Article: Louisiana issues statement on the death of Dr. Ray P. Authement

https://multicians.org/site-usl.html

When I left UL Athletic staff, Doc sent me one of the nicest and kindest letters one could imagine....thanks and sincerity and an inspiration to the future.....we had been pretty close in some situations about the athletic program and the rebound of the basketball program....thank the Lord they worked out! RIP Doc!

Authement, who served as University of Louisiana president for 34 years, rose fast and high in academic circles, completing his bachelor's at what would become Louisiana in 1950 and adding graduate degrees at LSU while launching his teaching and administrative career. He became UL president in his mid-40s and led the campus for 34 years, then the longest tenure as president for any public university.

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<!-- That the marriage of Elias Authement of Montegut and Elphia Deplantis of Chauvin might reap six children was not unlikely, given needs and practices of French Catholic families in rural Terrebonne Parish. Big families were common.

That they'd count a university president among them — who might have dreamed that?
Neither parent completed more than seven years of schooling, not uncommon in remote communities in an education-lean state. Sons and daughters stayed at home to work the farms, fishing posts and small businesses that sustained their families.

Indeed, Ray Authement, former president of the University of Louisiana, asked his father after he'd graduated Terrebonne High if he should forego enrollment at what would become the University of Louisiana and stay in Boudreaux Canal to help the family. Go, his father said; embrace education for a better life.

Authement, who served as UL-Lafayette president for 34 years, rose fast and high in academic circles, completing his bachelor's in Lafayette in 1950 and adding graduate degrees at LSU while launching his teaching and administrative career. He became UL Lafayette president in his mid-40s and led the campus for 34 years, then the longest tenure as president at a public university.
But Authement remembered the obstacles for first-generation students with lean wallets. He left open the door to those young people who might follow him: He kept tuition low, made academic pathways more bountiful, grew scholarship opportunities and expanded UL Lafayette from a regional campus into one with international recognition.
"He never used the place to further himself. He always used himself to further the place," said E. Joseph Savoie, who earned two degrees in Lafayette, served under Authement as a vice president and returned to become president after Authement's 2008 retirement.

He was a study in contrasts. Some remember him as shy, taciturn; others remember him passing out apples to students on the first day of classes at Rex and St. Mary. Gifted assets mushroomed to $150 million; his hobby was collecting dimes. Fluent in French, he'd never visited the Continent by retirement.

But he traveled a lot on campus. Faculty, staff and students remember him popping in everywhere unannounced, checking on their progress, offering suggestions or encouragement. A towering intellect — he solved math problems to relax — devoted colleagues simply called him "Doc."
He was fueled by a fire for his campus and everything on it. He set goals, met them, set more. On Sunday, the fire burned out.
"Thank you for giving us your life," former UL System President Sally Clausen said at his retirement.
Thank you, indeed.
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Originally Posted by CajunNation

Fortran, now there's a blast from the past.

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Try Ada....derived from Pascal and mean't to be the language used for federal government programs.

I remember getting the tour of the Multics data storage area. The biggest concern was you had like one minute to clear the room before the Halon gas system flooded the room and you couldn't breath.