Pearson Cross currently serves as Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His principal areas of teaching are State and Local politics, Southern politics, and Louisiana politics. He is a regular commentator on Louisiana politics on national, local and state-wide media. Dr. Cross received his B.A., from San Francisco State University in 1985 and his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in Massachusetts in 1997. His dissertation was titled "Collective Action in Colonial America." Current research interests include gender and politics, legislative politics, and Louisiana government. Dr. Cross advises the College Democrats and serves on the American Democracy Project committee. His first avocation is jazz piano; his second is southern cooking. He is married to Lisa Orten Cross and has one son, Elias.
In December 2007, Angele Davis was selected by Gov. Bobby Jindal to serve as Commissioner of Administration.
Commissioner Davis has earned a unique reputation as a respected public servant and business executive, with more than a decade of leadership applying strategic planning models in both public and private sector environments.
Prior to being appointed Commissioner, beginning in 2004 Angele Davis served as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, where she led policy development and oversight of the offices within the department, including Tourism, Cultural Development, State Parks, State Library, State Museum, and Management and Finance. As CRT Secretary, Davis applied innovative accountability measures to her department's operations and directed a new strategic process, resulting in a blueprint for action, 'Roadmap for Change', a master plan for transforming the department.
Commissioner Davis formerly served as Deputy Commissioner of Administration for Governor M.J. 'Mike' Foster, Jr., where she was charged with the oversight of state government administration, including budget and planning, capital outlay, information technology, facility planning, purchasing and procurement, risk management, group health insurance, human resources and training.
As an advocate for public-private partnerships, Commissioner Davis worked with the Select Council on Revenues and Expenditures in Louisiana's Future (SECURE) and cabinet level officials to implement practices designed to streamline state government operations. Her passion for strategic planning has been influenced by more than 13 years of experience in project management and business administration, including e-business and package enabled business transformation, process reengineering, procurement process analysis and logistics, warehouse and transportation management systems. Commissioner Davis is a strong advocate for e-government and the promise of technology to streamline governmental services, drawing on her experience as management consultant with IBM Global Services, prior to joining the Foster Administration. She is recognized for excellence in planning, having served as executive project manager of the Capitol Park Interpretive Plan, where she worked with government officials and community leaders to transform the state capitol complex into the Capitol Park.
Commissioner Davis has a longstanding commitment to community service, currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Junior League of Baton Rouge and as a volunteer at St. Joseph Cathedral.
Commissioner Davis was the recipient of the Baton Rouge Business Report's 2006 Influential Women in Business Award and also received the publication's 'Top 40 Under 40' Award. In addition, she was named 'Louisiana Outstanding Young Woman', 'Baton Rouge Outstanding Young Woman' and graduated from the Greater Baton Rouge Leadership and Louisiana Leadership programs. Executives from across the state's tourism industry joined at the 2006 Louisiana Tourism Summit to present then-Secretary Davis with the Louisiana Hospitality Leadership Award as an expression of gratitude for her effort spearheading the Lt. Governor's Rebirth Plan and for her leadership and dedication during and after the 2005 hurricane season.
Commissioner Davis received her Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Spring Hill College and a Master's in Business Administration from Louisiana State University.
Robert Kirby Goidel joined the faculty of the Manship School in August 2002 as the Director of Public Policy Research. Earlier this month the Public Policy Research Lab released the Louisiana Survey which serves as a barometer of statewide public opinion. The survey includes views of Louisiana citizens on several issues including the upcoming legislative session. Kirby earned his doctorate at the University of Kentucky in 1993 and has taught previously at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Indiana State University, where he also served as Chair of the Department of Political Science and worked as an editorial columnist for the Terre Haute Tribune-Star. His research interests include political participation, elections and campaign finance, public opinion, and the media and politics. He is a regular contributor to the Christian Science Monitor’s “Patchwork Nation” blog.
Senator Eric La Fleur is a partner in the law firm of Mahtook & La Fleur
with offices in Ville Platte, Lafayette Opelousas, and Houston, Texas. He is a graduate of LSU and Tulane, earning a B.A. in French, Economics and History. He earned his law degree from Tulane Law School. His focus of practice is private, commercial and public transactions. He is one of a handfull of "red book" listed bond attorneys in the state of Louisiana.
He was elected to an open seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1999 and reelected again in 2003. In 2007, he won an open seat in the Louisiana State Senate. That senatorial district consists of approximately 140,000 people in the following four rural parishes: Allen, Avoyelles, St. Landry and Evangeline. He serves on the senate Finance and Criminal Justice Committees and is Vice-chairman of the Committee on Education.
In addition, Senator La Fleur serves on the board of directors of the Sacred Heart Foundation, LSU College Board of Arts and Sciences and Savoy Medical Center.
He also plays saxophone with the local band, Deja Vu.
Before entering private practice, La Fleur served as a felony prosecutor
under District Attorney Harry Connick in New Orleans and for the Louisiana Department of Justice under Richard Ieyoub.
He is a 1982 graduate of Sacred Heart High School. He is married to the
former Julie Morein, a 1997 Sacred Heart High School graduate. Together they make their home in Ville Platte and have one son, Atticus.
Dr. Jas M. Sullivan holds joint appointment as an Assistant Professor in Political Science and African and African American Studies at Louisiana State University. His teaching and research interests include: political psychology, voting behavior, legislative behavior, education policy, and race identity and stereotypes.
Dr. Sullivan has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Political Science from Truman State University, Master’s degree in Sociology from Southern Illinois University—Carbondale, and from Indiana University he obtained Master’s degrees in African American and African Diaspora Studies and Political Science and a Ph.D. in Political Science.
State Representative Jim Tucker was elected to represent House District 86, which serves Jefferson Parish and the Westbank of Orleans Parish, in March 2001. Tucker served on the Insurance, Labor and Transportation, Highways and Public Works committees from 2001 to 2008 and was Chairman of the Republican Legislative Delegation from 2004 to 2008. He was elected Speaker of the House in January, 2008, ** the first Republican Speaker of the House since Reconstruction. As Speaker, Tucker named the chairmen of seventeen House standing committees.
He is the Managing Member of Tucker Properties, a real estate development firm. He was the Founding Partner of Holley, Tucker, Bossier and Nosacka Financial Advisors.
Tucker graduated from O.P. Walker Senior High School in New Orleans. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of New Orleans.
He is married to the former Marisol Fernandez
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