Randall J. Webb
| Randall Joseph "Randy" Webb | |
|---|---|
| President of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana | |
|
In office July 1, 1996 – December 31, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Robert A. Alost |
| Succeeded by | James Braswell "Jim" Henderson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 20, 1943 Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA |
| Died |
November 18, 2015 (aged 72) Shreveport, Caddo Parish Louisiana |
| Resting place | American Cemetery in Natchitoches |
| Spouse(s) | Brenda Williams Webb (married 1971-2015, his death) |
| Children |
Tamara W. Gatewood |
| Parents | Joseph Wilburn and Narvis Almand Webb |
| Residence |
Hammond, Louisiana (1976-1989) |
| Alma mater |
Northwestern State University |
| Religion | Southern Baptist |
Randall Joseph Webb, known as Randy Webb (March 20, 1943 – November 18, 2015), was from July 1, 1996, until December 31, 2014, the president of Northwestern State University, a former normal school established in 1894 and located in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Thus far, no one else has served longer than Webb as the president of NSU.[1]
Background
The Natchitoches-born Webb was the only child of Joseph Wilburn Webb (1902-1988), who is interred at Old Town Cemetery in Haynesville in northern Claiborne Parish, Louisiana,[2] and the former Narvis Almand.[3]
Webb graduated from NSU with bachelor's (1965) and master's (1966) degrees in mathematics. In 1971, he obtained his doctorate in academic administration from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. From 1966 to 1974, he was a mathematics faculty member at Longwood University, then a public liberal arts college in Farmville in central Virginia. Back in Louisiana, he was from 1974 to 1976, the director of teacher certification and higher education for the Louisiana Department of Education in the capital city of Baton Rouge under the then elected state Superintendent Louis J. Michot. In 1976, Webb joined the mathematics faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish, east of Baton Rouge, where for more than thirteen years, he was also at times the director of institutional research, the equal employment opportunity officer, and the university registrar.[4]
Webb was affiliated with the Southern Baptist denomination, Rotary International, the Natchitoches Chamber of Commerce, the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony Society, two Natchitohes-based historic preservation groups,[4] and in Shreveport the nonpolitical charitable, educational, and civic group, the Committee of One Hundred.[3][5]
Northwestern State University
In 1989, Webb came to NSU as a mathematics professor and the dean of instruction and graduate studies. In the latter capacity, he directed the review of graduate and undergraduate disciplines and directed the Self-Study Steering Committee required for accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[4]
As the NSU president, Webb succeeded the retiring Robert A. Alost (born January 1935). He immediately worked to gain accreditation of all university programs. Under his tenure, the institution raised $65 million and established a technology network. As of 2014, some 40 percent of NSU graduates had received their degrees during Webb's 18-year tenure.[6]Early in 2015, he was inducted into the Hall of Honor of the Southland Conference collegiate sporting group.[3]
Shortly after retirement, Webb contracted cancer and died eleven months later at the age of seventy-two. His NSU successor and protege, James Braswell "Jim" Henderson (born January 1970), came to NSU after nearly six years as the chancellor of Bossier Parish Community College, a two-year institution in Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana. In the spring of 2014, Webb was named NSU president emeritus.[4]
On Webb's passing, Henderson recalled that:
No president served Northwestern longer or with greater distinction than Randy Webb. In his eighteen years as head of the university, he expanded and enhanced academic and athletic programs, spearheaded the most successful fundraising campaigns in the history of the school and was at the forefront of dramatic growth in enrollment and expansion and improvement of physical facilities. ... Dr. Webb's legacy will be as a giant in the history of the university that he loved and as a prominent figure for over two decades in state and national higher education circles.[4]
Jerry Pierce, the NSU vice-president who during the 1960s played football for the Northwestern Demons, said that many persons "just identified the university with Webb ... He always represented the university with respect and dignity."[4]
Gerald Long, a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate since 2008, was a friend of Webb's for some fifty years: "If I had to chose an adjective to describe Randy, certainly I could talk about his integrity, his love for his family and for the Lord, but loyalty would be the word I would choose." To Long, Webb was "a giant of a man" who worked to expand the institution.[4]
Kera Brossette, a 2009 NSU graduate, linked Webb to the success of many NSU graduates because of "the way he uplifted students. ... He was the friendly face on the campus extending his support of your academic goals, a gentle handshake with furrowed brows as he listens to your concerns or a letter of recommendation to help you obtain your ideal future. He was a friend and colleague to so many, and he will be greatly missed."[4]
At the time of his death, Webb was listed by the Louisiana Secretary of State as a registered Independent voter.[7] His successor president, James Henderson is a Republican.[8][9]
Webb and his wife, the former Brenda Williams (born December 1950), married in 1971. Upon his retirement from NSU, they relocated in 2015 to Shreveport.[4] There are two Webb daughters, Tamara Gatewood and husband, Reggie, of McKinney, near Dallas, Texas, and Lauren Simokaitis and husband, Nick, of Crestwood in St. Louis County, Missouri, and four grandchildren.[10]
Services for Webb were held on November 23, 2015, at NSU's Prather Coliseum. Coincidentally, Webb had been the student body president in 1964, at the time of the coliseum was dedicated.[6][11] Officiating were the Reverend Thomas Bailey Rush (born July 1960), pastor of the First Baptist Church of Natchitoches, of which Webb was a member, and state Senator Gerald Long, who is also a Baptist minister.[10] He is interred at the American Cemetery in Natchitoches.[3]
Webb is commemorated through the Randall and Brenda Webb Scholarship at NSU.
Reference
- ↑ "The Foundation of Leadership - Dr. Randall J. Webb". vimeo.com. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ↑ "Joseph Wilburn Webb". Findagrave.com. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "Dr. Randall Joseph Webb". The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Leigh Guidry. "'Giant of a man': Longtime NSU President Randall J. Webb dies at 72". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
- ↑ "The Committee of One Hundred". committeeofonehundred.org. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- 1 2 "Webb's family, friends gather 'to honor the life he lived'". The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Brenda Webb, December 1950". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ↑ "James B. Henderson". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ↑ The Louisiana Secretary of State website does not list the names or party affiliation of deceased persons.
- 1 2 "Funeral Set for Former NSU President Randall Webb". KEEL (AM) radio. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Services set for ex-Northwestern State leader Randall Webb". ksl.com. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
| Preceded by Robert A. Alost |
President of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana
Randall Joseph "Randy" Webb |
Succeeded by James Bradley "Jim" Henderson |