LRA Fund Committee Members
Brenda Birkett
Brenda Stewart Birkett serves as Dean of the College of Business and Professor of Accounting at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Louisiana. Previous positions include Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dean of the College of Business, Director of the School of Accountancy and Professor of Accounting at Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She started her career with the Office of the Regional Inspector, Internal Revenue Service in Atlanta, Georgia and has also worked as a general accountant with Western Publishing Company in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Dr. Birkett received a Bachelor's degree in accounting from Southern University, an MBA from Atlanta University and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. She is a certified public accountant (inactive) in the state of Louisiana.
Dr. Birkett was the first president of the Diversity Initiatives Section of the American Accounting Association and she is a member of the Louisiana Society of CPAs where she has served on the Career Awareness Committee and the Education Issues Committee. She is also a member of the American Institute of CPAs where she was formerly chairperson of the Minority Initiatives Committee and a member of the Nominations Committee and the Foundation Board. In addition, she has been a member the Candidacy Committee of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. She is also a member of the National Association of Black Accountants and the Institute of Management Accountants.
She has made presentations at numerous professional meetings and her publications include articles in the Accounting Historians' Journal and Issues in Accounting Education.
Dr. Birkett has served on the boards of numerous civic organizations including the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Volunteer Baton Rouge, Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, Baton Rouge Marine Institute and Rotary Club of Baton Rouge. She is a member of the Department of Revenue Transition Team for Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and she was an honoree at the 2003 Martin Luther King Coalition of Southwest Louisiana Breakfast.
L. Ronald Forman
L. Ronald Forman is President and CEO of the Audubon Nature Institute, Inc. A past president of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Ron Forman began his tenure with Audubon Park and Zoological Garden in l972 as City Hall liaison. Made Deputy Director in l973 and Executive Director in l977, the major transformation of Audubon Zoo from an "urban ghetto" to an "urban Eden" was underway.
Forman serves locally on the boards of the New Orleans Business Council, New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau and is Chairman of the Louisiana State Museum Board. In addition, he belongs to the International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens and the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. He is also on the Advisory Committee of Chimp Haven and a Senior Fellow at Georgia Tech Center for Conservation and Behavior.
Forman is a New Orleans native and a graduate of Louisiana State University. Married to the former Sally Gelpi, he is the father of three, Dan, Cassidy, and McClain.
R. King Milling
R. King Milling is president of Whitney Holding Corporation and the Whitney National Bank in New Orleans, and serves on both boards. Mr. Milling earned a bachelor of arts from Washington & Lee University in 1962, and received his law degree from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1965.
Mr. Milling is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He serves on the boards of LSU Health Sciences Center, Dillard University, Greater New Orleans Education Foundation, among others. He is a member of the Tulane Law School Dean's Advisory Board and is the Chairman of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Coastal Restoration and Conservation.
John P. Laborde
John P. Laborde served as Tidewater Inc.'s CEO for nearly 40 years, until his retirement in 1994. He was the founder and first chairman of what is now the Offshore Marine Service Association and has played a major role in the worldwide development of the offshore service industry.
Mr. Laborde. graduated from Louisiana State University with a BA in 1947 and law degree in 1949.
He is currently chairman of Stewart Enterprises, Inc., VT Halter Marine, Inc., Laborde Marine Lifts, Inc. Laborde Products, Inc., Lab-More Properties, LLC and Laborde Integrated Services, Inc., and is a member of the board of Stone Energy Corporation.
Sean E. Reilly
Sean Reilly is COO and President of the Outdoor Division of Lamar Advertising Company, an outdoor advertising company headquartered in Baton Rouge and Louisiana's only NASDAQ 100 company. Mr. Reilly was recently appointed to the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the State organization charged with crafting Louisiana's long term recovery response to the two hurricane disasters, Katrina and Rita.
Mr. Reilly has served in leadership positions on numerous non-profit and community boards and institutions. He is currently on the Board of The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a member of the Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System and the Board of Visitors of the LSU Manship School of Mass Communications, where he taught as an adjunct professor. In addition to being an executive at Lamar, Mr. Reilly is a member of the Young Presidents Organization and serves on the Board of Reserve Telephone Company, Inc.
Mr. Reilly has served in various capacities at Lamar since 1978, then a family owned private business. He graduated from Harvard University in 1984, from Harvard Law School in 1989 and began working on acquisitions and real estate for Lamar upon graduation. He served in the Louisiana Legislature as a State Representative from March 1988 to January 1996, during which tenure he served as Vice-Chair of the Ways and Means committee and as member of the Education, Commerce, and Legislative Audit Advisory committees as well as a member of The State Bond Commission.
Mr. Reilly has been married to the former Jennifer Eplett since 1989. They have three children, Anna Maeve, Aidan Christopher and Rowan Patrick.
David R. Voelker
David Voelker is a part owner and manager of Frantzen/Voelker Investments, L.L.C. in New Orleans. The company invests in emerging, as well as mature companies. The diverse portfolio of current investments of the company includes restaurants, oil and gas, and technology.
Mr. Voelker is active in many organizations in New Orleans. He is the founder and board Chair of the Legacy Donor Foundation, Chairman of the board of directors of the National D-Day Museum, and was a co-founder of the Greater New Orleans Miracle League. He is also the past Chairman of WYES TV and the vice Chairman of the board of directors of the University of New Orleans Foundation.
Mr. Voelker is a graduate of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
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