James M. Simmons | |
---|---|
14th President of Lamar University | |
In office 1999–2013 | |
Preceded by | Rex Cottle |
Succeeded by | Kenneth Evans |
Personal details | |
Born | 17 March 1942 Beaumont,Texas |
Spouse | Susan Simmons |
Residence | Beaumont,Texas |
Alma mater | Memphis State University |
Profession | Educator,Administrator,Musician |
James M. Simmons (commonly referred to as Jimmy Simmons or Dr. Simmons) is an educational administrator,musician and former university president at Lamar University. James Simmons served as the 10th president of Lamar. [1] He resigned the presidency effective July 1,2013 to return to the Lamar faculty as a music instructor. To honor his service to Lamar,The Texas State University System Board of Regents named him President Emeritus and approved the naming of the James M. "Jimmy" Simmons Music Building. The City of Beaumont formally recognized his service to Lamar and the community by changing the name of University Drive to Jimmy Simmons Boulevard.
Simmons is widely regarded as one of the most successful presidents in Lamar University's history. He has won numerous awards for his successful administration. In 2011 the Press Club of Southeast Texas named him Newsmaker of the Decade. [2] He previously received the award as Newsmaker of the Year in 2009 and 1999;Simmons is the only person to ever win the award twice. [3]
In February 2011 Simmons was named a Signature Sinfonian by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia,a music fraternity for men with chapters at college campuses across the country. [4] This award is given to "any Sinfonian who has exhibited a high standard of accomplishment in the profession or a commitment to service." [5]
In April 2009 Simmons received the prestigious Chief Executive Leadership Award for region IV of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Region IV of CASE includes:Texas,New Mexico,Arkansas,Oklahoma and Mexico. [6]
Simmons took the reins of the Beaumont Independent School District Board of Trustees as board president in 2014 at the request of Texas Education Commissioner,Michael Williams. The former BISD board of trustees was suspended by the Texas Education Agency and replaced by a select group of managers until new leadership could be identified.
Simmons graduated from Beaumont High School in the spring of 1960. James Simmons started his college studies at Memphis State University in the fall of 1960. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in music in 1964. He earned a master's degree from the University of Houston and a doctorate from McNeese State University.
Throughout his educational career,Simmons has attracted acclaim as a performer on clarinet,saxophone and piano and continues to maintain a performance schedule. [7]
Simmons’career with Lamar began in 1970 when he joined the faculty as an instructor and director of the marching band. [8] He rose through the ranks,later serving as director of bands and as chair of the Department of Music and Theatre before his appointment as dean. Dr. Simmons took office September 1,1999 as the 10th president of Lamar University. [9] Under Dr. Simmons leadership,Lamar has advanced on many fronts. One example is the Investing in the Future Campaign started in 2006 which ultimately raised $132 million for Lamar at the time of Simmons's retirement. The campaign started with an initial goal of $50 million. Due to campaign success,the goal was increased two times. The first increase was $100 million in 2008. The goal was again increased to $125 million in January 2012 after raising $95 million with more than a year remaining in the campaign. [10] [11]
Alpha Phi Omega (ΑΦΩ),commonly known as APO,but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q,is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States,with chapters at over 350 campuses,an active membership of over 25,000 students,and over 500,000 alumni members. There are also 250 chapters in the Philippines,one in Australia and one in Canada. The 500,000th member was initiated in the Rho Pi chapter of Alpha Phi Omega at the University of California,San Diego.
Lamar University is a public university in Beaumont,Texas,United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2024,the university enrollment was 17,850 students. Lamar University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and named for Mirabeau B. Lamar,the second president of the Republic of Texas.
James Carter Pankow is an American trombone player,songwriter,and brass instrument arranger who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his brass arrangements,and for being one-third of Chicago's brass/woodwind section alongside Lee Loughnane and Walter Parazaider.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,Inc. (ΑΦΑ) is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved into a fraternity with a founding date of December 4,1906. It employs an icon from Ancient Egypt,the Great Sphinx of Giza,as its symbol. Its aims or pillars are "Manly Deeds,Scholarship,and Love For All Mankind," and its motto is "First of All,Servants of All,We Shall Transcend All." Its archives are preserved at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity,Inc. (ΦΒΣ) is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington,D.C.,on January 9,1914,by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as charter members. The fraternity's founders,A. Langston Taylor,Leonard F. Morse,and Charles I. Brown,wanted to organize a Greek letter fraternity that would exemplify the ideals of Brotherhood,Scholarship and Service while taking an inclusive perspective to serve the community as opposed to having an exclusive purpose. The fraternity exceeded the prevailing models of Black Greek-Letter fraternal organizations by being the first to establish alumni chapters,youth mentoring clubs,a federal credit union,chapters in Africa,and a collegiate chapter outside of the United States. It is the only fraternity to hold a constitutional bond with a historically African-American sorority,Zeta Phi Beta (ΖΦΒ),which was founded on January 16,1920,at Howard University in Washington,D.C.,through the efforts of members of Phi Beta Sigma.
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[James] Clifton Williams,Jr. was an American composer,pianist,French hornist,mellophonist,music theorist,conductor,and teacher. Williams was known by symphony patrons as a virtuoso French hornist with the symphony orchestras of Baton Rouge,New Orleans,Houston,Oklahoma City,Austin,and San Antonio. The young composer was honored with performances of Peace,A Tone Poem and A Southwestern Overture by the Houston and Oklahoma City symphony orchestras,respectively. He remains widely known as one of America's accomplished composers for the wind ensemble and band repertory.
Harry E. Johnson is a career lawyer,entrepreneur,public servant and partner at the Law Office of Glenn and Johnson in Houston,Texas. He served as City Attorney for Kendelton,Texas from 1996 to 1999,and taught at Texas Southern University in both the Thurgood Marshall School of Law and School of Public Affairs from 1994 to 1999. Johnson is a former National President of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity,and is the President and CEO of the Washington,D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation,Inc.
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Percy Jewett Burrell was an American author and director of historical and civic pageants. Known for his skills in oratory and elocution,he also taught public speaking and drama,and was known as a "public reciter." A native and lifelong resident of the greater Boston area,he was described by Time magazine as a "professional director of civic and patriotic shows." By the mid-1920s,Burrell had developed a nationwide reputation for his work,having had 75,000 participants in his productions,which had collectively been performed in front of over 900,000 people. According to a printed program used at a service in his memory,"His mastery of the spoken and written word led him to be a well known public speaker with an enviable reputation as a teacher of oratory,and later as an author and director of national distinction." Burrell served as the first supreme historian of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity from 1901 to 1903,and the sixth supreme (national) president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity from 1907 to 1914,and along with fraternity founder Ossian E. Mills has been credited by fraternity historians with encouraging the early expansion of and formulating the basic ideals espoused by the fraternity. Much of this fundamental philosophy is encapsulated in his presidential messages expounding the fraternity's Object,which appeared in the Sinfonia Yearbooks between 1908 and 1910. Today,these writings are regularly used to instruct the fraternity's probationary members about the fraternity's Object,and the obligations and expectations of fraternity membership.
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Peter William Dykema was an American educator known for his work and advocacy of music education. He was involved with the National Association for Music Education,Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity,the Music Teachers National Association and the National Education Association Department of Music Education. He also served as 1924-25 chairman of the Kiwanis International Committee on Music. Through these various avenues of involvement,in addition to his work as a composer,author,and educator,he was one of the leading music advocates of his day.
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Jack Tracy Martin was an American basketball coach. Martin coached the Lamar Cardinals for 25 seasons in both the Lone Star Conference and the Southland Conference. Jack was a brigadier general in the Texas Air National Guard,and held a top security defense rating. He served in the Pacific throughout World War II,and was a veteran of more than 35 years in the Air Force.
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