Randall Webb
Randall H. Webb (March 1943 – November 18, 2015) was the longest-serving president of Northwestern State University in historic Natchitoches, Louisiana, a position which he filled from July 1, 1996 to December 31, 2014.
Background
Webb also graduated from Northwestern, which began as a teacher's college in 1894. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics in 1965 and 1966. Over the years, more than fifty Webb family members attended the institution. In 1971, he obtained a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. From 1966 to 1974, Webb was a faculty member at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia. From 1974 to 1976, he was director of higher education and teacher certification for the Louisiana Department of Education under Superintendent Louis J. Michot. He moved to Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond in 1976. Over a 13-year-period there, he was director of institutional research, equal employment opportunity officer, registrar, and a member of the mathematics faculty.[1]
Webb was a member of the Natchitoches Chamber of Commerce, Rotary International, the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches, the Natchitoches Historic Foundation, the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony Society, and the Baptist Church.[1]
NSU years
In 1989, Webb was appointed the dean of instruction and graduate studies as well as mathematics professor at Northwestern. In this position, he conducted a review of graduate and undergraduate university programs. He chaired the Self-Study steering committee required as part of the accreditation process by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[1]
Shortly after retiring from NSU, Webb learned that he had contracted cancer, which claimed his life eleven months later at the age of seventy-two. He was succeeded as president by James "Jim" Henderson, a protégé who was then the president of Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City, Louisiana. Before he left NSU, Webb was named president emeritus.[1]
On Webb's passing, Henderson said: <block quote>
No president served Northwestern longer or with greater distinction than Randy Webb. In his eighteen years as head of the university, he expanded and enhanced academic and athletic programs, spearheaded the most successful fundraising campaigns in the history of the school and was at the forefront of dramatic growth in enrollment and expansion and improvement of physical facilities. ... Dr. Webb's legacy will be as a giant in the history of the university that he loved and as a prominent figure over two decades in state and national higher education circles.[1]
Jerry Pierce, an NSU vice-president who in the 1960s played football for the Northwestern Demons, said that many persons "just identified the university with him ... One thing that impressed me the most about Randy is he always represented the university with respect and dignity."[1]
Gerald Long, a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate, said that he and Webb had a 50-year friendship: "If I had to chose an adjective to describe Randy, certainly I could talk about his integrity, his love for his family and for the Lord, but loyalty would be the word I would choose." He called Webb "a giant of a man" who had embarked on a course of marketing the assets at NSU as part of student recruitment drives.[1]
A 2009 NSU graduate, Kera Brossette, said that Webb even kept in contact with students after their graduations: He "is responsible for the success of so many NSU graduates because of the way he uplifted students. ... He was the friendly face on the campus extending his support of your academic goals, a gentle handshake with furrowed brows as he listens to your concerns or a letter of recommendation to help you obtain your ideal future. He was a friend and colleague to so many, and he will be greatly missed."[1]
Webb and his wife, Brenda, relocated to Shreveport upon his retirement.[1] At the time of his death, Webb was listed by the Louisiana Secretary of State as a registered Independent voter.