LSU Board of Supervisors Chairman Benjamin W. Mount died Saturday after a battle with cancer. He was 62.
 
Mount passed away at his home in Lake Charles, where he worked as an attorney with the firm Bergstedt & Mount.
 
He had been chosen as chairman-elect for the board in 2010 and officially took the seat in August of this year. During his time as chairman, Mount spearheaded the LSU System Flagship and Excellence Fund, designed to use nearly $8 million in one-time funds to reduce the impact of budget shortfalls at LSU System institutions, according to a System news release.
 
LSU System President John Lombardi reflected on Mount’s life and contributions to the Board of Supervisors in a written statement Saturday, calling Mount a “strong, resourceful and dedicated” friend to LSU institutions.
 
“A true institutional patriot, a visionary who inspired a generation of LSU people, Ben served these institutions in every conceivable role from law student to Chairman of the Board of Supervisors,” Lombardi wrote. “His kind, firm and wise counsel kept the enterprise on course, his integrity and purpose served as a model in his own personal