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.