SLS 15RS-1913 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 138
BY SENATOR BROOME
COMMENDATIONS. Commends and honors Dr. Leodrey Williams on his retirement from
Southern University.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend and honor Dr. Leodrey Williams on his retirement from Southern University.
3 WHEREAS, Dr. Leodrey Williams, Chancellor of the Southern University
4 Agricultural Research and Extension Center, is a 1961 graduate of Southern University in
5 Vocational Agriculture Education; and
6 WHEREAS, after more than three years of military service, he began his
7 distinguished career with Louisiana State University in the Baton Rouge Cooperative
8 Extension Service in January 1965 serving as an Assistant Associate County Agent in
9 Richland Parish, leading in the areas of agricultural crop production and community resource
10 development; and
11 WHEREAS, in 1972, he was employed by the Southern University Cooperative
12 Extension Program as a Specialist in Agricultural Programs where he helped to build and
13 shape the new program; and
14 WHEREAS, in this capacity he assisted in staffing and launching the Cooperative
15 Extension Program throughout the state of Louisiana; and
16 WHEREAS, Chancellor Williams earned his Master of Science and Doctorate of
17 Education degrees at LSU in 1970 and 1975 respectively; and
18 WHEREAS, after five years as an Agriculture Specialist, he returned to Louisiana
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SLS 15RS-1913 ORIGINAL
1 State University as director of Equal Employment Opportunity and Civil Rights, and served
2 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Extension and International Education; and
3 WHEREAS, in 1980, Chancellor Williams was employed as Administrator of the
4 Cooperative Extension Program at Southern University and in 1991, he was asked to
5 co-chair a national task force that took an in-depth look at America's Cooperative Extension
6 System where he identified problems that needed to be addressed and recommended
7 solutions; and
8 WHEREAS, he was subsequently appointed Special Assistant for the United States
9 Department of Agriculture (USDA) Extension Administrator; and
10 WHEREAS, in just five months he was appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture as
11 the National Director of Extension where he supervised a staff of 207 professionals, and lead
12 the Cooperative Extension System involving 105 land-grant colleges and universities in all
13 50 states and the U. S. Territories; and
14 WHEREAS, he managed an appropriated budget of over $436 million, plus an
15 additional $30 million in special funding from other departments and agencies; and
16 WHEREAS, during the reorganization of government in 1994 and merger of the
17 Cooperative Extension Service and the Cooperative State Research Service, Chancellor
18 Williams was appointed Associate Administrator of the newly formed agency, Cooperative
19 State Research, Education, and Extension Service, with a budget of over $1 billion dollars;
20 and
21 WHEREAS, he held this position until he returned as the State Extension
22 Administrator at Southern University in July 1995; and
23 WHEREAS, Chancellor Williams is the first chancellor for the newly developed
24 Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center (SUAREC), the fifth
25 campus of the Southern University System and has been in this position for the last fourteen
26 years; and
27 WHEREAS, Chancellor Williams has served in several professional capacities on
28 numerous boards and commissions that focus on higher education and the educational
29 delivery system of land-grant colleges and universities; and
30 WHEREAS, he was also a consultant to the governments of Ethiopia, Sierra Leone,
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1 and Republic of South Africa in the areas of extension administration, and adult, and
2 continuing education; and
3 WHEREAS, he has assisted in developing a Memorandum of Understanding between
4 the United States Department of Agriculture and the Republic of South Africa Ministry of
5 Agriculture, delineated needs and strategies for USDA agencies and U. S. Land-Grant
6 Universities to provide assistance to development efforts in South Africa; and
7 WHEREAS, Dr. Williams has also served as a delegation leader and representative
8 of scientists from Southern University, USDA, and other universities in the areas of urban
9 forestry and natural resources in the People's Republic of China, Honduras, and Liberia
10 where he assisted in developing strategies for university collaboration and exchange, along
11 with addressing concerns and issues facing the urban population; and
12 WHEREAS, Chancellor Williams has committed fifty years of his life to the students
13 of Southern University and the state of Louisiana while providing extraordinary leadership
14 both nationally and internationally in the area of Agricultural Research and Development.
15 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
16 does hereby commend and honor Chancellor Leodrey Williams on his retirement from
17 Southern University.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
19 Chancellor Leodrey Williams.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by J. Ashley Mitchell Carter.
DIGEST
SR 138 Original 2015 Regular Session Broome
Commends and honors Chancellor Leodrey Williams on his retirement from Southern
University.
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