Lamar University Alumni

Meet Jon Williams '93. Jon earned a BBA-General Business from Lamar University in 1993. He is a financial advisor/wealth manager with LPL Financial in Beaumont, TX.

Jon and his team at LPL Financial manage and service over $80M in client assets, and they are currently accepting new clients with $500K+. https://www.lpl.com/

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If you are an alumni business owner and want to be featured on our website and/or social media outlets, visit us at lamar.edu/alumniowned to submit your info!

Today is National Take Your Dog to Work Day! If you've celebrated, we'd love to see your pics!

At LU, we love showing our Cardinal Pride, especially on Fridays! And what better way to share that pride than with a GIVEAWAY!?!
We know you love showing off your Cardinal Pride too Cardinals so that's why we're giving away an LU Umbrella to one lucky winner! Rules to enter are simple:
✔️Follow on Facebook
✔️Like this post
✔️Tag a fellow Cardinal in this post (tag in separate comments, each comment = more entries)
Winner will be announced after Monday, June 24, 2024, and winner will be contacted via DM.
⚠️WARNING: Please be aware that scammers comment on some of our giveaway posts claiming many people are winners. The comment asks the recipient to click on links and rushes the supposed winners to claim the prize. We will only choose one winner and contact via DM with no sense of urgency and will not require anyone to click on a link or share personal info or payment info. ⚠️
Want another chance to win? Visit on X(Twitter) and Instagram to enter into the drawing.

It's officially Summer Cardinals! What are you most looking forward to this summer?

Reflect. Respect. Rejoice. Happy Juneteenth! 🌟🎇

The Late Spring 2024 issue of Cardinal Cadence is hitting mailboxes and email inboxes this week. To view it online, visit www.lamar.edu/cadence.

Happy National Mascot Day to our favorites Big Red and Lu!

Meet Lamar University Alumni Advisory Board Member and Difference Maker 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 '21. Golden serves as the 2023-2024 faculty representative on the Lamar University Alumni Advisory Board. He is the Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Lamar University. Prior to his role as Dean, Golden served as the department chair for the Department of Theatre and Dance for seven years. He is a tenured professor in Dance with training in classical ballet, modern dance, partnering and choreography. He started his career at Lamar University as a visiting lecturer. Golden started his dance training at Busby Dance Center in Victoria, TX at the age of 16. He earned a B.F.A. and M.F.A from Sam Houston State University and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at Lamar University. Golden has showcased his choreography at multiple dance festivals and he performed at TUT in Tainan and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He was a recipient of the Friends of the Arts 2019 Innovation and Excellence Award for his integration of technology in his choreographic works. He and his wife Angie reside in Beaumont.

May this Eid bring love, happiness, harmony and joy in your life. Happy Eid to all the Cardinals who celebrate.

Happy Father's Day to all our "grad dads!" We are so proud of your commitment to your education, and we know your families are too.

What is the best lesson you learned from your own dad or father figure?

REMINDER: ⚠️Attention Lamar University Alumni - Update your information and you could WIN! All Lamar University alumni who reside in the United States who submit an alumni update on our website between June 1 through June 30, 2024 will be entered in a random drawing for an LU Yeti pictured in this post. One winner will be selected.

🔗https://www.lamar.edu/alumni-update

Do you get our emails? If not, we may not have your best email. Also, we would love to know if you have a new job, moved, got married, received an award or additional degree, added a new Cardinal to your family, etc.!⚠️

**Note: Please be aware of scammers. Only use the secure website listed above on the official www.lamar.edu website. We are not selling these. We will not require personal or financial information for you to participate and only one winner will be chosen.

The Opening Reception of After School Special: The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition is tonight from 6:30pm-8:30pm at the Dishman Art Museum! We can't wait to see everyone there!

Since 1775, U.S. Army soldiers have heroically preserved our nation's freedom through honor and sacrifice. Happy Birthday United States Army!

"When we honor our flag, we honor what we stand for as a nation - Freedom, Equality, Justice, and Hope." - Ronald Reagan

Wishing our Lady Cardinals a very happy 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕊𝕠𝕗𝕥𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝔻𝕒𝕪!

Meet André Ramos-Woodard '17. They are one of the featured artists who is participating in the Dishman's After School Special: The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition June 14-August 3, 2024.

Raised in the Southern states of Tennessee and Texas, André Ramos-Woodard (he/they) is a photo-based, mixed-media artist who uses their work to emphasize the experiences of marginalized communities while accenting the repercussions of contemporary and historical discrimination. By combing photography with illustration, text, and digital manipulation, their art conveys ideas of communal and personal identity, influenced by their direct experience with life as a q***r African American. Focusing on black liberation, q***r justice, and the reality of mental health, they aspire for their art to help bring power to the people. André graduated from Lamar University with a BFA-Studio Art-Photography degree in 2017 and from the University of New Mexico with a MFA.- Biography submitted by the artist

Can you guess what year this photo was taken? Oprah Winfrey and her staff from The Oprah Winfrey Show traveled to Beaumont to show her appreciation to Southeast Texas viewers before a crowd of 10,500 fans at the Montagne Center. Guess the year by posting in comments. Was it 1987, 1988, or 1989? ‪ #‎WhatYearWednesday‬‬!‬

𝓢𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝓽𝓮! Homecoming is just 4 months away - Saturday, October 12, 2024!

Meet Jason Miller '01. He is one of the featured artists who participating in the Dishman's After School Special: The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition June 14-August 3, 2024.

Jason M. Miller grew up in the bayou surrounded town of Bridge City, TX. A musician from a young age, he ventured into visual art through the use of small Russian and Chinese lomographic cameras. The warm and highly saturated visual tones of these cameras seemed ideal to capture the marshy landscapes of his hometown. Soon after, he took the cameras to other distinct landscapes of the Southeast Texas region to capture the images that make the area unique. Jason graduated from Lamar University with a BGS in 2001.- Biography submitted by the artist

Join us this Friday at 6:30pm for the opening reception of After School Special: The Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition at the Dishman Art Museum!

The Opening Reception for The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition will be held Friday, June 14th from 6:30-8:30pm!

The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition will be open to the public on Friday, June 14th, 2024! This show, juried by Michael Kennaugh '86, features work from alumni Greg Busceme '79, Kevin Clay '15, Ken Mazzu '92, Jason Miller '01, and André Ramos-Woodard '17!

Exhibition Dates: June 14th-August 3rd, 2024
Opening Reception: June 14th, 2024 from 6:30-8:30pm
Museum Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-4pm / Sat 12pm-4pm
(during exhibition)

The Dishman Art Museum is free and open to the public!

Meet Michael Kennaugh '86, juror of the Dishman's After School Special: The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition June 14-August 3, 2024.

Michael Kennaugh (b. Casper, Wyoming, 1964) has spent most of his life in Texas and currently lives and works in Houston, Texas. He received a B.F.A. degree in Studio Art from Lamar University (1986) and a M.F.A. degree in painting from the University of North Texas (1990). He also attended The American College of Switzerland in Leysin (1990) and was awarded an artist residency (1996) at the William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center, Montauk, Long Island. Kennaugh’s work is in the permanent collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont; Houston Airport System, City of Houston; Lamar University, Beaumont; Tyler Museum of Art; and the Mobile Museum of Art, as well as private and corporate collections both national and international. His work was on view as part of a three-person exhibition titled “Our Back Pages” at the Dishman Art Museum in 2023. He is represented by the Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas.

Meet Lamar University Alumni Advisory Board Member and Difference Maker Shawn Webb-Locke '03, '12. She is a real estate professional, investor, and entrepreneur, graduated from Lamar University with a B.S. in Sociology in 2003 and a M.Ed. in School Counseling in 2012. She is a former BISD educator, an active member of the Beaumont Chapter NAACP, SAFE girls mentor organization, Pioneering Women, and serves on the community service committee of the Beaumont Board of Realtors. Shawn is co-owner of Seven Mobile Marketing, the area's only Black owned advertising company and the CEO of the Shawn Sold It Real Estate Team. Her team partners with other local minority owned businesses to provide education and resources to families striving to become homeowners in the Golden Triangle, is ranked in the top 10% of her company, and received the Top Team recognition for the Beaumont office in 2022. Shawn an involved alumna of Lamar University for many years and takes pride in attending Lamar Homecoming annually with her family and friends.

Meet Ken Mazzu ‘92. He is one of the featured artists who participating in the Dishman's After School Special: The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition June 14-August 3, 2024.

Holding steady as a practicing professional artist for the past 27 years, Ken Mazzu has consistently maintained an active, disciplined studio art and exhibition practice in Houston, TX. His primary art mediums as a painter are oil on canvas and watercolor on paper. As a native Texan, Ken's life has continuously encircled the Chenier Plain region in Southeast Texas, which has become the central focus of his recent investigations in painting. He truly believes that, only now, he is seeing this somewhat ordinary place in all its extraordinary glory for the first time. Since 2006, Ken has been teaching studio art classes to adults and soon after, also teenagers. His exhibition history begins in 1993, outside of academia, where the majority of his audience has been regional. In 2018, he participated in his first international group exhibition "Texas Eclectics" at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki Greece. Since 2017, he has exhibited regularly at Foltz Fine Art as well as in group exhibitions at universities and alternative art spaces locally and regionally. His paintings can be found in public and corporate collections locally and regionally, and in private collections locally, regionally, nationally and abroad. Ken earned a BFA in Studio Art from Lamar University in 1992 and an MFA from the University of Houston in 1997.- Biography submitted by the artist

Learn more at www.lamar.edu/alumniart.

Meet Kevin Clay '15. He is one of the featured artists who participating in the Dishman's After School Special: The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition June 14-August 3, 2024.

Kevin Christopher Clay is a working multidisciplinary artist based in Southeast Texas. His work seeks to capture both the isolation and community found within both small towns and larger cities, and to reflect the beauty of the mundane. His current focus is photographic work, though he also works with various mediums such as oil painting and charcoal drawings. His work has been featured in three solo shows as well as various group exhibitions. He hopes to continue exploring the world around him through visual mediums. He can often be found spending time with his girlfriend Chloe and their two cats, Maple and Pumpkin. Kevin graduated from Lamar University with a BS-Communication in 2015.- Biography submitted by the artist

Learn more at www.lamar.edu/alumniart.

Meet Greg Busceme '79. He is one of the featured artists who is participating in the Dishman's After School Special: The Lamar University Sixth Juried Alumni Art Exhibition June 14-August 3, 2024.

Born in 1955, Greg Busceme has lived in Beaumont most of his life. He was raised by great parents and shared a life with two brothers and a sister. They spent half of their lives living at Crystal Beach where he was highly influenced by life on the coast and affected by all the marine life and shoreline fossils. The shape of shells and rocks and later shark teeth on the shore had a particular beauty that continues influences on his forms.

He began his career in clay at Lamar University under the influence of Jerry Newman during the summer of 1975. He worked alone for two years and then returned to LU to study under Meredith Jack for two years where he gained a true understanding of what it takes to be an artist. He graduated from Lamar University with a BS-Speech in 1979. In 1980, Greg started graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis and studied under Professor David Hershey, where he spent his time working in clay and glass blowing. He received his MFA in Ceramics in 1982 where he was the first student at Washington University to receive a Masters degree in Ceramics. Upon returning to Beaumont, it was Greg's desire to open a studio where other artists could gather, share space, and work together. Ultimately, Greg along with his wife Angela, founded The Art Studio, Inc. located in downtown Beaumont. In 1992, they raised just enough funds to put a down payment on the purchase of their present location at 720 Franklin Street. As a native, it is Greg's personal mission to encourage art in all aspects of the Southeast Texas community, especially in the various educational institutions and youth care programs. Greg began roasting coffee at his family’s coffee manufacturing plant, Texas Coffee Company in 2002 and continues to be a Roast Master at the facility. From 1991 until his retirement in 2020, Greg worked as an Instructor in Art Appreciation, Drawing and Design at Lamar University’s Department of Art and Design. - Biography submitted by the artist

Join us and other Southeast Texas professionals for a lunch and learn "Elevate Your Professional Image" on Thursday, July 25th at 11:30am in the Cardinal Room at Lamar University's Montagne Center. Guest speakers include Craig Escamilla '06, '09, Jamie (Johnson) Hogge '90, '95, Sharita Gardner '12, and Hannah LeTulle '18. Registration fee includes lunch and headshot photos by Morgan Miller '11, '18. Advance registration is required as seating is limited. Register at bmtcoc.org/events by July 19. This event is a partnership with Lamar University and the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce.

It’s . Guess the answer in comments.

→Which LU Alumnus was the founder and CEO of a leading European firm in space engineering and operations who was also responsible for training NASA astronauts in the Apollo Program for lunar surface activities?