Southeastern bestows emeritus honors on three faculty
Monday, August 17, 2015
by: Rene Abadie
HAMMOND – Three retired members of Southeastern Louisiana University’s Department
of Biology were awarded emeritus honors at the university’s annual Faculty-Staff Convocation
Friday (Aug. 14.)
Southeastern President John L. Crain presented plaques designating emeritus status
in recognition of distinguished and extraordinary service to biology professors William
P. Bond, William “Nick” Norton, and David M. Sever.
Bond served at Southeastern for 44 years, retiring in 2011. During his tenure,
he earned the President’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2005. In 2009,
he was elected to the Southeastern Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition of his work
on the university’s Athletic Committee for 32 years. He was a faculty representative
to the Trans America Athletic Conference from 1992 to1995 and the Southland Conference
from 1996 to 2009. He served as vice president of the Southland Conference from 2004-2006.
Norton retired from Southeastern last year after having served as a member of
the department for 37 years. He was department head from 1997 to 2004 and served as
Director of the Institute of Biodiversity and Interdisciplinary Studies from 2002
to 2010, where he administered the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Research Program. Under
his guidance, the program received $5.3 million in research dollars. Norton also played
a key role in building Southeastern’s Electron Microscopy Center and personally obtained
over half a million dollars in research funding.
Sever also retired last year, having joined Southeastern in 2004 and serving as
head of the department. With an expertise in reproductive anatomy of vertebrates,
he is internationally recognized as one of the most important salamander biologists
in the world. He has received over $1 million in research funding. In 2013, he was
recognized by the Herpetologists’ League as its Distinguished Herpetologist, a title
held by only 32 other scientists.