From Middleton Library to Alex Box Stadium to Tureaud Hall, the University’s buildings bear the names of LSU honorees no longer among the living.
However, two buildings on campus are named for what might be the University’s most famous alumnus, if only by name.
The Lod Cook Alumni Center and the Lod and Carole Cook Conference Center and Hotel are named for a man who said the University helped him become a man.
Lod, short for Lodwrick, Cook first came to the University in 1945 after graduating from a high school in Grand Cane, La. He said the University helped him make the transition from a small town to “the real world.”
“LSU opened the world to me,” he said.
As a student, Cook took advantage of extra-curricular opportunities and participated in several student organizations, such as Sigma Chi fraternity, Student Government, Army ROTC and the AROTC’s Scabbard and Blade.
“It wasn’t just all books,” he said. “It was learning about how to get along in a much bigger environment than I grew up in and taking the opportunity to work with people.”
Until 1968, all males at LSU were required to participate in ROTC for two years. However, Cook remained in ROTC for a full four years and received the Distinguished Military Graduate commendation and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army when he graduated with a B.S. in math in 1950.
After serving in the Army for three years, Cook returned to LSU to pursue a second bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering, which he received in 1955.
He said his time at the University meant a lot to him and contributed to his prosperity in life.
“It prepared me for any success that I’ve achieved,” he said.
Cook spent 39 years with a large oil company and served as chairman and chief executive officer before he retired. He now serves as chairman for Global Crossing, a fiber optic network company.
“Without LSU, I wouldn’t have had the kind of life that I’ve had a chance to lead,” he said.
Throughout his life, Cook befriended several former presidents of the United States, including George Bush, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon.
Bush, Carter and Ford were present at the ceremony when the Conference Center and Hotel was named for Cook and his wife.
He said Reagan and Nixon were slated to be there; however, Reagan was ill at the time of the ceremony and Nixon had died weeks before.
Cook said getting to know these men had a lot to do with timing, luck and hard work. However, he said the University is able provide a “great bridge to the future.”
Having buildings named after him is not an “ego trip,” Cook said. He hopes the hotel is successful so it may fund scholarships so more students can benefit from an education at LSU.
“Everyone should give back as much as they can afford to do after they graduate, even if it’s just paying your annual alumni dues,” Cook said. “If [the University] relied solely on state support, it wouldn’t be what it is today.”