Our institution has evolved since the inception of T.O. Brown's idea in 1922. Founding leaders paved the way toward academic excellence, integrity, and success. Staying true to the foundation and history of our university the past is honored and the future is embraced.

Ouachita Parish Junior College
September 28, 1931- October 31, 1944

C.C. Colvert served as the first president of Ouachita Parish Junior College. Born in Clarksville, Texas, he grew up in Eagle Mills, Arkansas, and received his master’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. from George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. He worked as an educator for 13 years before T.O. Brown, superintendent of the Ouachita Parish School System, hired him to help establish the new junior college in Monroe in 1931. Following a severe economic downturn in 1934, Colvert helped orchestrate an arrangement whereby the college would be operated by LSU as the Northeast Center of Louisiana State University. He stepped down as president of Northeast Junior College of LSU in 1944 to assume a teaching position at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Colvert died in 1991.

Northeast Junior College of Louisiana State University 
December 1, 1944- ­August 15, 1950

Dr. Rodney Cline is a graduate of Louisiana Polytechnic Institute with a master’s degree from Louisiana State University and a Ph.D. from George Peabody College for Teachers. He taught at various schools in south Louisiana and at the demonstration school at Louisiana Tech where he also taught education. He later served as academic dean at Louisiana Tech before becoming dean of John McNeese Junior College in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He is the author of numerous scholarly publications in the field of education.

Northeast Louisiana State College
August 15, 1950- June 30, 1958

Lewis C. Slater was born in Severy, Kansas, in 1893. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Colorado in 1914 and the master’s degree in chemistry and engineering from Louisiana State University in 1915. Slater joined the Northeast Center of LSU staff in 1938 as head of the Department of Biology and Natural Sciences. Between teaching assignments, he was the chief chemist for Bogalusa Pulp and Paper Company and the Bastrop Pulp and Paper Company. Slater was named president of the newly-designated Northeast Louisiana State College, a four-year institution, in 1950. He retired from the institution in 1958.

Northeast Louisiana State College
July 1, 1958- ­December 31, 1975

Dr. George T. Walker was born in Jonesboro, Louisiana, in 1913. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern State University in 1935, a master’s degree in accounting and business administration from LSU in 1936, and a Ph.D. in business administration from LSU in 1948. From 1935 to 1940, Walker taught commerce at several universities in Louisiana, including the Northeast Center of LSU in Monroe. From 1945 to 1948, Walker served as assistant to the dean of the Junior Division, Louisiana State University. In 1948, he was named dean of applied arts and sciences at Northwestern State College and was later named dean of administration. Walker assumed the presidency of Northeast Louisiana State College in 1958.

Northeast Louisiana University
January 1, 1976- ­June 30, 1991

Dr. Dwight D. Vines was born in Jackson Parish in 1931. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern State University, his M.B.A. from LSU and his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Colorado. He joined the faculty at Northeast Louisiana University in 1958 as an instructor of management, and advanced through the academic ranks to professor. In addition, he served as dean of the College of Business Administration for nine years before being named president of NLU.

Northeast Louisiana University
July 1, 1991- ­December 31, 2001

Lawson L. Swearingen, Jr., was born in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1944. He received his bachelor’s degree in government from NLU in 1966 and earned his Juris Doctorate from Tulane Law School in 1969. Swearingen practiced law in Monroe for 22 years, which included 11 years of service as a state senator in the Louisiana legislature. In 1991, he was tapped to serve as president of NLU. During his administration the name of the university was changed to the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

University of Louisiana Monroe
April 1, 2002- July 30, 2010

Dr. James E. Cofer was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1949. He received his bachelor degree in business administration and his M.B.A. from Mississippi State University. He earned an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1998. Cofer served as the Vice President for Finance and Administration with the University of Missouri System and the University of Arkansas System. In 1995 as an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow, Cofer worked in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Culture in Budapest, Hungary. He has also served as the chief fiscal officer for the State of Mississippi and the University System of Georgia. His tenure at ULM was marked by a renewed collegiality and campus renaissance with emphasis on student-centered learning, 56 academic accreditations, a remarkable physical transformation of ULM’s campus, and “anytime, anywhere, anyplace instruction,” resulting in additional online courses and degree programs.

University of Louisiana Monroe
November 8, 2002 - June 30, 2020

Dr. Nick J. Bruno was born in Tangipahoa Parish in 1951. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA from Southeastern Louisiana University. He earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Mississippi. He served as an adjunct member of Education Leadership from the University of Mississippi. He served as an adjunct member of Southeastern Louisiana University’s College of Business faculty where he taught Strategic Management. Bruno served as the Vice President for Business Affairs at the University of Louisiana System and at ULM. During his tenure at ULM, Dr. Bruno led the institution through one of the most significant financial crises that higher education in Louisiana ever faced, recruited the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine to open its Louisiana location on the campus of ULM, numerous facilities were added or renovated, added academic programs, and retention and graduation rates reached record highs.