Louisiana Tech University will honor distinguished alumni as part of Homecoming Week 2015 during the annual Alumni Awards Luncheon at noon Friday, Nov. 6 in the club level of the Davison Athletics Complex.
George Baldwin, a 1978 petroleum engineering graduate, has been named as the 2015 Louisiana Tech Alumnus of the Year; and Justin Bounds, a 2011 mechanical engineering graduate, and Joshua Gidlow, a 2011 mechanical engineering graduate, have been named the 2015 Young Alums of the Year. In addition to Baldwin, Bounds and Gidlow, five other Louisiana Tech graduates will be designated Distinguished Alumni in their respective colleges.
George A. Baldwin Jr. is a petroleum engineer and president and CEO of EnSight IV Energy Partners in Shreveport.
Baldwin is a Registered Professional Engineer in Louisiana. He serves on the Boards of TDX Energy and CyberReef Solutions and on the Advisory Committee of the New Louisiana Angel Fund 1. He also serves on the Board of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and is a member of First United Methodist Church, where he is currently Chairman of the Church Council. Baldwin is a lifetime member of the Louisiana Tech Alumni Association, a director of the University Foundation and a past director and officer of the Engineering and Science Foundation.
Justin Bounds is employed at ExxonMobil in Baton Rouge as an engineering and inspection section supervisor. He is the supervisor over group of engineers and inspectors responsible for ensuring mechanical integrity and associated regulatory compliance of refinery equipment.
Bounds worked as lead night mechanical engineer on two major unit shutdown maintenance events. In December 2013, Bounds lead and managed a tank maintenance group for ExxonMobil. He managed a team of 12 employees and 120 contractors in the planning, scheduling, and execution of annual storage tank maintenance project, then in September of this year, he was moved to his current position.
Joshua Gidlow is a construction engineer and system owner for Banyu Urip Project, Mobil Cepu Limited, Indonesia, where he coordinates multi-discipline construction and commissioning of 27 critical utility sub-systems, identifying misalignment between materials, craft labor, construction sequencing to improve schedule. When assigned as system owner for two early production initiatives, Gidlow delivered on-time turnover of minimum scope for additional 50,000 barrels/day liquids production. He was also the project representative in operations early oil readiness review.
Wesley Madden is the College of Applied and Natural Sciences Distinguished Alumnus for 2015. A 1999 graduate in nursing, Madden started working with St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe as a surgical intensive care nurse. He was also involved in Electronic Health Initiatives as a super user and implementation team member. Madden began to see he still enjoyed working with technology and had the opportunity to effect change for all of the other clinicians in his area with improved documentation and work flow.
The College of Business will recognize Donald LeBlanc Jr., a 1979 accounting graduate, as its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. LeBlanc is a member of the KPMG LLP Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Finance and Operations Committee of the firm’s Board. In addition, he is the Global Lead Partner for AT&T and CenturyLink and is a tax partner based in the Shreveport office and was elected to the Board in 2013. LeBlanc joined KPMG in 1979 in audit, transferred to tax in 1981 and became a partner in 1988.
William Ware and Pamela Ware have been named the College of Education’s Distinguished Alumni for 2015. A 1962 English and speech education graduate, Pamela Ware resides in Gainesville, Georgia, and works full time at Gainesville High School and part time with Gainesville Parks and Recreation Department. Over the years, Ware has produced over 400 musicals and plays at Gainesville High School and in her role as director for Gainesville Parks and Recreation Summer Theater. William Ware, a 1962 physical education graduate of Louisiana Tech, is a professor and dean emeritus at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia.
Charles Spruell has been honored as the College of Engineering and Science’s Distinguished Alumnus for 2015. Spruell, a 1957 and 1964 petroleum engineering graduate, serves as a director of the Louisiana Tech University Foundation Board.
Kenneth Rea, a 1966 history graduate, is the College of Liberal Arts’ 2015 Alumnus of the Year. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Chinese history from the University of Colorado in 1968 and 1970, respectively. Beginning his career at Louisiana Tech as an assistant professor of history, Rea held a number of positions in the College of Arts and Sciences under Dean Paul Pennington before being chosen by President Dan Reneau to serve as vice president for academic affairs, a post he held for 25 years until his retirement in 2012.
