Our institution has evolved since the inception of T.O. Brown's idea in 1922.听Founding leaders paved the way toward academic excellence, integrity, and success.
Staying true to the foundation and history of our university the past is honored and
the future is embraced.
Dr. Clyde C. Colvert
1931-1944
Ouachita Parish Junior College
September 28, 1931- October 31, 1944
C.C. Colvert served as the first president of Ouachita Parish Junior College. Born
in Clarksville, Texas, he grew up in Eagle Mills, Arkansas, and received his master鈥檚
degree in education from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. from George Peabody
College in Nashville, Tennessee. He worked as an educator for 13 years before T.O.
Brown, superintendent of the Ouachita Parish School System, hired him to help establish
the new junior college in Monroe in 1931. Following a severe economic downturn in
1934, Colvert helped orchestrate an arrangement whereby the college would be operated
by LSU as the Northeast Center of Louisiana State University. He stepped down as president
of Northeast Junior College of LSU in 1944 to assume a teaching position at the University
of Texas at Austin. Dr. Colvert died in 1991.
Dr. William Rodney Cline
1944-1950
Northeast Junior College of Louisiana State University听
December 1, 1944- 颅August 15, 1950
Dr. Rodney Cline is a graduate of Louisiana Polytechnic Institute with a master鈥檚
degree from Louisiana State University and a Ph.D. from George Peabody College for
Teachers. He taught at various schools in south Louisiana and at the demonstration
school at Louisiana Tech where he also taught education. He later served as academic
dean at Louisiana Tech before becoming dean of John McNeese Junior College in Lake
Charles, Louisiana. He is the author of numerous scholarly publications in the field
of education.
Mr. Lewis Cecil Slater
1950-1958
Northeast Louisiana State College
August 15, 1950- June 30, 1958
Lewis C. Slater was born in Severy, Kansas, in 1893. He received his bachelor鈥檚 degree
in chemistry from the University of Colorado in 1914 and the master鈥檚 degree in chemistry
and engineering from Louisiana State University in 1915. Slater joined the Northeast
Center of LSU staff in 1938 as head of the Department of Biology and Natural Sciences.
Between teaching assignments, he was the chief chemist for Bogalusa Pulp and Paper
Company and the Bastrop Pulp and Paper Company. Slater was named president of the
newly-designated Northeast Louisiana State College, a four-year institution, in 1950.
He retired from the institution in 1958.
Dr. George T. Walker
1958-1975
Northeast Louisiana State College
July 1, 1958- 颅December 31, 1975
Dr. George T. Walker was born in Jonesboro, Louisiana, in 1913. He earned a bachelor鈥檚
degree from Northwestern State University in 1935, a master鈥檚 degree in accounting
and business administration from LSU in 1936, and a Ph.D. in business administration
from LSU in 1948. From 1935 to 1940, Walker taught commerce at several universities
in Louisiana, including the Northeast Center of LSU in Monroe. From 1945 to 1948,
Walker served as assistant to the dean of the Junior Division, Louisiana State University.
In 1948, he was named dean of applied arts and sciences at Northwestern State College
and was later named dean of administration. Walker assumed the presidency of Northeast
Louisiana State College in 1958.
Dr. Dwight D. Vines
1976-1991
Northeast Louisiana University
January 1, 1976- 颅June 30, 1991
Dr. Dwight D. Vines was born in Jackson Parish in 1931. He earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree
from Northwestern State University, his M.B.A. from LSU and his Ph.D. in business
administration from the University of Colorado. He joined the faculty at Northeast
Louisiana University in 1958 as an instructor of management, and advanced through
the academic ranks to professor. In addition, he served as dean of the College of
Business Administration for nine years before being named president of NLU.
Mr. Lawson L. Swearingen, Jr.
1991-2001
Northeast Louisiana University
July 1, 1991- 颅December 31, 2001
Lawson L. Swearingen, Jr., was born in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1944. He received his
bachelor鈥檚 degree in government from NLU in 1966 and earned his Juris Doctorate from
Tulane Law School in 1969. Swearingen practiced law in Monroe for 22 years, which
included 11 years of service as a state senator in the Louisiana legislature. In 1991,
he was tapped to serve as president of NLU. During his administration the name of
the university was changed to the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Dr. James E. Cofer, Sr.
2002-2010
University of Louisiana Monroe
April 1, 2002- July 30, 2010
Dr. James E. Cofer was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1949. He received his bachelor
degree in business administration and his M.B.A. from Mississippi State University.
He earned an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Arkansas
at Little Rock in 1998. Cofer served as the Vice President for Finance and Administration
with the University of Missouri System and the University of Arkansas System. In 1995
as an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow, Cofer worked in conjunction with the Ministry of
Education and Culture in Budapest, Hungary. He has also served as the chief fiscal
officer for the State of Mississippi and the University System of Georgia. His tenure
at 麻豆果冻传媒 was marked by a renewed collegiality and campus renaissance with emphasis on
student-centered learning, 56 academic accreditations, a remarkable physical transformation
of 麻豆果冻传媒鈥檚 campus, and 鈥渁nytime, anywhere, anyplace instruction,鈥� resulting in additional
online courses and degree programs.
Dr. Nick J. Bruno
2010-2020
University of Louisiana Monroe
November 8, 2002 - June 30, 2020
Dr. Nick J. Bruno was born in Tangipahoa Parish in 1951. He earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree
in accounting and an MBA from Southeastern Louisiana University. He earned a Ph.D.
in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Mississippi. He served as an
adjunct member of Education Leadership from the University of Mississippi. He served
as an adjunct member of Southeastern Louisiana University鈥檚 College of Business faculty
where he taught Strategic Management. Bruno served as the Vice President for Business
Affairs at the University of Louisiana System and at 麻豆果冻传媒. During his tenure at 麻豆果冻传媒,
Dr. Bruno led the institution through one of the most significant financial crises
that higher education in Louisiana ever faced, recruited the Edward Via College of
Osteopathic Medicine to open its Louisiana location on the campus of 麻豆果冻传媒, numerous
facilities were added or renovated, added academic programs, and retention and graduation
rates reached record highs.
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