In 1996, the LSU Alumni Association named Frances Davis Brougher of Austin, Texas as one of six distinguished alumni to receive the LSU Services Award. The award was presented at the annual Hall of Distinction ceremonies on Friday, September 4, 7p.m., in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the Bellmont Hotel.

Frances' work with the Austin Alumni Chapter earned her this recognition. She was very modest about receiving the award, saying "The way we look at it, it's recognition for our chapter for things we've done to help LSU. It's really a compliment to our chapter here in Austin." After her retirement from the Austin Independent School District, Frances was very active in the Austin Alumni Association and served as secretary, vice-president, and president.

Originally from Bethany, LA., Frances graduated from LSU in 1939 with a degree in education. While at LSU, she was very active in her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. She also worked by playing piano for the physical education department during the folk, tap, and modern dance classes.

After graduating from LSU, she taught at C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport for ten year. In 1949, she came to Texas for her master's degree in education and married her husband, Stephen, a fellow student in her graduate classes. She stayed in Austin, and taught physical education and social studies for 27 years. Before retiring, she was Dean of Girls at Lanier High School. She retired in 1979 after serving 38 years in education.

Besides being active in the Austin Alumni Chapter, Frances also enjoyed playing the accordion. She was active in the Austin Accordion Association, and traveled to Chicago in 1996 with six local members for the National Accordion Convention.

Kathy Nugent Arnold was one of the recipients of the 1999 Chapter Service Award from LSU for her "demonstrated leadership in keeping fellow alumni and friends of LSU involved with the University through chapter activities and other alumni prcgrams." Kathy and 10 other recipients received their awards at the Annual Alumni Meeting and Past Presidents Dinner on November 12th, in Baton Rouge.

Kathy has been a very active member of the association since 1991. She has been president, vice president, and secretary at various times. She has taken on just about every different role the chapter has - including bringing the newsletter from its humble 1 page letter roots to the full blown document it is today. If you have been to any of our fundraisers, you'll know her as the auctioneer convincing people to spend more money on those auction items to further fund our scholoarship.

Congratulations Kathy!!

Jerry served as Treasurer since the LSU Austin Chapter began in the early 1980's, and turned over the reins to Jan Cox in 2000. Jerry was an invaluable resource at board meetings, as he was able to quote costs from the various events since the chapter began, as well as keep the chapter's books balanced through out the years. The LSU Austin Chapter offers a heart-felt ""Thank You!"" to Jerry for all of his hard work, and applauds the LSU Alumni Association for choosing such a great representative for the Chapter Leadership Award.

Laura Pevehouse-Thomas has been an active member in the LSU Austin Chapter by serving as secretary for several years. As secretary, Laura was responsible for handling the chapter newsletter & invitations, and in addition, she designed and created the original LSU Austin chapter's website, www.lsuaustin.com, while also organizing the email distribution list that was sent out to several hundred people. After receiving the award, she went on to serve as both vice-president and president of the board.

Kim Gundersen, 2001-2002 president of the LSU Austin chapter, was one of nine recipients to receive the 2002 Chapter Service Awards from the LSU Alumni Association in Baton Rouge on October 4, 2002. After serving as president, she went on to head the scholarship committee for several years. The day after receiving the award, Kim, Kathy Nugent Arnold and Jan Cox attended the LSU Alumni sponsored chapter workshop held at the Lod Cook Hotel. The workshop ended with the Homecoming Parade and football game against U-LaLa.

Our own Jan Cox was one of a few members honored with the Chapter Leader Award in 2006. The LSU Alumni Association presents these awards every year to select alumni who have displayed outstanding leadership in their local chapter and a commitment to LSU. Jan served as president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer during her tenure with LSU Austin. Congratulations Jan!!

Distinguished scholar, author, and international business consultant John S. Butler, along with Dallas Cowboys linebacker Bradie James, highlight the roster of LSU alumni named to the 2012 LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction. Butler will be inducted on March 30 during ceremonies held at Lod Cook Alumni Center.

Butler, a professor of management and sociology at the University of Texas at Austin holds the Herb Kelleher Chair in Entrepreneurship and the J. Marion West Chair for Constructive Capitalism. He is also director of the Institute for Creativity Capital, or IC2, which has produced more than 250 companies and generated more than a quarter of a billion dollars for start-ups.

Butler earned a bachelor's degree from the LSU College of Arts & Sciences, now College of Humanities & Social Sciences, in 1969 and a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) in 1974.

A longtime former member of the LSU Alumni Association National Board of Directors, Butler was instrumental in the development of the Austin Alumni Chapter.

Feel free to follow this link in order to read the detailed article from the main LSU Alumni Association.