Lamar University

Lamar University is a comprehensive university offering bachelor's, master's,doctoral and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.)degrees; located in Beaumont, Texas, and a member of The Texas State University System. As of Spring 2010, the university had 14,384 students, the highest enrollment in the university’s 87-year history.

History

Lamar University started on September 17, 1923 as South Park Junior College, operating on the unused third floor of the new South Park High School (formerly South Park Middle School, the building was demolished April 2010). South Park Junior College became the first college in Texas to receive Texas Department of Education approval during the first year of operation, and became fully accredited in 1925.

In about 1932, recognizing that the junior college was now serving the region, the college renamed itself Lamar College, after Mirabeau B. Lamar. The next year, the separation of the college from South Park High School began with construction of new facilities. By 1942, the college was completely independent of the South Park school district, and operations moved to the current campus.

With the end of World War II, an influx of veterans boosted enrollment, and the Lamar board of trustees asked the Texas Legislature to promote Lamar College to a four-year state college. The initial attempt in 1947, led by Texas Representative Jack Brooks failed, but the following year the bill passed both houses. On June 14, 1949, Governor Beauford Jester signed the bill creating Lamar State College of Technology with the new entity to focus on engineering and science, an emphasis that continues today.

Enrollment continued to grow throughout the 1950s and 1960s, reaching 10,000 students, but in the 1970s enrollment plateaued. In 1969, Lamar State College opened its first branch in Orange, Texas. In 1970, Lamar State College began offering its first doctoral program, the Doctor of Engineering, and in 1971 the college's name was officially changed to Lamar University.

The University Press is Lamar Universities student operated newspaper which gained it's name in 1971.

In 1975, the university merged with Port Arthur College in Port Arthur, Texas, creating Lamar University-Port Arthur. In 1983, state Senator Carl Parker sponsored a bill creating the Lamar University System, and in 1986, Lamar University-Orange and Lamar University-Port Arthur were granted accreditation separate from the main campus. Lamar Institute of Technology was created in 1990 to provide technical, business, health and industrial education through programs two years or fewer in length.

In 1995, the Lamar University System was incorporated into the Texas State University System, with the Lamar State College - Orange, Lamar State College - Port Arthur and Lamar Institute of Technology campuses becoming separate entities within the system. Since the reorganization, Lamar University's enrollment has continually increased, and numerous construction projects have revitalized or replaced old buildings.

Campus

The Lamar University campus is located on Martin Luther King Boulevard, near U.S. Highway 69, in the southeast part of Beaumont, Texas. Facilities include the 10,000 seat Montagne Center arena, and the eight story Mary and John Gray Library. Lamar is also home to the Texas Academy of Leadership in the Humanities (better known as TALH), a dual-credit high school program created for gifted and talented high school students in their junior and senior years.

Mary & John Gray Library

As the tallest structure on campus at 8 stories, The Mary and John Gray Library serves as a symbol for the university. The library was completed on April 26 1976 taking 2 and a half years to complete. It was named for Mary and John Gray who are considered the "First Family" of the University.

Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center

The Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center was completed in 2007 for $18 million.[1] The construction included renovation of the McDonald Gym which had previously served as the universities sports center and home of the Volleyball program. The naming of the center was made possible by a $5 million donation by local legendary lawyer Walter Umphrey in 2005. The 129,550-square-foot Center includes a 13,000 sq ft. cardiovascular room a one-tenth-mile walking/jogging track; a 43-foot climbing wall; basketball, volleyball and badminton courts; racquetball, handball and squash courts. The center also sports a wellness and fitness center; health food café and juice bar; The lounge areas include pool tables, putting green, air hockey, foosball, video games and large screen TV.[2]

Cherry Engineering Building

Campus History

In the late 1990s, Lamar began undertaking campus improvement projects. Most buildings on the campus dated to the late 1960s and 70s and had deteriorated since. Many older buildings in the northern part of the campus were gutted and refinished one-by-one.

In 2001, the University began replacing its 1960s-vintage residence halls with new apartment-style housing facilities, dubbed "Cardinal Village" (the cardinal is the school mascot). Older campus housing facilities have been demolished as the Cardinal Village complex has expanded to meet demand. Demand for on-campus housing has risen, coinciding with the opening of the new residence halls. Cardinal Village II, III & IV were built specifically to meet these demands. As of January 2006^[update], a new gourmet food court style dining hall was opened to provide students with a wider selection of dining opportunities.^[3]

In March 2005, the McDonald Gym temporarily closed. The gym underwent extensive renovation and adjacent to it a new recreational sports center was built. The $19 million center, named the Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center, opened in April 2007.^[4] The 129,500-foot (39,500 m) facility includes 13,000 square feet (1,200 m²) of cardiovascular and free-weight training; a one-tenth-mile indoor walking/jogging track; a 43-foot (13 m) climbing wall; basketball, volleyball and badminton courts; racquetball, handball and squash courts; a wellness and fitness center; health food café and juice bar; lounge areas with pool tables; an outdoor putting green; and air hockey, foosball, video games and TV.

In August 2007, the University completed construction on Cardinal Village IV, a $16-million expansion of its state-of-the-art residence halls.^[5] The University began construction of a new phase of the residence halls, Cardinal Village Phase V in December of 2009. Construction is estimated to be completed in late 2010 and will bring on-campus housing capacity to 2,500 students.

The University, in anticipation of the return of football program in 2010, started work on Provost Umphrey Stadium(formerly Cardinal Stadium) and a new Athletics Complex in the Spring of 2009..^[6]

Athletics

Lamar University is a member of the Southland Conference, participating in men and women's basketball, golf, track & field, cross-country, tennis, women's soccer and volleyball, and baseball. Lamar is in the current process of bringing back its football team. They hired Head Coach Ray Woodard in the Summer of 2008, and they are scheduled to start playing again in 2010. The program's signature win came on September 5, 1981, in an 18-17 win over the UPI #20 ranked Baylor Bears under Head Coach Larry Kennan. This would be the first time that a Division 1-AA team defeated a Division 1-A ranked opponent. The football program was dropped in 1989, largely due to budget overruns and declining attendance.

The proposed re-introduction of the football team would be funded by an increase in student tuition fees. Under the current plan, the football team would not arrive until 2010.^[7] On January 30, 2008, 78% of Lamar students voted to approve the athletics fee required for football's resurrection. Under the current plan, the university would not play conference games until 2011, although it may play a full schedule of exhibition games in 2010. Regents of The Texas State University System approved the athletics fee to reinstate football at its regular meeting February 20. On May 19, 2008, Ray Woodard was chosen as head coach for the football program. Thanks to a major gift from an anonymous donor, the field that will soon again see NCAA football action will bear the name W.S. “Bud” Leonard Field, named for a former player and longtime Lamar advocate. ^[8]

Student Life

Greeks

Lamar University has many Greek Societies Including:

• Sigma Phi Delta
• Kappa Sigma
• Kappa Upsilon Chi
• Sigma Phi Lambda
• Alpha Omega Epsilon
• Alpha Delta Pi
• Phi Kappa Theta
• Zeta Tau Alpha
• Sigma Nu
• Alpha Kappa Psi
• Kappa Delta Chi
• Phi Beta Sigma
• Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
• Sigma Chi
• Sigma Phi Epsilon
• Delta Sigma Pi
• Kappa Alpha Psi

Conference and national championships

Southland Conference

• Baseball • 1971, '75, '76, '77, '79, '81, '84, '85, '2003, '04, '10
• Men's Basketball • 1964, '70, '78, '79, '80, '81, '83, '84, '00 '08
• Football • 1964, '65, '66, '71
• Men's Cross Country- 1979, '81, '82, '83, '84, '06, '07, '08, '09
• Men's Golf • 1964, '65, '66, '67, '68, '69, '70, '71, '72, '73, '81, '82, '83, '85, '86, '87, '01, '02, '03
• Men's Track & Field • 1971, '78, '79, '80, '81, '82, '83, '84, '85, '86
• Men's Tennis • 1967, '73, '74, '75, '76
• Women's Basketball - 2010
• Women's Cross Country- 2004, '05, '06
• Women's Tennis • 1983, '84 '2008
• Volleyball • 1983, '84, '01 '2007

Sun Belt Conference

• Baseball • 1993, '95
• Women's Basketball • 1992
• Women's Golf • 1993, '94, '95, ‘96
• Volleyball • 1993, '97

Lone Star Conference

• Men's Basketball • 1961, '62, '63
• Football • 1954
• Men's Golf • 1953, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59, '60, '61, '62, '63
• Men's Tennis • 1952, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59, '60, '61, '62, '63
• Men's Track & Field • 1963

American South Conference

• Women's Basketball • 1991
• Women's Tennis • 1988
• Men's Track & Field • 1988, '89
• Women's Track & Field • 1992
• Volleyball • 1987, '90

NAIA National Championships

• Men's Tennis • 1955, '56, '57, '58, '59, '60
• Men's Golf • 1956, '57, '58, '59, '60

NCAA College Division National Championships

• Men's Golf • 1967, '68

All-Americans

• Men's & Women's Track & Field • 39
• Men's Basketball • 3
• Women's Basketball • 1
• Men's Golf • 9
• Women's Golf • 5
• Men's & Women's Tennis • 18
• Volleyball • 1

Academics

College of Engineering

The College of Engineering is one of the most respected colleges at Lamar University. It continues to receive industry support and statewide recognition, such as a 1 million dollar donation from the Valero Energy Foundation,^[9] and a 4 million dollar research lab supported by the Texas State Legislature.^[10] In 2005, Lamar's First Ph.D program was established in the College of Engineering: the Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering.^[11] The College of Engineering has the two of the three endowed departments at Lamar University. The Philip M. Drayer Department of Electrical Engineering was established with a 5 million dollar gift from Philip M. Drayer in 2007.^[12] The Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering was established with a 5 million dollar donation from Dan F. Smith^[13] in 2009.

Engineering Research

The College of Engineering has 10 research centers located under its authority. These are coordinated under the Texas Centers for Technology Incubation (TCTI).^[14]

Three environmental research centers:

• Texas Hazardous Waste Research Center (THWRC)
• Gulf Coast Hazardous Substances Research Center (GCHSRC)
• Texas Air Research Center (TARC)
• Center for Fuel Cell and Energy Systems (CFCES)
• Green Composite Research Center(GCRC)
• Center for Transportation/Ports and Waterways (CTPW)
• Center for Process and Information Technology (CPIT)
• Aldredge Air Quality Modeling Center (AAQMC)
• Material Instrumentation Center (MIC)
• Renewable Energy Center (REC)

College of Engineering Departments

Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering

The Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering was established with a $5 million donation from Dan F. Smith in 2009.^[15] Dan F. Smith graduated from Lamar in 1969 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, since then he has worked for many chemical companies including Lyondell where he was the CEO. Lamar University Chemical Engineering has the proud history of being one of the top rated programs in the country. The program continually produces the same or more M.S. in Chemical Engineering graduates than Universities such as Stanford, IIT and MIT.^[16] The new building housing the Ph.D. program will be completed in mid 2010.

Civil Engineering

The Civil Engineering department is one of the broadest departments in the College. Headed by Dr. Robert L. Yuan. It offers the degrees of:

• B.S. in Civil Engineering
• B.S. in Construction Management (Reese Construction Management Program)
• M.E. in Civil Engineering
• M.E.M in Civil Engineering
• M.E.S in Civil Engineering
• M.S.E.E. in Environmental Engineering
• M.S.E.S. in Environmental Studies
• D.E. in Civil Engineering

In the Fall of 2008 the Civil Engineering department started a new program, the Reese Construction Management program, with a 1.25 million dollar donation from Jerry and Sheila Reese.^[17] The program is headed by Steve McCrary Ph.D.

Phillip M. Drayer Department of Electrical Engineering

The Philip M. Drayer Department of Electrical Engineering was endowed with a 5 million dollar gift from Philip M. Drayer in 2007.^[18] Phillip M. Drayer graduated from Lamar in 1967 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Since then, he has gone on to be the CEO of several successful companies. The department has been chaired by Harley Myler, Ph.D., since 2001. Dr. Myler is the inaugural holder of the Mitchle Endowed chair in Telecommunications. The department has many successful alumni in the industry including Phil Drayer (LUEE ’67), and Charles Garrett (LUEE ’59) inventor and founder of Garrett Metal Detectors.^[19]

Industrial Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Dual Credit Program

In the summer of 2009, Lamar University partnered with the University of Texas at Arlington to create an online dual credit program for high school students in Texas. The partnership between the two universities operates at the website stateu.com.^[20] Online dual credit courses are available for free to high school students through state funding via House Bill 3646. ^[21]

The BAAS online degree completion program, an expansion of a degree the University has offered for almost 20 years, is offered online through Lamar University Academic Partnerships. The online degree completion program is priced affordably at one of the lowest tuition rates in the country.

Notable Alumni

• Kelly Asbury - Film Director, Screenwriter, Voice Actor, Children's Book Author/Illustrator, Non-Fiction Author
• Bruce Aven - Retired Major League Baseball player
• David J. Beck - Founding Partner, Beck, Redden & Sechrest, LLP
• Ronnie Black - PGA Tour professional golfer
• Jack Brooks - Politician, served more than 40 years in the U.S. House of Representatives
• Keith Carter - Photographer
• William C. Childs - Founder of Precision Tune
• C.W. Conn - Founder of Conn's
• Charles Cutler - Inventor of Model-based Multi-variable Process Control
• Joe Domino - President of Entergy Texas
• Phillip Drayer - DEO Kalydus Equity Research Partners, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
• Paul Fregia - President/CEO and Founder of Grandma Mauds, founding Executive Director, Tiger Woods Foundation
• Jim Gilligan - One of the NCAA's most winning baseball coaches.
• Johnny Fuller - Former defensive back, San Francisco 49ers
• Charles Garrett - Inventor of metal detectors for security purposes as well as treasure hunters
• Stephen Grace - President of H. S. Grace and Co., Inc.
• Tom Giannopoulos - President and CEO MICROS
• Clay Hensley - Pitcher, Houston Astros
• Nick Lampson - Politician, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from two Texas districts
• Wayne Moore -- Retired NFL player
• Bill Macatee - TV Sports Announcer
• Kevin Millar - MLB World Champion, Boston Red Sox
• Colin Ridgeway - Former NFL player, first Australian to play in the NFL
• Brian Sanches - Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies
• Elvin Santos - Former Vice President of Honduras
• Dan Smith (BS Chemical Engineering) - Former President & CEO Lyondell Chemical Company
• Chris Stroud - PGA Tour professional golfer
• Joe Tortorice - Founder, Jason's Deli and President of Deli Management, Inc.
• Billy Tubbs - College Basketball Coach
• Jen Wyatt - Canadian LPGA golfer
• Clarence Kea - NBA player
• Charles Holcomb - Texas Appeals Court Judge
• Marie-Louise Hamrin - Olympian
• Marvin Hayes - Artist
• Jerry Wilkerson - Artist
• Robert Nichols - Texas Politician
• H. Palmer Hall - Writer
• Claude H. Nash - CEO of Bloodstone Ventures, Researcher
• Bob McDill - Singer Song Writer

See also

• Al Vincent - Major League baseball coach
• Governor's School of Texas - a 3 week program for gifted high school students funded by the state of Texas.
• Gerald Duff, PhD - Novelist, Poet, and Professor of English

References

1. ^ As of June 30, 2009. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2009 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2008 to FY 2009" (PDF). 2009 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/research/2009_NCSE_Public_Tables_Endowment_Market_Values.pdf. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
2. ^ http://www.lamar.edu/licensing/forms/University%20Visual%20Standards%20Manual.pdf]
3. ^ Lamar.edu
4. ^ Lamar.edu
5. ^ Lamar.edu
6. ^ Lamar.edu
7. ^ Football Team Fees, December 04, 2007, http://www.lamar.edu/newsevents/newsarchive_over0030/2193_5895.htm
8. ^ Football Head Coach Chosen, May 19, 2008, http://lamarcardinals.cstv.com/genrel/051908aaa.html
9. ^ Lamar.edu
10. ^ Lamar.edu
11. ^ Lamar.edu
12. ^ Lamar.edu
13. ^ Lamar.edu
14. ^ Lamar.edu
15. ^ Lamar.edu
16. ^ ACS.org
17. ^ Lamar.edu
18. ^ Lamar.edu
19. ^ Lamar.edu
20. ^ New Online Dual Credit Program for High Schoolers Begins, August 31, 2009, http://www.lamar.edu/newsevents/news/207_7879.htm
21. ^ Tuition Comparison Chart, August 31, 2009, https://dualcredit.stateu.com/fees.aspx

External links

• Lamar University
• Prospective Student Information
• Official Lamar Athletics Homepage
• StateU.com

Coordinates: 29°53′21″N 97°56′20″W / 29.88917°N 97.93889°W

Categories: Texas State University System | Southland Conference | Public universities in Texas | Lamar University | Universities and colleges in the United States | American Association of State Colleges and Universities | Universities and colleges in Texas | Educational institutions established in 1923 | Education in Beaumont, Texas | Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools