Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           
    Date: 8/29/96
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple  1

SCHLIEDER FOUNDATION DONATES $60,000 FOR SLU PROFESSORSHIP IN
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
     HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University's rapidly growing list of endowed
professorships has grown longer with the presentation to President Sally Clausen of a $60,000
grant from the Edward G. Schlieder Educational Foundation of New Orleans.
     This was the second endowed  professorship received by the university in less than two
weeks. Dr. Clausen announced Aug. 23 that the Merritt family of Hammond had donated
$60,000 for the College of Education's first professorship.
     The grant by the New Orleans-based Schlieder Foundation, headed by former Hammond
resident Donald J. Nalty, will go toward establishing a professorship in environmental studies in
Southeastern's biological sciences department. 
     "The Southeastern family is grateful to the Schlieder Foundation and Mr. Donald Nalty
for this generous gift which will enhance environmental studies," said Dr. Clausen. "While we
look to our state to provide basic funding to keep our university running, gifts like these allow
Southeastern to climb to excellence. Thanks to Mr. Nalty for recognizing our potential and for
making sure, through this donation, that our biological sciences department continues to excel
and that our students are given the best instruction that we have to offer." 
     Gary Childers, head of Southeastern's biological sciences department, said the faculty
member chosen for the new professorship would not only participate in scholarly activities, but
would help recruit top students and work with community and government leaders as well as
potential donors.
     Southeastern previously received two $25,000 grants from the foundation for renovation
projects at Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station. Turtle Cove was built on Pass Manchac
around the turn of the century by the late financier and sportsman Edward G. Schlieder as a
hunting and fishing camp. Southeastern acquired Turtle Cove from the Wildlife and Fisheries
Department in 1981. The imposing two-story cypress structure has become the headquarters for
biological science department studies on the restoration of endangered wetlands, water quality,
and fish populations. 
     Southeastern will apply to the Louisiana Endowment Trust Fund for Eminent Scholars,
the state program financed by the Louisiana Education Quality Support Fund, for a $40,000 
match to fully fund the new professorship. The university also will ask LEQSF for $40,000 to
match the Merritt family's donation for the College of Education professorship. 
     When the two new professorships are fully funded by next spring, Southeastern will have
nine endowed professorships, all created since 1993.
     The university currently has four endowed professorships in the College of Arts and
Sciences, two in the College of Business and one in the School of Nursing. The newest is the
College of Business's Louis Mayfield Distinguished Professorship in Marketing, which was
finalized by the state $40,000 match in July. 
     
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