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