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'''Robert Allen Alost''', known as '''Bobby Alost''' (February 20, 1935 – April 10, 2020),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/robert-alost/e9495953268|title=Robert Alost|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=April 26, 2020}}</ref> was the 16th president of [[Northwestern State University]] in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], [[Louisiana]], with service for the decade from 1986 until his retirement in 1996.
'''Robert Allen Alost''', known as '''Bobby Alost''' (February 20, 1935 – April 10, 2020),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/robert-alost/e9495953268|title=Robert Alost|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=April 26, 2020}}</ref> was the 16th president of [[Northwestern State University]] in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], [[Louisiana]], with service for the decade from 1986 until his retirement in 1996.
As a Northwestern faculty member, Alost worked with hree [[Democratic Party|Democrats]], state Representative Jimmy Dale Long, Sr. (1931-2016) and state Senators [[Francis C. Thompson]] of Delhi in Richland Parish and Donald Gene Kelly of Natchitoches, and [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor]] [[David C. Treen]], to open the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in an older building on the NSU campus. Alost was director of LSMSA from its inception in 1982 until he was named president of the university four years later. Earlier, from 1975 to 1982, he was the dean of the NSU College of Education.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://traditions.nsula.edu/the-hall-of-distinguished-educators.html|title=The Hall of Distinguished Educators|publisher=Traditions.nsula.edu|accessdate=February 20, 2018}}</ref>
As a Northwestern faculty member, Alost worked with three [[Democratic Party|Democrats]], state Representative Jimmy Dale Long, Sr. (1931-2016) and state Senators [[Francis C. Thompson]] of Delhi in Richland Parish and Donald Gene Kelly of Natchitoches, and [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor]] [[David C. Treen]], to open on the NSU campus the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, a boarding school for two hundred selected talented and gifted students. Alost was director of LSMSA from its inception in 1982 until he was named president of the university four years later. Earlier, from 1975 to 1982, he was the dean of the NSU College of Education.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://traditions.nsula.edu/the-hall-of-distinguished-educators.html|title=The Hall of Distinguished Educators|publisher=Traditions.nsula.edu|accessdate=February 20, 2018}}</ref>
Under president Alost, NSU enrollments increased from 5,272 to more than 9,000. The expanded enrollment promoted progress in "academic achievement, athletic success, facility enhancements, and other accomplishments that provided ongoing stability for the university after a period of declining enrollment and fiscal uncertainty.<ref name=ntimes/>
[[Conservative]] author [[Rod Dreher]], a native of [[Baton Rouge]], entered LSMSA in 1983 at the age of sixteen at the inception of the institution. In his blog, ''The American Conservative,'' Dreher describes how Alost impacted Dreher's life:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Bobby Alost’s school was not the kind of thing you expect in a poor Southern state: a public boarding school for gifted and talented kids. But there it was, and there a couple hundred of us were, excited, maybe even a little frightened, out at his house in the pine woods, on a lake, on a warm autumn weekend, trying to get used to our new family. ...
Bobby Alost’s school was not the kind of thing you expect in a poor Southern state: a public boarding school for gifted and talented kids. But there it was, and there a couple hundred of us were, excited, maybe even a little frightened, out at his house in the pine woods, on a lake, on a warm autumn weekend, trying to get used to our new family. ...
On Alost's passing, current NSU President [[Chris Maggio]] said that all NSU alumni "owe Dr. Alost a debt of gratitude for guiding and advocating for our university. He was a mentor to me personally and professionally and a strong leader through uncertain times at NSU.”<ref name=ntimes>{{cite web|url=https://www.natchitochestimes.com/2020/04/18/former-nsu-president-dr-robert-alost-dies/|title=Former NSU president Dr. Robert Alost dies|author=Leah Jackson|publisher=''The Natchitoches Times''|date=April 18, 2020|accessdate=April 26, 2020}}</ref>
On Alost's passing, current NSU President [[Chris Maggio]] said that all NSU alumni "owe Dr. Alost a debt of gratitude for guiding and advocating for our university. He was a mentor to me personally and professionally and a strong leader through uncertain times at NSU.”<ref name=ntimes>{{cite web|url=https://www.natchitochestimes.com/2020/04/18/former-nsu-president-dr-robert-alost-dies/|title=Former NSU president Dr. Robert Alost dies|author=Leah Jackson|publisher=''The Natchitoches Times''|date=April 18, 2020|accessdate=April 26, 2020}}</ref>
[[James B. Henderson]], a former NSU president who now heads the University of Louisiana System, said that Alost guided NSU "through a difficult era, and established a standard of not just surviving adversity, but thriving in its midst. He was simultaneously imposing and infinitely approachable. Personally, I am forever grateful for his mentorship and friendship.”<ref name=ntimes/>
[[James Henderson]], briefly a former NSU president who now heads the University of Louisiana System, said that Alost guided NSU "through a difficult era, and established a standard of not just surviving adversity, but thriving in its midst. He was simultaneously imposing and infinitely approachable. Personally, I am forever grateful for his mentorship and friendship.”<ref name=ntimes/>