. Randy is also the past president of the Shreveport-Bossier Ad Federation. He is a tireless advocate for LSUS and our community. He received his MBA from Centenary College in 1994.

Frances has served as Judge, 1st Judicial District Court, Caddo Parish, since 2009. She also served on the LSUS Alumni Board from 2003-2009 and chaired the Awards Committee for three years. Frances holds a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. She is a founder and instructor for “Kick It Up,” a Christian martial arts program for boys and girls, and “Don’t Be a Victim,” a safety training program for senior citizens, women and children. As a former speech pathologist and member of the medical/educational diagnostic team at LSU Health Sciences Center’s Children’s Center and special education teacher, Frances spent many years helping families through difficult times. In her position as a domestic judge, she makes sure that children’s voices are heard, as she has a unique insight into their problems. As a former Assistant Attorney General, Frances had an opportunity to practice in many areas of law and to research and write legal opinions. All of those experiences were valuable in building the foundation for Frances to demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative from the bench. Frances also holds an MCD from LSUHSC-Shreveport, 1978, and a JD from LSU Law Center, 1991. She has served on numerous committees and boards, including Legal Advisor for Wish Upon a Star, Inc. (Philanthropy for terminally ill children) and the Mayor’s Commission on Education. She is a regular panelist on Dateline – Shreveport and legal columnist for City Lights magazines. She has been twice nominated for the Athena Award.

Kathy has served as Principal of Fairfield Elementary Magnet School since January 2003. Fairfield Elementary Magnet is a five star school with a School Performance Score of 142.9 and is labeled “A School of Recognized Academic Growth.” One hundred percent of Fairfield’s teachers are “highly qualified.” Fairfield attracts students from across the parish and has a substantial waiting list. Kathy serves as District Chair for the Caddo District PTA.
She is a former Alumni Board member and served as President of the Board from 1984-1986.

BA in Journalism from LSU
Shawne serves as the Section 504 Program Coordinator for Bossier Parish School Board. She has worked for the BPSB since 1993 in the positions of School Psychologist and Behavior Interventionist. Her initial responsibilities involved working with children with disabilities, including those with significant social/emotional difficulties. Presently, she works with students, teachers and parents to ensure appropriate accommodations are afforded to students who meet eligibility under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In addition, she provides staff development in-services on topics such as behavior intervention and classroom management. Her honors and activities include National Association of School Psychologists; Phi Delta Kappa; Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society; Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society; and Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. Shawne is a lector at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church and enjoys playing tennis, fishing and riding her Harley-Davidson.

Marcia returned to school after raising her children to obtain a college degree from LSUS. She and her husband Riemer are owners of Calhoun Builders. She served on the Alumni Board from 2001-2007 and co-chaired the Commencement Committee for four years. She is also active with the Friends of the Louisiana State Museum Board, having worked to raise funds through the annual Glitz and Grits gala. Marcia instituted the Marcia Calhoun Endowed Scholarship in 2006 and is a member of the LSUS Foundation. She and Riemer hosted the LSUS Alumni Association Annual Meeting in 2009 at Briarwood, their historic home in Mansfield, LA.

Dr. Tommy Brown is the founding partner (with Dr. Phillip Rozeman, BS 1977) of ArkLaTex Cardiology Associates, APMC, a premier cardiology practice in our area. He is also a former LSUS Alumni Board member. Dr. Brown graduated magna cum laude from LSU-Shreveport in 1978 and from Louisiana State University School of Medicine - Shreveport in 1982. He completed his residency in internal medicine and his cardiology fellowship program at LSU Medical Center - Shreveport, LA. He began practicing cardiology in Shreveport, LA in 1987 and founded Ark-La-Tex Cardiology in 1991. He is Board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Interventional Cardiology, Cardiovascular Disease, and Internal Medicine. Dr. Brown is a Fellow in the American College of Cardiology and a Fellow in the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions. Dr. Brown previously served as Chief of Cardiology at Highland Hospital and is currently President and Managing Physician of Ark-La-Tex Cardiology. Dr. Brown's practice includes invasive, noninvasive and interventional cardiology. His expertise includes diagnostic heart cath, coronary interventions including balloon angioplasty, rotational atherectomy, stents, laser and angiojet technique as well as pacemakers. He is also experienced in carotid angiography and peripheral vascular angiography as well as peripheral vascular interventions. Dr. Brown is fully trained to perform and interpret Coronary CT Angiography. He is experienced in nuclear cardiology and echocardiography. Dr. Brown has been involved in the research aspect of cardiology, including several large national trials. Dr. Brown has two great children and loves to hunt and fish.

Dr. Mitchell has served as Physicist with the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Patchogue, New York since February 1995. He currently serves as the coordinator of the PHENIX event visualization project. He received both his MS (1988) and Ph.D. at Yale University (1992) where he was a Graduate Student Teaching Assistance from 1986-1992. Dr. Mitchell was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory from 1992-1995. His primary research interest is in the field of Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics. Within that field, his research has focused upon the physics of Quark-Gluon Plasma formation, the physics of hot and dense nuclear matter, and the formation of exotic particles. He has given many presentations to high school students and the general public about heavy ion physics, the RHIC collider, and the PHENIX as a representative of the BNL Physics Department and PHENIX from 1997 to the present. He is a member of the American Physical Society and the APS Division of Nuclear Physics. In 2001 he received the Brookhaven National Laboratory Sambamurti Award for outstanding achievement. A prolific researcher and writer, he had more than 100 publications in refereed journals (Nuclear Instruments and Methods, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Physical Review and Nuclear Physics), more than 30 conference proceedings publications, and approximately 150 conference contribution publications in journals to his credit (as of 2007). Dr. Mitchell has presented his work in an international forum including seminars in Europe, China, Japan, Yale and MIT. He also has more than 6 years experience maintaining several web sites at Brookhaven, including educational sites integrating Java applets and animations. He has produced (animation and music) several short, animated films that follow both a Gold ion and polarized protons as each travels through the RHIC accelerator complex to the experiments. His animations have appeared on news programs of many networks including ABC, CNN and BBC. Dr. Mitchell’s favorite sport is Volleyball. He is an inside hitter for EZ Pass in the BERA Volleyball Open A League and captain of the PHENIX Fire in the Open B League. Her serves as statistician and webmaster for the BERA Volleyball Leagues. He also plays left field for the Medical team in the BERA softball E1 League. He has a daughter Abigail and a son Aaron. “In [his] copious spare time” he likes to compose and play music in his home studio.

Jonathan is the Technical Leader for Cisco Systems, Inc., in San Jose, California. His specialties include Video, IP, Network Design, IPTV Middleware, Set-Top, System Test and CCIE.
2011

Mike is the owner of Foy Motors in Minden, LA, and is well known in North Louisiana as a businessman of integrity. He has supported LSUS through the Pilots Golf Classic, scholarships, annual campaigns, athletics and the Alumni Association’s Marsala Professorship.

David is the Senior Tax Partner with Roberts, Cherry & Company – a man held in high respect in the accounting and investment fields. He has shared generously with LSUS (annual campaigns, RiverBend Revue and the Pilots Golf Classic) and countless other organizations in our area. He is a lifetime member of the LSUS Alumni Association.

Keith currently serves as Principal at South Highlands Elementary Magnet School and comes highly recommended by Dr. David Gustavson, Dean, LSUS College of Business Education & Human Development. He has completed 40+ post graduate hours in the areas of curriculum and Educational Leadership. As a classroom teacher, he was recognized as one of Shreveport's Outstanding Young Educators and was selected as Louisiana's first recipient of the Milken National Educator's Award ($25,000). He serves as an adjunct member of the graduate faculties at LSUS and Centenary College with course emphasis on Educational Leadership. He serves the Louisiana Department of Education as a new principal mentor. Before coming to South Highlands Elementary Magnet School in 2003, Mr. Burton was principal of Fairfield Elementary Magnet School. South Highlands is a Blue Ribbon School.

Dominic has been an educator in Caddo and Bossier Parishes for almost 32 years - classroom teacher (13 years), high school assistant principal (3 years), parish-wide supervisor (8 years), community college staff member (2 years), and a parish director (5 years). He has been a visiting assistant professor in education at Centenary College since 2002. He was recommended by Dr. Gustavson. Other professional duties include being a past officer in Phi Delta Kappa (an educational association) and currently-elected Trustee on the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana. He acts as a contributing educator to LaSIP projects at Centenary College. His community involvement includes being a director for the Bossier Federal Credit Union for 11 years and volunteering for 22 consecutive years with the Centenary Book Sale fundraiser. He was the first person in his immediate family to graduate from college.

Domenico serves as Chief of Global Network Operations and Telecommunications for the United States Peace Corps, a federal agency dedicated to world peace and friendship, established in 1961. Approximately 3500 staff members and 7000 volunteers serve in 74 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Previously, low-bandwidth satellite and wired network connections prevented volunteers from collaborating with their peers in other locations and headquarters personnel. Volunteers in different offices could not share files. "As an agency, our job is to empower our volunteers," said Palombo. "We wanted to deploy a global network with the performance to support collaboration applications and unified communications. We wanted our volunteers to be more effective at their mission. And, we wanted the solution to be scalable so that we wouldn't have to redeploy it in a few years."

Henry currently serves as U.S. Marshal, Western District of Louisiana for the U.S. Department of Justice. He is the former Shreveport Chief of Police and Superintendent of Louisiana State Police. During the latter tenure, his expertise in decision-making throughout Hurricanes Rita and Katrina has been widely acclaimed by former Governor Kathleen Blanco. He served as a thoughtful and witty member of the LSUS Alumni Board from 2007 until his appointment in 2010 to the U.S. Marshal post. He is a lifetime member of the LSUS Alumni Association.

Chris is a breast care specialist (general surgery) with Willis Knighton Health System. He comes highly recommended by Dr. Dalton Gossett, Assistant Dean of the LSUS College of Arts and Sciences. He received his medical education at LSUHSC-Shreveport and continued there to complete a six year surgical residency. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery. In 2003, Dr. Sockrider entered medical practice and pursued additional training in the diagnosis and treatment of breast disease. New technologies such as breast ultrasound and minimally invasive biopsy are of particular interest. He has advanced his skills in this field by actively participating in national professional breast care societies. In 2006, he partnered in the first dedicated breast care surgical practice in our community. This practice introduced a variety of minimally invasive office-based procedures including MammoSite placement. Dr. Sockrider performed the first Cryoablation (freezing) of a breast fibroadenoma in Louisiana. In 2007, he founded Breast Care Specialists. Personal relationships formed with patients are a defining part of his practice. He is a lifetime member of the LSUS Alumni Association.

Brent is affiliated with the Willis Knighton Health System (South) and LSUHSC-Shreveport specializing in pediatrics, neonatal and perinatal medicine. His pediatric residency and neonatology fellowship were conducted at LSUHSC-Shreveport. He is Board certified in pediatrics and neonatology. Brent was named NICU Medical Director in 2004 and was a 40 Under 40 honoree (Greater Shreveport Chamber) in 2007. He is a lifetime member of the LSUS Alumni Association and an LSUS Foundation member.
2012








2013

Jim received a Bachelor of General Studies in 1995.


He earned a Bachelor of General Studies in 1975 and is a member of our first graduating class.


They received their Master of Liberal Arts degrees together in 1987.

He received a BS in Business Administration in 1987.

Ronnie received a BS in Business Management Administration in 1989.

Johnette received her Master of Liberal Arts degree in 1996.
2014









2015

Jim received a Bachelor of General Studies in 1995.


He earned a Bachelor of General Studies in 1975 and is a member of our first graduating class.


They received their Master of Liberal Arts degrees together in 1987.
2016






2017

Jim received a Bachelor of General Studies in 1995.




They received their Master of Liberal Arts degrees together in 1987.
2018

Jim received a Bachelor of General Studies in 1995.


He earned a Bachelor of General Studies in 1975 and is a member of our first graduating class.


They received their Master of Liberal Arts degrees together in 1987.

He received a BS in Business Administration in 1987.

Ronnie received a BS in Business Management Administration in 1989.

Johnette received her Master of Liberal Arts degree in 1996.
2020

Jim received a Bachelor of General Studies in 1995.


He earned a Bachelor of General Studies in 1975 and is a member of our first graduating class.


They received their Master of Liberal Arts degrees together in 1987.
2021




