Three influential business leaders will be inducted into the E.J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction and four successful journalists will be inducted into the Manship School of Mass Communication Hall of Fame on Friday.
The Business College is honoring inductees Edward Landry, Peggy Scott and James Shelton at 6 p.m. during a ceremony at the Lod Cook Alumni Center.
Landry, 1961 alumnus, is a senior partner at the law firm Musick, Peeler and Garrett in Los Angeles. Scott graduated from the University in 1973 and is the executive vice president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. Shelton, the chairman of Legacy Hospital Partners in Texas, graduated from the University in 1975.
Wendy Luedtke, Alumni and External Relations director at the Business College, said the school puts emphasis on recognizing those who can teach younger generations.
The Hall of Distinction was established in 1996 to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to areas of business and the University.
The Manship school is holding its ceremony at the Journalism Building in the Holliday Forum at 6:30 p.m. to honor Brett Blackledge, Mike Dunne, John LaPlante Jr. and John Spain.
Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden and Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, previous inductees, will present the awards at the ceremony.
Stephanie Riegel, chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, said the school honors outstanding alumni who have not only established themselves as journalists, but give back to the school.
Blackledge was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting. Spain is a civic leader and award-winning broadcast journalist.
Dunne, environmental journalist, and LaPlante, political columnist and news bureau chief, died in 2007.
The Hall of Fame was established in 1975, and inductees were first nominated by University alumni and chosen by faculty.
—-Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected].