FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (8/29/06)
Contact: Lynn Stewart, Centenary News Service, 318-869-5120

Regents Complete Funding for Three $100,000 Endowed Chairs at Centenary in Memory of George D. Nelson Sr. and A.C. "Cheesy" Voran

SHREVEPORT, LA — Three new $100,000 endowed professorships at Centenary College are now in place following the completion of matching funds announced yesterday (Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006) by the Louisiana Board of Regents.

W.C. "Bubba" Rasberry, a member of the Board of Regents, presented a ceremonial check for $120,000 to add to the $180,000 already raised by friends of Centenary. Centenary President Kenneth L. Schwab accepted the check in a ceremony at 3:30 p.m. at Southern University at Shreveport.

The funding will enable the following endowed professorships at Centenary:

• The George D. Nelson Sr. Endowed Professorship, in memory of Nelson, who served as Centenary's chairman of the Board of Trustees for 30 years.
• Two A.C. "Cheesy" Voran Endowed Professorships, to add to two other Voran professorships completed last year.

Recognized during the event were the late Mr. Nelson's daughter and son, Carolyn Nelson and George D. Nelson Jr., as well as Dr. Will K. Andress, director of the Centenary College Choir.

Since 1986, the Board of Regents has been able to award some $270 million in matching grants through the Endowed Chairs and Professorships Program, creating 261 endowed chairs (including 24 $2 million chairs) and 1.760 endowed professorships. When matched with private contributions, the value of those chairs and professorships is more than $400 million.

Funding for the endowment matching funds program is generated through a permanent trust fund approved by voters in a 1986 constitutional amendment. The original $540 million payment was part of a settlement between the state and federal governments over disputed off-shore oil and gas royalty funds. By 2005, the trust fund (sometimes called the “(8g) money”) had risen to approximately $976 million. Twenty-five percent of the interest earned each year is reinvested in the trust fund. The Legislature appropriates half of the remaining interest to the Board of Regents for higher education and the other half to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for grades K-12.

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