Veteran Educator Jimmy Long Elected to Chair UL System Board
Veteran Educator Jimmy Long Elected to Chair UL System Board – Dec 9, 2005
Elsie Burkhalter of Slidell Elected Vice Chair
BATON ROUGE—Long-time government and education leader Jimmy Long of Natchitoches was elected Friday as chair of the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, which is comprised of eight universities statewide with an enrollment of more than 85,000 students.
The Board also elected Elsie Burkhalter of Slidell as vice chair and Mike Woods, immediate past chairman of Shreveport, to serve as parliamentarian. The terms of office are one year.
“Jimmy Long and Elsie Burkhalter, both, have extraordinary knowledge and understanding of higher education issues. Their combined experience and expertise in government and higher education make them effective leaders for our board and universities,” said UL System President Dr. Sally Clausen.
Long has been a member of the ULS Board since 2001 and previously served eight terms, from 1968 to 2000, in the Louisiana House of Representatives – one of the longest terms in the history of the Legislature.
He was Chairman of the House Education Committee for 16 years, and served as an officer and member for more than two decades on the 16-state Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). He was recognized as a leading authority in the South on educational policies and legislation.
Long has been was honored with the Distinguished Lifetime Service Award in Education from the state Board of Regents and was named by the Shreveport Times as one of the “100 Most Influential People of the Century in Northwest Louisiana.” He is a native of Winnfield and alumnus of Northwestern State University.
The University of Louisiana System is comprised of Grambling State University, Louisiana Tech University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
