Sally Clausen

Last updated
Sally Clausen
2015-03-08 Sally Clausen (cropped).jpg
Born (1945-07-04) July 4, 1945 (age 78)
Alma mater Louisiana State University
OccupationEducational administrator
Political party Democrat [1]
SpouseRobert " Bob" Brumberger
ChildrenRebecca and David
ParentMrs. Leonell Wilks "Nell" Clausen
Relatives Thomas G. Clausen

Sally Clausen (born July 4, 1945) [2] is executive director of the Ingram Center for Public Trusteeship and Governance, an affiliate of the American Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. [3] She earlier, in 2010, retired as Louisiana's commissioner of public higher education, a post she had held for one year relinquishing the presidency of the University of Louisiana System. Previously she served as the first female president of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.

Contents

Background

Clausen's mother, Leonell Wilkes Clausen, was a native of Centerville who formerly lived in Verdunville, both communities in St. Mary Parish in South Louisiana. She died in 1999 while living in Baton Rouge. [4] "Mama Nell" Clausen, as she was known, drove a school bus, delivered food to shut-ins, worked in a school for the handicapped, and was a justice of the peace in St. Mary Parish. [5] Clausen's late brother, Thomas Greenwood Clausen, was the last elected Louisiana superintendent of education, a position which he held from 1984 to 1988. [6]

Educational life

In 1967, 1971, and 1980, Clausen received bachelor's, master's, and doctorate in education, respectively, from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. [7] Her classroom experience was from 1968 to 1971 with the East Baton Rouge Parish system. From 1984 to 1988, Clausen was the assistant Commissioner of Administration during the third term of Governor Edwin Edwards. From 1988 to 1990, she was the commissioner of higher education under the Louisiana Board of Regents, a body created by the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. From 1991 to 1992, she was assistant dean of students at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. From 1992 to 1995, she was secretary of education in the fourth and final Edwards administration. Clausen returned to Southeastern Louisiana University in the summer of 1995, where she was the president until July 2001, when she was elevated to president of the entire University of Louisiana System. [8]

At Southeastern, Clausen listed her accomplishments as president as having obtained $80 million in capital improvements, a 23 percent increase in faculty salaries, a 51 percent increase in state appropriations, a large increase in private funding, and a 68 percent boost in African-American enrollment. [8]

Dr Sally Clausen at Southeastern Louisiana University's 2015 Chefs Evening fundraising event (retired professor Dr David Ramsey, right) 2015-03-08 Sally Clausen.jpg
Dr Sally Clausen at Southeastern Louisiana University's 2015 Chefs Evening fundraising event (retired professor Dr David Ramsey, right)

In 2009, Clausen retired as the sixth commissioner of higher education, just a year after she had assumed the position in July 2008, at an annual salary of $425,000. She did not inform the regents that she was retiring. Instead, a day later she was rehired as the commissioner. This maneuver boosted her pay to $515,625. Her higher pay was $90,625 more than if she had not retired and then returned to her duties. [9] She received a lump-sum payment in mid-August 2009 for three hundred hours of unused vacation time and two hundred hours of remaining sick leave. When news of this situation leaked, Clausen said that she had considered retiring to help care for a special-needs grandchild in Houston. But she decided to remain commissioner. Amid controversy over her action, Clausen said that she would reduce her salary in 2010 to $199,000 as a gesture to show solidarity with employees placed under wage restraints and a proposed 30 percent cut in state higher education spending announced by the administration of Governor Bobby Jindal. The controversy caused her to retire from the State of Louisiana in June 2010. [10]

Legacy

In 1998, Clausen was inducted into the Louisiana Center for Women and Government Hall of Fame. In 2000, she received the "Thinking Outside the Box" Award from U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. In 2004, she was inducted into the LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction. [8] In 2007, Clausen was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.

The Livingston Parish Literacy and Technology Center building in Walker, a joint venture with Southeastern Louisiana University, is named for the Clausen family. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baton Rouge, Louisiana</span> Capital city of Louisiana, United States

Baton Rouge is the capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it had a population of 227,470 as of 2020; it is the seat of Louisiana's most populous parish (county-equivalent), East Baton Rouge Parish, and the center of Louisiana's second-largest metropolitan area, Greater Baton Rouge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammond, Louisiana</span> City in Louisiana, US

Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, located 45 miles (72 km) east of Baton Rouge and 45 miles (72 km) northwest of New Orleans. Its population was 20,019 in the 2010 U.S. census, and 21,359 at the 2020 population estimates program.

Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it became known as Southeastern Louisiana College. It achieved university status in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Louisiana System</span> Public university system in Louisiana

The University of Louisiana System is a public university system in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It enrolls more students than the other three public university systems in the state; as of October 2023, it claims more than 91,500 students throughout its institutions. Its headquarters are in the Claiborne Building in Baton Rouge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kip Holden</span> American politician

Melvin Lee "Kip" Holden, is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2016 as the Democratic Mayor-President of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The parish includes the state capital of Baton Rouge and smaller suburban cities such as Baker, Central City, and Zachary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Dardenne</span> 53rd Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana

John Leigh "Jay" Dardenne, Jr. is an American lawyer and politician from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as commissioner of administration for Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards. A Republican, Dardenne previously served as the 53rd lieutenant governor of his state from 2010 to 2016. Running as a Republican, he won a special election for lieutenant governor held in conjunction with the regular November 2, 2010 general election. At the time, Dardenne was Louisiana secretary of state. Formerly, Dardenne was a member of the Louisiana State Senate for the Baton Rouge suburbs, a position he filled from 1992 until his election as secretary of state on September 30, 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henson Moore</span> American politician, attorney and businessman

William Henson Moore III is an American attorney and businessman who is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, having represented Louisiana's 6th congressional district, based about Baton Rouge, from 1975 to 1987. He was only the second Republican to have represented Louisiana in the House since Reconstruction, the first having been David C. Treen, then of Jefferson Parish.

Louisiana's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The 5th district encompasses rural northeastern Louisiana and much of central Louisiana, as well as the northern part of Louisiana's Florida parishes in southeastern Louisiana, taking in Monroe, Alexandria, Amite and Bogalusa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Georges</span> American businessman

John Georges is an American businessman from New Orleans, who owns Louisiana's two largest newspapers and online news sites. He formerly served on the Louisiana Board of Regents, the body which supervises higher education in his native state. In 2007, he ran for governor as an independent. He received 186,000 votes and procured a plurality in Orleans Parish. In 2010, he sought the office of mayor of New Orleans as a Democrat; he finished a distant third behind two other Democrats.

The Louisiana Board of Regents is a government agency in the U.S. state of Louisiana that is responsible for coordination of all public higher education in the state. The Board was created under the terms of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution, and began operations effective January 1, 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election</span> State election in the United States

The 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on November 21, 2015, to elect the governor of Louisiana. Incumbent Republican Governor Bobby Jindal was not eligible to run for re-election to a third term because of term limits established by the Louisiana Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Perlman</span>

Ralph R. Perlman was the state budget director in his adopted U.S. state of Louisiana, having served under four governors of both parties from 1967 until 1988. Thereafter, Perlman continued to hold other public service positions.

Melvin Leo Rambin was an American banker in Monroe, the seat of Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who was thus far the only Republican in his city to have held the office of mayor since the 19th century era of Reconstruction. Rambin was elected in March 2000 but died in office of liver cancer after having served for only eleven-and-a-half months.

Thomas Greenwood Clausen was an educator from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who was the last elected state superintendent of education, a position which he filled as a Democrat from 1984 to 1988 during the third administration of Governor Edwin Edwards.

Harvey Andrew Peltier Jr., was from 1964 to 1976 a member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 21, which included Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes in South Louisiana. He served alongside Claude B. Duval, senator from Terrebonne and St. Mary parishes.

Doris Lindsey Holland Rhodes was the first woman ever to serve as a member of the Louisiana State Legislature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election</span>

The 2015 Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on October 24, 2015, to elect the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, with a runoff election held on November 21, 2015. Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne did not run for re-election to a second full term in office. He instead ran for governor. Billy Nungesser won the election defeating Kip Holden, despite a Democratic victory in the gubernatorial election, in which John Bel Edwards defeated David Vitter by a similar margin.

Dr. Dale T. Chapman is an American school administrator. He is the former president of Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois.

References

  1. ↑ "Plug in Sally Clausen, July 1945". voterportal.sos.la.gov. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Sally Clausen". The Advocate. Baton Rouge, La. May 27, 1995. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Sally Clausen". Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  4. ↑ "Condolences: Nell Wilkes Clausen". ByLion. Southeastern Louisiana University. February 10, 1999. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 10, 1999" (PDF). lanewsbureau.com. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 32, 2002" (PDF). lanewsbureau.com. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  7. ↑ Clausen's highest degree was Ed.D. Clausen, Sally (1996). "From the president". The year in review. Southeastern Louisiana University Public Information. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  8. 1 2 3 "Dr. Sally Clausen" (PDF). regents.ohio.gov. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Jan Moller, Sally Clausen's one-day state retirement earns her a bundle, May 19, 2010". New Orleans Times-Picayune . Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  10. ↑ Moller, Jan (June 8, 2010). "Higher Education Commissioner Sally Clausen resigns". New Orleans Times-Picayune . Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Livingston Center dedicated; named for Clausen family, September 10, 2007". ByLion. Southeastern Louisiana University. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.