College of Business

2006 Distinguished Alumnus: Mayson Foster

Mayson Foster received a B.A. in Business Administration in 1968, and then a Master’s
in Business Administration from Southeastern in 1988. From the time he graduated in
1968 until 1997, Mr. Foster worked in various capacities with Citizens National Bank,
retiring in 1997 holding the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. During
his years at Citizens he further honed his banking expertise at the LSU School of
Banking of the South, the National Personnel School of Denver, Colorado, the School
for Bank Administration in Madison, Wisconsin and the Senior Bank Officers School
at the Harvard Graduate School of Business. In 1997, Mr. Foster retired from Citizens
National Bank. After spending several years in retirement,  and then working in the
real estate business, he re-entered the banking business as a Senior Vice President
with Hancock Bank where he spent two years and then joined Parish National Bank for
a period of two years. It was at that time that he decided to run for the Mayor of
Hammond and won the position.

During the years that Mr. Foster was affiliated with banking, he was also a tireless
volunteer. On the state level, he held positions on the State Board of Commerce and
Industry, Louisiana Special Olympics and the Louisiana Coalition for Educational Renaissance.
In banking circles, he served on the Financial Institutions Advisory Board for the
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Community Bankers Council, the Administrative
Committee and the Risk Management Council of the American Bankers Association based
in Washington, DC and served as the past chair of the Human Resources Committee and
on the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Louisiana Bankers Association.

His local involvements include being a past president and treasurer of the Hammond
Chamber of Commerce; past president of the Board of Directors, Fund Drive Chairman
and  board member of the Tangipahoa United Way; a past board member of TARC; and a
past president, lieutenant governor and honorary lifetime member of Kiwanis International.

He has served as vice chair of the City Council, chair and vice chair of the downtown
Development District and chair of the Hammond Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service
Board. He has also been involved with Tangipahoa Red Cross, the Hammond Mental Health
Association and Dixie Youth baseball. He has served on the Holy Ghost Church Parish
Council and past Holy Ghost School Board President as well as being a member of the
diocesan Finance council from 1982 to present – just to name a few of his affiliations
and commitments. And all this before he decided to run for Mayor of Hammond.

Mayor Foster is a man who clearly does not take his commitments lightly. One of his
biggest commitments has always been Southeastern. He and his family are rooted in
Southeastern history. There have been three generations of Fosters attending Southeastern.
Mayson has served as a treasurer of the Alumni Association, past chairman of the Development
Foundation, and currently he serves as a member of the President’s Advisory Council
and Chair of the College of Business Advisory Committee. Along the way he has even
managed to be an adjunct instructor in Marketing and Finance and published scholarly
articles in a number of banking publications.

Mr. Foster’s contributions have not gone unnoticed and he has been recognized with
numerous awards for his tireless volunteerism from the Hammond Junior Auxiliary, the
Hammond Kiwanis Club, the Hammond Jaycees, the Louisiana Special Olympics, the Theta
Xi fraternity and the Southeastern College of Business.

He is married to the former Connie Beatty, also a Southeastern graduate and they are
the parents of two children and several grandchildren.