(SPECIAL TO THE NATCHITOCHES TIMES)

Natchitoches native holds LSUS professorship
12/03/04

Dr. Judith Covington, daughter of Thomas and Glenda Covington of Natchitoches, has been named professor designate of the LSUS Elmer & Barbara Simon Professorship for Excellence in Teaching. A 1982 graduate of Natchitoches Central High School, Covington is an associate professor of mathematics at LSUS, Louisiana’s state university in Shreveport.

Covington received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern State University in 1985. While at NSU, she was a member of Phi Mu, Purple Jackets and Phi Kappa Phi. She received her master’s degree and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

She is an active member of the Mathematical Association of America, where she serves as co-associate director of Project NExT, a program for new and recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences. She is also an active member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics where she serves on the editorial panel of the NCTM publication, Mathematics Teacher.

The Elmer & Barbara Simon Professorship for Excellence in Teaching was established at LSUS in 2000 by Bruce and Steven Simon in memory of their parents. All professorships in Louisiana are endowed at $100,000. That endowment normally represents a $60,000 local contribution and a $40,000 match by the Louisiana Board of Regents. There are also super professorships, which are endowed at $200,000. Endowed Chairs for Eminent Scholars are fully funded at $1 million and “super chairs” are endowed at $2 million. LSUS currently has two endowed chairs, two super professorships and 12 professorships. The university also has one privately endowed chair waiting for the state’s match and four partially funded professorships.

Covington receives about 5 percent ($5,000) annually from the earnings on the endowment of the professorship to use for special programs and projects.

A major purpose of the Louisiana Board of Regents’ Endowed Chairs for Eminent Scholars and Endowed Professorships programs is to create stronger economic development ties between the private sector and higher education. To create endowed chairs and professorships, colleges and universities must raise 60 percent of the cost from private sources.

Each year, Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education E. Joseph Savoie and members of the Board of Regents tour the state presenting the Regents’ matching-fund checks to public and private colleges and universities for endowed chairs and professorships.

“Visiting the campuses for those presentations provides the Regents and Louisiana’s postsecondary education community in general an opportunity both to recognize our generous donors and to spotlight the enormous success of the Endowed Chairs and Professorships Program,” Savoie said. “The Louisiana Education Quality Support Fund (LEQSF) and the generosity of the many private citizens and corporations in this state who understand the importance of investing in Louisiana’s colleges and universities are two very significant reasons why Louisiana higher education is moving in the right direction.”

Since 1986, the Board of Regents has awarded some $181 million in matching grants through the program, creating 230 endowed chairs, including 18 $2 million super chairs, and 1,367 endowed professorships. When matched with private contributions, the value of those chairs and professorships is almost $385 million.