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.




More News...