(August 9, 1923 – May 15, 2011)
Early years and academic career
Taylor was born in Gibsland in Bienville Parish to Lawrence Foster Taylor (1892-1977)[3] and the former Marcia Aline Jay (1898-1993).[3][4] He graduated from Gibsland High School there in 1940. He then attended Louisiana Tech as a studemt for four semesters from 1940-1942. In May 1942, he enlisted in the United States Navy.[5] He completed aviation training in 1943 and was commissioned as an ensign. As a Navy pilot, he logged two thousand hours of flight time during World War II. He was sent to the Pacific theatre for two tours of duty and rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. He was honorably discharged from military service in 1946.[6]Taylor received his Bachelor of Arts degree in social science in 1948 from the University of California at Berkeley.[7] In 1949, he obtained a Master of Arts from Claremont Graduate University, also in California. He was later named to the Claremont Alumni Hall of Fame.[8] He procured his Ph.D. in history and government in 1952 from Tulane University in New Orleans.[7]
Taylor was 39 when he was named as the Louisiana Tech president. He presided over the transformation and expanded enrollment of the institution, founded in 1894 and known prior to 1970 as "Louisiana Polytechnic Institute". Many modern buildings were constructed under his watch, some of which, such as Neilson Hall men's dormitory, have since been discarded. Under his watch came the Wyly Tower, a library and administrative office complex, the Thomas Assembly Center, the Lambright Intramural Sports Complex, the Aillet Stadium, and the J.C. Love Field.[5]
He was a visible president who spoke before educational and civic groups across the state. Prior to 1980, his vice president was Virgil Orr, a former chemical engineering professor and dean, who served from 1988-1992 as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lincoln and Union parishes.[9]
In 1968, Taylor hired Wiley W. Hilburn from Shreveport Times to revamp the Louisiana Tech Journalism Department and make the college newspaper, The Tech Talk, more indicative of student viewpoints.[10] Taylor told Hilburn to "liberate" the college newspaper, which had previously been a non-controversial journal of mostly honor rolls and academic listings and failed to address student issues, such as the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and the sexual revolution. Hilburn went on to head the journalism department for thirty-one years and to continue to write editorials, columns, and books.[11]
In 1974, Taylor hired Sonja Hogg, then a 28-year-old physical education instructor at Ruston High School, to develop what turned into a nationally successfully women's basketball team. The program began with a $5,000 appropriation,[10] reached the Final Four in 1979, and won the national championship in 1981. Hogg was succeeded as coach of the Lady Techsters by Leon Barmore, whom she had hired from Ruston High School.[12]
Since 1979, Tech has given an annual award in Taylor's name to a successful faculty member engaged in undergraduate teaching duties.[13] There is also an F. Jay Taylor Eminent Scholar Chair of Journalism[14] and an F. Jay Taylor Sports Forum.[15]
Prior to his service at Louisiana Tech, Taylor was an associate professor of history, dean of men (1952-1956), and dean of the Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville in Rapides Parish.[7]
Historian
Taylor's Reluctant Rebel: The Secret Diary of Robert Patrick, 1861-1865 stemmed from the translation of a diary written in Pitman shorthand by Patrick, a private in the Confederate Army. A clerk in the commissary and quartermaster departments of the Fourth Louisiana Infantry, Patrick began his diary in April 1861 and wrote until the last days of the conflict.[16] Though the diary was intended only for Patrick's reflections, Taylor was offered the manuscript by Patrick’s niece. Taylor soon determined Patrick to have been a keen observer of events, both military and off-duty. Patrick was present at the 1862 Battle of Shiloh, named for a community church in southwestern Tennessee. He was at the sieges in 1863 of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Port Hudson, north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He participated in the retreat from the Battle of Atlanta in Georgia There, Patrick's regiment experienced one of the highest records for casualties in the entire Confederate Army. Patrick was particularly knowledgeable about logistics, supply, and the evaluation of the competence of his superior officers. Patrick’s integrity and writing skill give his diary realism. Though anecdotal, the work is considered a revealing portrait of a soldier in the lower echelons of the Confederate military.[16] Taylor said that Patrick was "very loyal to the South, but he never really understood his role as a Confederate soldier."[10] In 2007, Taylor donated his Civil War artifacts, including the Robert Patrick materials, to the Tech Department of Special Collections, Manuscripts and Archives, a move that Taylor described as "saying goodbye to an old friend."[10]Taylor's other work is The United States and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, with the introduction by the diplomatic historian Claude G. Bowers.[17]
Taylor also read the initial manuscript for Professor John D. Winters' The Civil War in Louisiana (1963).[18]
Other activities
The Ropp Center on the Louisiana Tech University campus served as the president's home during the tenure of F. Jay Taylor.
Taylor served on numerous state and national boards and commissions. A nationally recognized expert in the field of labor arbitration, he was chairman of the Labor-Management Commission of Inquiry, National Academy of Arbitrators, labor panels of the American Arbitration Association, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.[6]He was a member of the Ruston Rotary International and served on the boards of the Ruston Chamber of Commerce and Ruston Civic Club.[6]
In 1971, the University of California Alumni Association cited Taylor for "outstanding achievement" and honored him at the school's homecoming. In 1985, he was similarly recognized by his alma mater Tulane as an outstanding alumnus of the graduate school.[6]
In 1996, Taylor donated $900 to the unsuccessful campaign for the United States House of Representatives waged by now State Senator Francis C. Thompson, a Democrat from Delhi, who lost to the Republican John Cooksey of Monroe.[19]
Taylor was a board member of First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc., a company previously headed by the Louisiana Tech alumnus Loy F. Weaver,[20] a former Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Homer in Claiborne Parish.
Prior to the building of the current president's home near the Tech stadium, Taylor resided in a plantation-style house in what is now the Ropp Center, which is named for R. L. Ropp, Taylor's predecessor as president, who served from 1949-1962.
Death and legacy
Dr. F. Jay and Mrs. Evelyn Taylor with son Terry Jay Taylor and the family dogs (1967)
On April 18, 1946, Taylor married the former Evelyn Marie Bast. The couple had one son, Terry J. Taylor (born 1947).[21] Terry Taylor is a veteran of the United States Air Force and a retired Delta Airlines pilot. In 2007, he was a flight and ground instructor with Sporty's Academy at the Clermont County Airport in Batavia, Ohio.[22] He and his wife, the former Bernardine Hartley, reside in Batavia, near Cincinnati. They have two children, Andrew Taylor of Gainesville, Florida, and Jennifer Taylor Williams of West Palm Beach, Florida.[6] At some point prior to 1982, the marriage to Evelyn ended.[23] Thereafter by 1988 or earlier, Taylor had wed the former Linda Lou Kavanaugh.[24]Claybrook Cottingham, R. L. Ropp's predecessor as the Louisiana Tech president, also had previous ties to Louisiana College, where he was the second president of the institution, having served from 1910–1941, before he came to Louisiana Tech.[25] Taylor was a Louisiana Tech student during Cottingham's first year as president there. Cottingham's tenure at Louisiana College hence preceded Taylor's academic career.
In a 2003 interview with the Monroe News Star, Taylor described his goal as "helping to bring Louisiana Tech onto the national and international scene."[5]
Taylor was succeeded as the Tech president by his vice-president, Daniel Reneau. On Taylor's death in Ruston at the age of eighty-seven, Reneau described his predecessor as "a great leader and a great president. I was privileged to serve seven years under him as vice president. A senior statesman and point guard in the Tech family has fallen, and we will miss him greatly."[5]
Taylor's services were held on May 18, 2011 at the First Baptist Church in downtown Ruston. Interment followed at Greenwood Cemetery
(January 3, 1930 – May 15, 2011)
Major roles
Stuart portrayed "Miss Bunny", the girlfriend of Sergeant Vincent Carter, played by Frank Sutton, on three seasons of CBS's Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.[2]In 1969, Stuart was cast as "Wilma Winslow" on CBS's The Queen and I. In 1985, she was cast as Marianne Danzig, the wife of a Mafia godfather in the ABC's crime drama Our Family Honor, both in the television movie and the short-lived series of the same name.[2] Between 1959-61, she appeared in four episodes of the NBC crime drama The Lawless Years, starring James Gregory and Robert Karnes ("The Marie Walters Story", "The Maxey Gorman Story", "The Billy Boy 'Rockabye' Creel Story", and "Ginny"). She also appeared as "Alice" in a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Pete and Gladys.[2]
Early years
Stuart was born in Paris, the seat of Edgar County in eastern Illinois. She attended the Schuster-Martin School of Drama in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was founded by an aunt of the actor Tyrone Power. Thereafter she studied in New York City under Stella Adler, having modeled to pay for her acting lessons. She was invited to join the national tour of Zero Mostel's Lunatics and Lovers. Her first television role was as Bessie, the secretary, on the 1955 syndicated series The Great Gildersleeve, starring Willard Waterman and based on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio program.[3]She guest starred in numerous television series, including two Rod Cameron syndicated crime dramas, State Trooper and COronado 9. She appeared in three episodes of the television crime drama Peter Gunn. She appeared as Mrs. Bugsy McKenna in the episode "Bugsy" of the CBS crime drama Mr. Lucky, with John Vivyan, who had also appeared on The Lawless Years.[2]
Western roles
In 1960, Stuart appeared as Poker Alice in three episodes of the CBS-Desilu western series The Texan, starring Rory Calhoun. She appeared in Sheriff of Cochise, Jefferson Drum, Outlaws, Sugarfoot, Riverboat, Frontier Circus, Two Faces West, Colt .45, Lawman, Rawhide (1963 episode "Incident of the Wild Deuces"), The Wide Country, Alias Smith and Jones, Destry, Kung Fu, and Tales of Wells Fargo. She later appeared as Lil Kane in the 1967 episode "Sister Death" of the ABC television series The Iron Horse.[2]Drama roles
Stuart guest starred as Edith in Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone in the 1960 episode A Thing About Machines. She appeared in various other dramatic series, including M Squad, The Untouchables, Markham, The Blue Angels, 87th Precinct, Adventures in Paradise, Perry Mason, The Eleventh Hour, Sam Benedict, Arrest and Trial, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, Banyon, Banacek, The Rookies, Barnaby Jones, Cannon, Batman, T.H.E. Cat, Starsky and Hutch, Trapper John, M.D., and Quincy M.E..[2]Additional sitcom roles
Stuart played comedy roles on such television sitcoms as December Bride, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Bill Dana Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Cara Williams Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Andy Griffith Show, Mister Roberts, The Farmer's Daughter, Three's Company, Taxi, and Love, American Style.[2]Later years
Later years saw her appear in guest roles on Hotel, Simon and Simon, Highway to Heaven, L.A. Law, and Nash Bridges. Stuart's last role was as "Alice" in five episodes of Showtime's Huff.[2]She appeared in such motion picture feature films as Airplane!, Dreamer, Marines, Let's Go and Hellfighters. She played Tom Hanks' character's increasingly appalled mother-in-law-to be in 1984's Bachelor Party.[3]
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