David E. Boudreaux, former Vice President for Institutional Advancement, retired after 47 years but will continue to work with Nicholls as the executive director of the Nicholls Foundation, organizing and implementing fundraising and cultural events.
Boudreaux’s father’s military career and his own military service established an early love for traveling. A native of New Iberia, he lived in California, France, Panama, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, and Vietnam throughout his lifetime.
According to Boudreaux, serving in the military and receiving a higher education always blended well for him because, “the military reinforced in me the need to always seek an education and learning.”
Boudreaux loved education early on. He loves to read and learn; two traits he inherited from his parents who always stressed the importance of education. Growing up when his parents, who were not college educated, would talk about college they would say, “when you go to college” not “if you go to college.”
He took that guidance to heart, going on to LSU to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965 followed by a Master of Arts in 1967.
After finishing his master’s, the late Dr.Philip Uzee, who was Dean of the Nicholls College of Liberal Arts, offered him the opportunity to teach English for a semester at Nicholls.
Unbeknownst to Boudreaux, that one semester would actually result in more than 47 years at Nicholls, a time that Boudreaux said the students made most enjoyable.
In 1975 he completed doctoral work at the University of Arkansas and received his Doctorate of Philosophy with a concentration in 18th Century British Literature, Medieval British Literature, and Contemporary British and American Literature.
“I do hope that I’ve had an impact on students, teaching them to love learning, and teaching them to love reading and enjoy the written word.  That would be an impact that I would really feel that is special,” Boudreaux said.
He also hopes that he has created an environment where others could achieve when in roles of leadership by facilitating their growth with guidance and empowerment.
One of Boudreaux’s missions as an educator has been  to  communicate the importance of education and its ability to allow people to fulfill their potential.
“I would say that for the average person education is the key,” Boudreaux said.
“We were talking last night about the fact that Bill Gates does not have a college degree and that’s true.  There’s only one Bill Gates.  There are thousands or millions of us and without an education my life would have been entirely different.”
With the University facing changing leadership, Boudreaux is hoping for a candidate that he describes as “good for our university” and ” appropriate for our times.”
Perhaps Boudreaux’s greatest concern is the change in society’s understanding of education.
“One of the things that frightens me today is that the general public doesn’t seem to understand the difference between education and training. When you produce a college graduate, you have not trained that person for a specific job except in certain very specific disciplines,” he said.
“A true university education teaches one how to think, how to make decisions, how to gather information, how to use that information in the best possible way; provided one has good judgment,” Boudreaux said.
“That person really, then can become a leader, can become a contributor and have an impact. It’s different from training someone on how to do a specific task over and over and over again.”
As the times continue to change at Nicholls, Boudreaux hopes the University sees an increase in state funding and can “stop the bleeding and begin to build on all the strengths and all the good that is here. Then we can again focus on recruiting well qualified students whom we will provide first rate educations.”
To the students Boudreaux is yet to meet, he offers his standard advice. “I always wish students well, and the best thing that they can do is walk across that stage and walk away with that diploma in four or five years after enrolling, as quickly as possible.”
“Keep your university a true university,” he added.  “And then take advantage of all that it has to offer.”